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First Circuit Clarifies Mitigating Role Analysis – Sentencing Courts Must Consider All Identifiable Participants in Drug Shipment, Not Just Crew Members, and Use § 3B1.2 Factors to Assess Relative C...

Article • December 15, 2025 • from CLN January, 2026

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Mitigating Role/Circumstances/Evidence, Miscalculation of the Guidelines Sentencing Range

First Circuit Clarifies Mitigating Role Analysis – Sentencing Courts Must Consider All Identifiable Participants in Drug Shipment, Not Just Crew Members, and Use § 3B1.2 Factors to Assess Relative Culpability, Not Guilt by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated Dionel …

First Circuit: District Court Abused Discretion by Sua Sponte Raising Statute of Limitations Defense to Habeas Petition After Respondents Had Intelligently “Waived” It by Being Aware of Availability...

Article • November 15, 2025 • from CLN December, 2025

Filed under: Defenses, Limitations, Habeas Corpus, Double jeopardy, Knowingly and Intelligently

First Circuit: District Court Abused Discretion by Sua Sponte Raising Statute of Limitations Defense to Habeas Petition After Respondents Had Intelligently “Waived” It by Being Aware of Availability but Failing to Assert It by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed …

First Circuit: Prosecutor’s Breach of Plea Agreement  Requires Government’s Specific Performance of Agreement,  Not Specific Performance by District Court

Article • August 1, 2025 • from CLN August, 2025

Filed under: Failure to Recommend the Sentence Promised, Plain Error, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas, Acceptance/Rejection by the Court

First Circuit: Prosecutor’s Breach of Plea Agreement Requires Government’s Specific Performance of Agreement, Not Specific Performance by District Court by David Reutter The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated a defendant’s sentence due to the prosecutor’s breach of the parties’ plea agreement, and the Court ordered …

First Circuit Announces What Constitutes ‘Otherwise Using’  a Dangerous Weapon for Purposes of the Four-Level  Enhancement Under Guidelines § 2B3.1(a)

Article • May 15, 2025 • from CLN June, 2025

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Probation, Sentence Enhancements/Departures

First Circuit Announces What Constitutes ‘Otherwise Using’ a Dangerous Weapon for Purposes of the Four-Level Enhancement Under Guidelines § 2B3.1(a) by Sagi Schwartzberg The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico improperly applied the four-level sentencing …

First Circuit: Sentencing May Not Be Based Upon Unreliable Hearsay Testimony

Article • August 1, 2024 • from CLN August, 2024

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Unreliable and Unsubstantiated Assertions, Hearsay Evidence

First Circuit: Sentencing May Not Be Based Upon Unreliable Hearsay Testimony by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit remanded a defendant’s case for resentencing after ruling that the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico relied on impermissible hearsay …

First Circuit: District Court’s One-Sentence Explanation for 10-Year Upward Departure From Sentencing Guidelines Range Insufficient to Justify Significant Variance

Article • August 1, 2024 • from CLN August, 2024

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Sentences - Adjustments and Departures

First Circuit: District Court’s One-Sentence Explanation for 10-Year Upward Departure From Sentencing Guidelines Range Insufficient to Justify Significant Variance by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit overturned a sentence imposed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, holding …

First Circuit: Defendant Did Not Understand Consequences of Guilty Plea Because District Court and Counsel Led Him to Reasonably Believed Plea Agreement Would Result in Sentence Below Applicable Manda...

Article • June 15, 2024 • from CLN June, 2024

Filed under: Consequences of Plea, Awareness of Consequences, Credits, Knowingly and Voluntarily Made

First Circuit: Defendant Did Not Understand Consequences of Guilty Plea Because District Court and Counsel Led Him to Reasonably Believed Plea Agreement Would Result in Sentence Below Applicable Mandatory Minimum by David Reutter by David M. Reutter   The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated a defendant’s …

First Circuit Announces It Has Authority to Raise Claim of Error Sua Sponte for Violation of ‘Mandate Rule’ by Sentenc-ing Court on Remand

Article • January 15, 2024 • from CLN January, 2024

Filed under: Mandate Rule, Sua Sponte Changes, Principle of Party Presentation, Plain Error, Miscalculation of the Guidelines Sentencing Range, Reduction of Sentence

First Circuit Announces It Has Authority to Raise Claim of Error Sua Sponte for Violation of ‘Mandate Rule’ by Sentenc-ing Court on Remand by Richard Resch by Richard Resch In a case of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that it may raise sua …

First Circuit: Justification for Upward Sentencing Departure Following Supervised Release Revocation Must Be Ade-quately Explained

Article • December 15, 2023 • from CLN December, 2023

Filed under: Sentence Enhancements/Departures, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release

