constructive-amendment
55 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-6819 | Brandon Prawl v. United States | Second Circuit | 2026-02-13 | Pending | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review constructive-amendment criminal-indictment due-process fifth-amendment sixth-amendment | The Petitioner, Brandon Prawl, was indicted for one crime but convicted of a different crime and sentenced to a consecutive 60-month prison term. Does… |
| 25-6464 | Djonibek Rahmankulov v. United States | Second Circuit | 2025-12-31 | Pending | IFP | bank-fraud co-conspirator-liability constructive-amendment criminal-procedure loss-calculation sentencing-guidelines | 1. A writ of certiorari is requested to determine whether the district court's loss calculation which included intended losses under §2B1.1 Applicatio… |
| 25-5328 | Ayana Saunders v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2025-08-12 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constructive-amendment indictment sixth-circuit trial-procedure variance venue | I. Whether the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals erred in finding that the proof at trial did not result in a Constructive Amendment or Variance from the… |
| 24-7429 | Randy Torres v. United States | Second Circuit | 2025-06-16 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | apprendi-standard circuit-split constructive-amendment racketeering-conspiracy sentencing-enhancement special-sentencing-factor | 1. A writ of certiorari is requested to determine whether the district court's final instruction to the jury for the indictment's Special Sentencing F… |
| 24-7349 | Reymundo Arredondo v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2025-06-03 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | circuit-split constructive-amendment criminal-procedure essential-elements indictment statutory-interpretation | When a criminal offense can be committed in a variety of ways, does a prosecutor constructively amend an indictment by altering the essential elements… |
| 24-5829 | Ricky Donnell Abner v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2024-10-25 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constructive-amendment criminal-procedure drug-trafficking due-process geographical-location section-924c | 1. Does the §924(c) (1)(A) 'Possession In furtherance of' offense conduct require geographical location be proved as alleged in indictment, when ONE P… |
| 23-6103 | Alvin Celius Andre v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2023-11-22 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | burden-of-proof constructive-amendment criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process entrapment entrapment-defense prosecutorial-misconduct statutory-interpretation | I. Does a constructive amendment occur when the government substitutes Congress's intended object of the actus reus of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b), "any indiv… |
| 23-5390 | Neeraj Chopra v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2023-08-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process essential-elements indictment indictment-modification jury-instruction jury-instructions sexual-assault sexual-contact statutory-interpretation | A jury instruction constructively amends the indictment if it modifies the essential elements of the offense charged in the indictment. Chopra's indic… |
| 23-5292 | Carlos Arturo Patino Restrepo v. United States | Second Circuit | 2023-08-04 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | conspiracy constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process indictment jury-instructions prosecutorial-discretion | Where an indictment alleges a conspiracy involving a specific group, does a district court's conspiracy instructions which removes any mention of the … |
| 23-5213 | Deangelo Devon Grant v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2023-07-26 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process indictment indictment-interpretation judicial-discretion methamphetamine methamphetamine-weight sentencing-guidelines | Does utilizing a provision of the United States Sentencing Guidelines for " actual " weight of methamphetamine, rather than the charged offense of " m… |
| 23-5042 | Daniel Robinson v. United States | Third Circuit | 2023-07-05 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | conspiracy constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process federal-rule-of-evidence fifth-amendment grand-jury law-enforcement-testimony opinion-evidence prosecutorial-overreach | 1. Whether this Court's guidance on constructive amendments in conspiracy cases is necessary to protect criminal defendants' Fifth Amendment rights. … |
| 22-7621 | Jerry Elkins v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2023-05-23 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | civil-rights constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process federal-jurisdiction fraud-on-the-court hazel-atlas-fraud interstate-commerce jury-instructions rico-violation | Whether the convictions of Petitioner, to include twenty-one (21) other Defendants, was in violation of the U.S. Constitution as the instant indictmen… |
