November 09th, 2018

US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
United States v. Graves

Docket: 17-11276
Opinion Date: November 8, 2018
Judge: Oldham
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's imposition of a $5,000 special assessment and held that 18 U.S.C. 3014 allows the district courts to consider defendant's future earning capacity when determining whether a defendant is indigent. In this case, the district court found defendant non-indigent based on evidence that he took accelerated placement courses in high school, obtained his GED, and briefly attended college; had a wide range of vocational skills; had a long history of employment; had previously earned $40,000 annually; and was able bodied.

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