UNITED STATES v. RUCKER (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.2021-04-06No. No. 20-3164

Summary · law.co

Holding. The court vacated the district court's July 30, 2020 order denying sentence reduction and remanded for further proceedings in light of intervening precedent.

Larry Rucker appealed a district court's denial of his request for a sentence reduction under federal law. The appeal had been temporarily suspended while the court waited for a decision in a related case. After two new appellate decisions established changed legal standards, both Rucker and the government agreed that the district court's order should be set aside and the case sent back for reconsideration.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

Post-conviction sentence reduction eligibility under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)
Effect of supervening appellate decisions on prior denials
Application of changed legal standards on remand

Procedural posture

Rucker appealed the district court's denial of a sentence reduction motion, an appeal that had been abated pending related appellate decisions.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion · public domain

ORDER AND JUDGMENT **

Appellant Larry Rucker filed this post-conviction appeal of the district courts July 30, 2020 order denying a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). We abated this appeal pending a decision in United States v. Maumau, No. 20-4056.

The parties have filed a Joint Motion for Summary Disposition to summarily vacate the district courts July 30, 2020 order and to remand due to a supervening change of law, specifically this courts recent decisions in United States v. McGee, No. 20-5047, 992 F.3d 1035 (10th Cir. Mar. 29, 2021) and United States v. Maumau, No. 20-4056, 993 F.3d 821 (10th Cir. Apr. 1, 2021).

Upon consideration, we lift the abatement of this appeal and grant the parties’ Joint Motion for Summary Disposition. We hereby vacate the district courts July 30, 2020 order denying a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) and remand for further proceedings consistent with United States v. McGee and United States v. Maumau.

The Clerk is directed to issue the mandate forthwith.

Per Curiam