United States v. Hare

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. SHANE ELLIOTT HARE, a/k/a “Play”
US v. GREGORY ANTOINE WILLIAMS, a/k/a “J”
US v. ANTONIO EDWARDS, a/k/a “Tank”

US Court of Appeals For the 4th Circuit, Floyd, Filed April 19, 2016,
Entrapment – Outrageous Conduct – No outrageous conduct where ATF sting involved contacting a known armed drug-trafficker who then recruited a robbery crew targeting a fake drug house with a supposed 10-15 kilograms of cocaine inside.

(Concur by Shedd – “[n]ot troubled” by the ATF’s use of undercover officers and a fake drug house to set up a sting operation on robbery crew)
Continue reading

United States v. Shaquille Robinson

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. SHAQUILLE MONTEL ROBINSON
US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, Harris, Filed Feb. 23, 2016,
VACATED, EN BANC – opinion by Niemeyer

Seizure – “Because West Virginia authorizes the public carrying of weapons, reasonable suspicion that [an individual] was armed did not by itself justify a Terry frisk”

(Dissent by Niemeyer – 1) The standard is armed and THUS dangerous, 2) the possibility of a valid firearm license did not acceptably minimize the danger to officers, and 3) RAS is not the negation of all possible innocent conduct)
Continue reading

Grueninger v. VDOC

ERIC ADAM GRUENINGER v. DIRECTOR, VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Harris, Filed Feb. 9, 2016,
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel – Raising objection improperly was not a “tactical” decision; failure to object properly to confession in violation of Miranda was constitutionally deficient

Continue reading

Kolbe v. Hogan

STEPHEN V. KOLBE v. LAWRENCE J. HOGAN, JR.
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Traxler, Filed Feb. 4, 2016,
Second Amendment – Firearms – Strict Scrutiny is the proper standard by which to measure firearm restrictions that implicate the “core” of the Second Amendment within the home
Vacated by en banc opinion
Continue reading