April 08th, 2017

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
United States v. Doyle

Docket: 15-10549
Opinion Date: April 7, 2017
Judge: Stephen Andrew Higginson
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor and was sentenced to 48 months in prison, as well as three years of supervised release. Defendant did not appeal, but moved for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) from the denial of his motion to modify conditions of supervised release under 18 U.S.C. 3583(e) and moved this court to modify certain conditions of his supervised release. The court explained that even if defendant's challenge to the special condition prohibiting him from possessing a computer or internet connection device without permission of the court were not premature, he failed to show that the district court abused its discretion in declining to modify the condition. In this case, defendant admitted in the district court that he posted an advertisement soliciting companionship on an internet site and that he emailed a photograph of his penis to a male who he thought was 15 years old. Accordingly, the court denied the IFP motion and dismissed the appeal. The court also denied defendant's motion to modify conditions of supervised release.