United States v. Cline, No. 19-51178 (5th Cir. 2021)
Annotate this Case
The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for violating the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Defendant's arguments center on challenges to his conviction for violating two separate protection orders by transporting his girlfriend across state lines in violation of both.
The court held that the district court did not err by denying defendant's motion to dismiss the indictment where the definition of protection order in VAWA encompasses the two orders at issue. The court also held that the district court did not err in denying defendant's motion for acquittal as a matter of law where a rational jury could have found the elements of each offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt. Finally, the court held that the district court did not err in denying defendant's motion to elect a single count of conviction. In regard to defendant's sentence, the court held that the district court did not err by applying a two-level, vulnerable victim sentencing enhancement under USSG 3A.1.1. In this case, defendant knew that the victim was pregnant with his child and knew or should have known that she was susceptible to his efforts to contact her.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.