Judge Callahan authors an opinion that affirms a criminal conviction and sentence. That's surely not a "man bites dog" story.
What is unusual, however, is the nice way in which she does it.
The opening paragraph of the opinion reads:
"James Richards appeals from the imposition of consecutive 24-month
sentences for violating the conditions of his supervised release for possession of
two guns and ammunition. He argues that the consecutive sentences: violate his
rights under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments as explained in United States v.
Haymond, 139 S. Ct. 2369 (2019); violate his rights under the Double Jeopardy
Clause; and are not supported by sufficient evidence. . . . Richards’ arguments on appeal are not persuasive."
Fairly typical, right?
But what I deliberately left out with the ellipsis are the following words: "Although well presented by counsel . . . ."
Hey! That's very sweet.
Always great to get kind words from a Ninth Circuit judge. Even when you lose.
Appellant's counsel is Thomas Sprankling of WilmerHale. I'm assuming it's a pro bono case, since last time I checked, Wilmer didn't typically make bank by representing criminal defendants like this one.
(A short synopsis of the defendant's criminal history: "In 2007, Richards was arrested for possession of crack cocaine and a gun. He pled guilty to Count One, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, and Count Three, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. He was sentenced to 106 months of incarceration. Richards was released from prison in June 2016 and placed under supervised release. In June 2017, the terms of his supervised release were modified to account for his substance and alcohol abuse issues. In September 2018, Richards’ supervised release was revoked because of his failure to properly communicate with his probation officer and for driving a motorcycle on a suspended license. He was sentenced to two months in custody, an additional 58 months of supervised release, directed to reside in a half-way house for 10 months, and placed on GPS monitoring for the first 150 days of his residence at the half-way house. In February 2019, Richards left the half-way house without permission, for which the district court imposed additional GPS monitoring and required Richards to abstain from alcohol. On March 6, 2020, a Petition for Warrant for Person Under Supervision was filed charging Richards with calling “several witnesses, including a girlfriend, via a mobile video connection, threaten[ing] to kill them, and show[ing] a black handgun.” This appeal arises out of Richards’ actions two days later, on March 8, 2020.)
One benefit of doing pro bono appeals is that you get in a little practice, as well as perhaps add to your resume. And here, there's the bonus of getting some kind words from a federal judge.
Nice.
