Riddle Me This A Quizzical Approach to Recent Fourth Circuit Cases 2012 Alan DuBois Senior Appellate Attorney Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of NC What Do You Get When You Divide Five Republicans into Ten Democrats? The Fourth Circuit. Advanced Answer: The Formula for a 50% Better Chance of an Enjoyable Trip to Richmond. Six New Judges Since 2009 More Geographic Balance More Published Opinions But Remember the Immortal Words of Albert Einstein: Everything is Relative! Court Is Less Conservative But Hardly Liberal Who Said Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated? It Was Actually the Fourth Amendment. Now Off Life Support in the Fourth Circuit This Guy? Wrong! New Common Sense Focus on Search and Seizure Issues Police are not infallible or superhuman Sowards Police are not automatically credible no matter how far-fetched their story Mubdi Police have been known to overstep their authority Jones But, Not So Fast! If the Fourth Circuit Is Lucy and the Fourth Amendment is the Football, Who Are You? The Common Sense Gate Swings Both Ways Laudermilt- protective sweep McBride- drug dog delay ThatsRight ! If the Fourth Amendment is on the Mend, What Constitutional Protection Has Taken Its Place on the Endangered Species List? The Confrontation Clause. The Clause Is in Vogue in the Supreme Court. In the Fourth Circuit, Not So Much. Palacios- gang expert testimony Deleon- statements to social worker Dinkins- murdered witness on Pinkerton theory Mouzone- 911 calls Who Best Understands Armed Career Criminal Sentencing? Trick Question. No One Understands Armed Career Criminal Sentencing. Attempted B&E is a crime of violence Davis Possession of a shank in prison is a crime of violence Mobley What is More Confusing Than Chinese Arithmetic, the Infield Fly Rule, and TSA Security Line Policies All Put Together? Properly Applying the Taylor Categorical Approach Outcomes in these cases hard to predict. Colson- lewd depiction of nudity was sexual abuse of minor Gomez- child abuse was not crime of violence Pending Supreme Court case may clarify things. Descamps Where Do All The Cases That Dont Fit Anywhere Else Go? Right here! (Yes, I was running out of steam by the time I got to this slide). Smoot- Court leaves open possibility of as-applied 2 nd Amendment challenge to 922(g). Powell- May limit Simmons relief. Lawson- New trial because juror used Wikipedia Davis- Court may consider factors other than defendants cooperation in determining extent of Rule 35 departure. McBride- 404(b) win! Finally, What Do the Fourth Circuit and the University of South Carolina Have in Common? The Fourth Circuit had not one but two cases involving cockfighting last year. Gibert Lawson Long story short- It is constitutional for Congress to ban animal fighting. An Obsessive Fascination with Gamecocks