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Medardo Queg Santos v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, No. 20-13973 · judgment December 21, 2021

GVR'd · October 17, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 7% cert probability (95% interval 4%–11%)

Before the decision, about 1.6× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, an Eleventh Circuit decision below, and counsel who has filed here before.

Questions presented

  1. If a physician’s good faith is a complete defense to a prosecution for prescribing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose or outside the usual course of professional practice 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), as this Court may hold in Ruan v. United States, No. 20-1410 (oral argument convened Mar. 3, 2022), may an expert provide incorrect legal opinion testimony that the test is purely objective?

  2. At sentencing, may district courts find relevant conduct that has a wag-the-dog effect on the guidelines calculation by using a mere preponderance-ofevidence standard (as four circuits have held), or must they instead apply a clear-and-convincing-evidence standard (as one circuit has held)?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Thomas Arnold Antoine Beller Burns
Burns, P.A.

For respondent
Elizabeth B. Prelogar
Solicitor General

Case

Subject area
Criminal Procedure (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Linked docket
21A504

Order
Order list, October 17, 2022 · Summary disposition

Proceedings

  1. Nov 18 2022
    Judgment issued.
    Main Document
  2. Oct 17 2022
    Petition GRANTED. Judgment VACATED and case REMANDED for further consideration in light of Xiulu Ruan v. United States, 597 U. S. ___ (2022).
  3. Sep 28 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/14/2022.
  4. Sep 27 2022
    Reply of petitioner Medardo Queg Santos filed. (Distributed)
    Main DocumentOtherCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  5. Sep 14 2022
    Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
    Main DocumentCertificate of Word Count
  6. Aug 01 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including September 14, 2022.
  7. Jul 28 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from August 15, 2022 to September 14, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
    Main Document
  8. Jul 14 2022
    Response Requested. (Due August 15, 2022)
  9. Jun 22 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2022.
  10. Jun 03 2022
    Memorandum of respondent United States filed.
    Main DocumentProof of Service
  11. Apr 20 2022
    Application (21A504) denied by Justice Thomas.
  12. Apr 20 2022
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 3, 2022)
    PetitionCertificate of Word CountProof of Service
  13. Apr 08 2022
    Application (21A504) to extend further the time from April 20, 2022 to May 20, 2022, submitted to Justice Thomas.
    Written Request
  14. Mar 15 2022
    Application (21A504) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until April 20, 2022.
  15. Mar 09 2022
    Application (21A504) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from March 21, 2022 to May 20, 2022, submitted to Justice Thomas.
    Main DocumentLower Court Orders/Opinions