In United States v. Fleming, No. 20-1776 (2d Cir. July 14) an appeal from a denial of compassionate release, the Second Circuit granted a motion to be relieved filed by counsel , but denied the government’s motion for summary affirmance on the ground that the appeal was not frivolous. The motion was an Anders motion filed on the ground that there was no non-frivolous legal argument to be made that the district court abused its discretion under the Brooker standard in denying the motion, where it weighed the factors on the record and concluded that the defendant’s age and health condition (45 years old with asthma) in the context of a Covid-19 outbreak weighed only slightly in favor of release, but was outweighed by the 3553(a) factors, specifically the defendant’s record of violent crime, danger to the community, and protection of the public, and the fact that he had …
Friday, July 16th, 2021
Second Circuit holds there is no right to counsel on an appeal from a compassionate release motion, but an appeal is not frivolous unless it “lacks an arguable basis in law or fact.”
Posted by John Lee
Categories: compassionate release, right to counsel on appeal, summary affirmance
Categories: compassionate release, right to counsel on appeal, summary affirmance
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Categories: compassionate release, right to counsel on appeal, summary affirmance
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