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Isaac Nformangum v. United States
IFP petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 24-20515 · judgment January 2, 2026
Question presented
This case presents a circuit split that this Court previously granted certiorari to resolve but did not ultimately decide. United States v. Resendiz-Ponce, 549 U.S. 102, 116-17 (2007) (Scalia, J., dissenting). The question presented is: Whether the failure of an indictment to allege an essential element of a criminal offense constitutes structural error requiring automatic reversal, or instead is subject to harmless-error review.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
John Dennis Hester
Hester Law
For respondent
D. John Sauer
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
Order
Order list, October 13, 2026 · Certiorari denied
Proceedings
- Oct 13 2026Petition DENIED.
- Sep 24 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/9/2026.
- Sep 23 2026Reply of petitioner Isaac Nformangum filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 08 2026Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed.
- Jul 30 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including September 8, 2026.
- Jul 29 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from August 7, 2026 to September 8, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jul 06 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including August 7, 2026.
- Jul 02 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 8, 2026 to August 7, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Jun 08 2026Response Requested. (Due July 8, 2026)
- May 27 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/11/2026.
- May 21 2026Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
- Apr 01 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due May 27, 2026)