First Circuit: Justification for Upward Sentencing Departure Following Supervised Release Revocation Must Be Ade-quately Explained by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico’s upward variant sentence after revocation of supervised release …

First Circuit: Plain Error Where District Court Based Upward Variant From Sentencing Guidelines Range on New Information Not Already in the Record at the Time of Sentencing

Article • June 15, 2023 • from CLN July, 2023

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Grounds for Variance, Grounds for Relief

First Circuit: Plain Error Where District Court Based Upward Variant From Sentencing Guidelines Range on New Information Not Already in the Record at the Time of Sentencing by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit found plain error where the U.S. District Court …

News in Brief

Article • May 15, 2023 • from CLN June, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arkansas: The DOJ announced on Jan. 24, 2023, that two former police officers in Crawford County were charged with excessive use of force after beating a man at a gas station. The New York Times reported that the two former officers, Zackary King and Levi White, …

First Circuit Vacates Sentence Containing 20-Year Upward Variance Because District Court Failed to Provide Case-Specific Factors or Rationale for Such a Large Variance

Article • April 15, 2023 • from CLN May, 2023

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Amendment/Variance

First Circuit Vacates Sentence Containing 20-Year Upward Variance Because District Court Failed to Provide Case-Specific Factors or Rationale for Such a Large Variance by Richard Resch by Richard Resch The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated Jadnel Flores-Nater’s 30-year prison sentence containing a 20-year upward variance because …

First Circuit: Procedurally Unreasonable for District Court to Base Upward Variance on Defendant’s Prior Arrests

Article • August 15, 2022 • from CLN September, 2022

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Sentences - Corrections or Modifications of, Prior Arrests

First Circuit: Procedurally Unreasonable for District Court to Base Upward Variance on Defendant’s Prior Arrests by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated, on the basis of procedural reasonableness, the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico’s sentence imposed upon …

First Circuit: Appellate Counsel’s Failure to Raise Brady Claim on Direct Appeal Constituted Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Under Strickland, § 2255 Motion Granted

Article • March 15, 2022 • from CLN April, 2022

Filed under: Brady Violations, Strickland Standard

First Circuit: Appellate Counsel’s Failure to Raise Brady Claim on Direct Appeal Constituted Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Under Strickland, § 2255 Motion Granted by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico’s …

News in Brief

Article • March 15, 2022 • from CLN April, 2022

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Techdirt reports that police in Brookside have routinely violated the law in traffic enforcement. By early February 2022, it was clear that the local police department in the small town had been racking up staggering amounts of income in traffic fines, receiving more than $600,000 …

First Circuit Orders New Trial Following Detailed Discussion of Entrapment Defense and When Courts Must Give Jury Instruction

Article • November 15, 2021 • from CLN December, 2021

Filed under: Jury Instructions, Entrapment Defense - Effects of Asserting

First Circuit Orders New Trial Following Detailed Discussion of Entrapment Defense and When Courts Must Give Jury Instruction by Douglas Ankney by Doug Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit clarified when trial courts must instruct juries on the defense of entrapment. As part of a “sting” …

First Circuit: Rehaif Error Rendered Guilty Plea Invalid

Article • February 15, 2021 • from CLN March, 2021

Filed under: Validity of

First Circuit: Rehaif Error Rendered Guilty Plea Invalid by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell Ever since SCOTUS decided in Rehaif v. United States, 134 S. Ct. 2191 (2019), that the government must prove as an element that a person had to know that he was a previously convicted felon to …

First Circuit: Double Jeopardy Protections Bar Government From Seeking Death Penalty at Retrial Where Jury’s Verdict Not Imposing Death at First Trial Ambiguous, and Trial Court Prematurely Declared M...

Article • January 15, 2021 • from CLN February, 2021

Filed under: Death Penalty, Double jeopardy, Mistrial Motion

First Circuit: Double Jeopardy Protections Bar Government From Seeking Death Penalty at Retrial Where Jury’s Verdict Not Imposing Death at First Trial Ambiguous, and Trial Court Prematurely Declared Mistrial by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that the Government is barred …

First Circuit: Prosecution Under Puerto Rico and Federal Law for Same Drug Offense Constitutes Double Jeopardy

Article • December 15, 2020 • from CLN January, 2021

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Double jeopardy, Drug Laws/Offenses

First Circuit: Prosecution Under Puerto Rico and Federal Law for Same Drug Offense Constitutes Double Jeopardy by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment requires dismissal of a count in a federal indictment …

First Circuit: Dangerousness of Machine Guns Not Justification for Above-Guidelines Sentence

Article • October 15, 2020 • from CLN November, 2020

Filed under: U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Sentence Enhancements/Departures

First Circuit: Dangerousness of Machine Guns Not Justification for Above-Guidelines Sentence by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held on August 3, 2020, that the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico’s focus on the dangerousness of machine guns and …