Aggravating circumstances refers to factors that increases the severity or culpability of a criminal act. Typically, the presence of an aggravating circumstance will lead to a harsher penalty for a convicted criminal.
Some generally...
sentencing
(LIIBULLETIN preview (pre-2014))
[Question Presented]
[Issue(s)]
[Facts]
[Discussion]
[Analysis]
Issue(s)
Should the Supreme Court overrule Harris v. United States and require that a jury find facts beyond a reasonable doubt in order to enhance a sentence beyond the ordinarily...
(LIIBULLETIN preview)
Under federal law, a federal prisoner serving a sentence of more than one year but less than life, “may receive credit toward the service of [his] sentence, beyond the time served, of up to 54 days at the end of each year of the prisoner’s term of...
(LIIBULLETIN preview)
In 2007, police arrested Travis Beckles after recovering a sawed-off shotgun in his residence. See United States v. Beckles, 565 F.3d 832, 837–38 (11th Cir. 2009). At trial, the jury found Beckles guilty under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) for possession of a...
(LIIBULLETIN preview)
At trial in the Superior Court of Kern County California, Ronald Lee Sanders was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery, attempted robbery, and burglary, all stemming from an attempted robbery in Bakersfield, California. See People...
(LIIBULLETIN preview)
On October 18, 1991, Petitioner Lonnie Lee Burton followed a 15-year-old Washington boy home from school. State v. Burton, 2000 WL 987045 (Wash.App. Div. July 17, 2000) at 1. Posing as a salesman, Burton forced his way into the house where he raped the...
(LIIBULLETIN preview)
Petitioner Deondery Chambers pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. See United States v. Chambers, 473 F.3d 724, 725 (7th Cir. 2007). The District Court judge...
(LIIBULLETIN preview)
Following an investigation and sting operation in 2012, federal authorities arrested Petitioner Adaucto Chavez-Meza on charges of conspiring with the Sinaloa Cartel to distribute methamphetamine in the United States. Brief for Respondent, United States...
(LIIBULLETIN preview)
On July 14, 2004, Humerto Fidel Regalado Cuellar was driving south along Texas State Highway 77 towards the Mexican border when he was stopped by Deputy Kevin Herbert from the Schleicher County Sheriff's office for suspected intoxication. Cuellar v....
(LIIBULLETIN preview)
On April 15, 2013, brothers Levon Dean, Jr. (“Dean”) and Jamal Dean (“Jamal”), as well as some friends, were involved in an armed robbery of a drug dealer. On that day, Jessica Cabbell, a prostitute, had a “date” planned with J.R., a methamphetamine...