Jane Branstetter Stranch

In United States v. Ricky House, the defendant pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm after a 2022 gas station altercation in which he brandished and fired a pistol with an extended magazine. The district court applied a Guidelines enhancement for a large-capacity magazine under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(1), producing a range capped at the 120-month statutory maximum, and imposed a below-Guidelines sentence of 96 months. On appeal, House argued for the first time that the enhancement did not apply because his 15+1 firearm did not meet the “more than 15 rounds” definition and that the court had failed to address his policy objections to the enhancement. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, ruling that any error was invited because House had conceded the enhancement’s applicability at sentencing and that the district court sufficiently considered the policy argument when it acknowledged the high offense level and imposed a sentence well below the range.

gunscriminal law

Jaylen Simpson pleaded guilty during jury selection to carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury and discharging a firearm during the offense, after shooting a homeowner in the abdomen, stealing his car, and causing permanent injuries requiring multiple surgeries. He appealed his sentence, arguing that the district court should have granted a two-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility and that it placed excessive weight on the nature and circumstances of the offense under the § 3553(a) factors. The Sixth Circuit affirmed the sentence in full. It held that the late timing of the plea, combined with Simpson’s statement to the probation officer claiming the gun went off accidentally, supported denying the reduction. The court further concluded that the district court’s extended discussion of the sentencing factors, including the extreme harm to the victim, produced a reasonable within-Guidelines sentence.

criminal lawgunsprocedure

In 2011, Triple Properties Detroit bought undeveloped condominium units subject to a March 2014 deadline under the project’s Master Deed and Michigan law to either complete development or withdraw the units, after which any remaining rights would revert to the condominium association; Triple knew of this risk but took no action, allowing the reversion to occur. When Triple later attempted to sell the units, the buyer discovered the defect, leading to litigation against Triple, and Triple sought a defense from its title insurer, First American Title Insurance Company. First American denied coverage under Exclusion 3(a) of the policy, which bars claims arising from defects that the insured “created, suffered, assumed, or agreed to.” The district court granted summary judgment to First American, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed, holding that the exclusion plainly applied to the self-inflicted title problem and that Triple’s additional breach and equitable arguments were either untimely, unpreserved, or contrary to the policy’s unambiguous terms.

property

In United States v. Milder Escobar-Temal, an unlawfully present Guatemalan citizen living in Tennessee since 2012 was charged under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5)(A) after police found three firearms in his home during an investigation into unrelated allegations. He moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing that the statute—which prohibits firearm possession by those unlawfully present—violates the Second Amendment both facially and as applied to him. The district court denied the motion, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed the conviction. The majority assumed without deciding that unlawfully present noncitizens may qualify as part of “the people” protected by the Second Amendment but concluded that the prohibition is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of disarming individuals who failed to demonstrate allegiance to the sovereign. A separate opinion concurred in the judgment while disagreeing with the majority’s approach to the scope of “the people.”

immigrationgunscriminal law

Miles Guptill sued off-duty Chattanooga police officer Joel Gunn and the City of Chattanooga under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state tort law after Gunn twisted Guptill’s arm and struck his head against a wall while hospital staff attempted to restrain and medicate Guptill during a 2021 mental health admission. The district court granted summary judgment to Gunn on the federal excessive-force claim and most other claims, leaving only state-law assault and battery, and granted full summary judgment to the City. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. It held that Gunn was entitled to qualified immunity because existing precedent did not clearly establish that an officer could not use that degree of force against a patient who was actively resisting involuntary medication under a Certificate of Need for emergency mental-health detention. It further held that Guptill failed to show any municipal policy, custom, or post-incident ratification that was the moving force behind the alleged violation, precluding Monell liability against the City.

civil rightsproceduretorts & liability

The case involves the Estate of Donovan Lewis suing the City of Columbus and its police chief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that a city policy or custom of racially discriminatory policing and excessive force caused the fatal shooting of the unarmed Lewis by an officer. The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), which represents Columbus police officers and negotiated the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) containing policies challenged in the complaint, moved to intervene in the lawsuit as of right or permissively to defend those provisions. The district court denied intervention, but the Sixth Circuit reversed, holding that FOP satisfied Rule 24(a) requirements. The court reasoned that FOP demonstrated a substantial legal interest in the CBA, that the lawsuit could impair that interest through potential changes to disciplinary and other policies, and that the City might not adequately represent FOP’s position given public statements by city officials criticizing the union and CBA, along with the possibility of differing litigation strategies or settlements.

civil rightslabor & employmentprocedure