Case Summaries

Criminal Law & Procedure

[01/05] US v. Dunphy
District court correctly refused to reduce drug offender's sentence below the minimum available to her under the amended guidelines. When a sentence is within the guidelines applicable at the time of the original sentencing, in an 18 U.S.C. section 3582(c) resentencing hearing, a district judge is not authorized to reduce a defendant's sentence below the amended guideline range.

[01/05] Larry v. Branker
Death row inmate's habeas petition is denied where: 1) the state court did not err by rejecting his request for a second-degree murder jury instruction; 2) the relevant North Carolina statute reasonably requires an I.Q. of 70 or below in order to be ineligible for capital punishment because of mental retardation; and 3) the state court reasonably concluded that Petitioner's I.Q. exceeded 70, when he scored above 70 on some tests but below 70 on another test.

[01/05] US v. Roseboro
Convictions for failure to stop for a blue light are not violent felonies for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act, because the relevant South Carolina statute is categorically overbroad, allowing conviction for both intentional and unintentional conduct.

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