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James Capers v. United States

IFP petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, No. 23-6087 · judgment December 10, 2024


Certiorari denied · January 12, 2026

Questions presented

  1. In regards to 21 U.S.C. §846, to be in accordance with both Apprendi and Alleyne , to punish as 21 U.S.C. §841(b)(1)(A) (10 to life), must the jury find both the conspiracy amount (Apprendi) and the amount the defendant was personally responsible for (Alleyne), i.e. must two questions be answered?

  2. In regards to 18 U.S.C. §1962(d), to be in accordance with Apprendi to punish beyond the statutory maximum of 20 years, where the jury instructions cited first and second degree murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, and gave Pinkerton instructions, all under New York State Law, to take'<the statutory maximum to life, does the jury have to find more than that the underlying offense "involved [] murder"?

  3. When these questions are brought up pro se for the first time on appeal after a remand for resentencing, where the issues were as above, is Capers properly challenging his sentence, or are these Constitutional challenges not properly brought on remand?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
James Capers

For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jan 12 2026
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Dec 11 2025
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/9/2026.
  3. Dec 03 2025
    Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
  4. Oct 02 2025
    Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due December 19, 2025)