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Samir Allen Farhoumand v. Harold W. Clarke, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 17-6238 · judgment September 13, 2017

Certiorari denied · February 20, 2018

Pre-decision estimate: 0% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

Following a bench trial, Petitioner Samir Farhoumand was convicted under a Virginia statute that prohibits an adult from knowingly and with lascivious intent exposing his or her genitalia to a person under the age of 15. The trial judge found that “touching” met the definition of exposure, regardless of whether the genitalia was exposed to view. The Virginia Supreme Court found that the trial judge had erred, and that exposure required that the genitalia be exposed to view. Farhoumand v. Commonwealth, 764 S.E.2d 95, 100 (Va. 2014). Despite this finding, the Court did not vacate the conviction, but evaluated the evidence for sufficiency, and affirmed. The question presented is: Can it reasonably be said that the trial judge may have convicted Farhoumand for conduct that was not covered by the charging statute? If so, then Farhoumand’s convictions must be vacated.

For petitioner
Jonathan P. Sheldon
Sheldon & Flood, PLC

For respondent
Matthew Robert McGuire
Office of the Attorney General

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Feb 20 2018
Petition DENIED.
Jan 10 2018
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/16/2018.
Jan 03 2018
Waiver of right of respondent Harold Clarke to respond filed.
Dec 12 2017
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 22, 2018)