BLOG BULLETS: There’s a good argument that whether prior offenses were “committed on occasions different from one another” for purposes of the ACCA is a fact that’s subject to Apprendirequirements and so can’t be decided by a judge at sentencing. The courts of appeals have rejected this argument, but the controlling cases in some circuits, […]

BLOG BULLETS: Convictions of separate offenses can count as multiple prior convictions under the Armed Career Criminal Act even if they’re based on charges in the same charging document. The convictions don’t count separately if they’re not committed on different occasions, or arise out of a “single criminal episode,” but offenses committed within an hour […]

BLOG BULLETS: The Supreme Court has rejected arguments that the obstruction of justice guideline is an unconstitutional infringement on a defendant’s constitutional right to testify in his own defense. But the Court has required specific findings of all the elements of perjury, including a willful intent to provide false testimony, and recognized that testimony may […]

BLOG BULLETS: A recent Fifth Circuit case held that a Georgia possession of marijuana with intent to distribute conviction didn’t qualify as a “drug trafficking offense” for purposes of the illegal reentry guideline enhancement because it included possession with intent to distribute small amounts of marijuana for no remuneration. The case is based on the […]