| 22-7415 | Ricky Pendleton v. Donald Ames, Superintendent, Mt. Olive Correctional Center | West Virginia | 2023-05-01 | Denied | Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | constructive-amendment due-process habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel notice pro-se res-judicata | Whether the State courts's doctrine of res judicata was applied adequately after it summarily denies Pendleton's pro se filings of the successive habe… |
| 22-7242 | In Re Henry Jones | 2023-04-07 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | civil-rights collateral-attack constitutional-violations constructive-amendment denial-of-counsel due-process extraordinary-writ fraud jurisdiction sentencing trial-record-falsification | WHETHER BY REASON OF THE NUMEROUS CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS COMMITTED BY THE DISTRICT COURT, SUCH AS FALSIFYING THE RECORD OF JONES' TRIAL PROCEEDINGS… | |
| 22-5976 | Ricky Pendleton v. Donnie Ames, Superintendent, Mount Olive Correctional Complex | West Virginia | 2022-11-04 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constructive-amendment criminal-procedure double-jeopardy fifth-amendment grand-jury ineffective-assistance-of-counsel ineffective-counsel jurisdiction malicious-assault robbery sixth-amendment | Under the Constructive Amendment, any substantial amendment, direct or indirect, of an indictment must be resubmitted to the grand jury. Pendleton new… |
| 21-7923 | Charles K. Topping and J. W. Long, aka James Wayne Long v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2022-05-20 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process essential-element fraud-scheme jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct theory-of-defense | 1. Where the district court's instructions to the jury in a crim inal case provide—as part of the theory of defense instruction—an explana tion of an … |
| 21-7624 | Wilfredo Lee Lopez v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2022-04-14 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | circuit-split constructive-amendment criminal-enticement criminal-law due-process fifth-amendment indictment predicate-offense statutory-interpretation | 1. Does 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b), which criminalizes the attempted enticement of a minor to engage in "sexual activity for which any person can be charged … |
| 21-6500 | Jermaine Neal v. Mississippi | Mississippi | 2021-12-03 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | actual-innocence constructive-amendment criminal-investigation due-process false-confession fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment perjury self-incrimination sixth-amendment | 1. WHEN A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES BECOMES A SUSPECT IN A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION FOR HOMICIDE, AND FIRST, AS A RESULT OF BADGERING AND PESTERING F… |
| 21-5868 | Ryan Russell Parks, aka Dinero v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2021-10-04 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | amendment constitutional-rights constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process fair-trial indictment ineffective-assistance post-conviction-relief variance | Question not identified. |
| 21-243 | James Warner v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2021-08-18 | Denied | bribery-statute constructive-amendment criminal-procedure indictment indictment-modification jury-instruction jury-instructions plain-error substantial-rights | Whether the constructive amendment of an indictment by an erroneous jury instruction, stating that conspiracy counts alleged agreements to violate a d… | |
| 20-8184 | Ronald Centeno v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2021-06-01 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-924c 5th-amendment 6th-amendment constructive-amendment mens-rea specific-intent | I. Whether it is a violation of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to submit aiding and abetting to the jury when aiding and abetting is not charged in th… |
| 20-1586 | Artavis Desmond McGowan v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2021-05-14 | Denied | Response Waived | conspiracy constructive-amendment criminal-procedure drug-conviction evidence first-step-act mandatory-minimum sentencing sentencing-relief wiretap wiretap-evidence | I. WHETHER THE DISTRICT COURT ERR IN DENYING McGOWAN'S MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL BASED ON CONSTRUCTIVE AMENDMENT OF THE INDICTMENT WHEN IT ALLOWED THE GOVE… |
| 20-7820 | Michael J. Little v. United States | Second Circuit | 2021-04-22 | Denied | IFP | constructive-amendment criminal-intent criminal-procedure due-process foreign-accounts green-card-holder indictment second-circuit stirone-v-united-states tax-reporting willful-violation | Whether the indictment was constructively amended to add additional undeclared "overseas" accounts not among those specifically identified on the grou… |
| 20-7468 | Aaron Feazell v. United States | District of Columbia | 2021-03-16 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | civil-protection-order constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment fundamental-fairness notice variance variance-doctrine | Question (i). The information charges the defendant with violating a civil protection order (CPO) by being within a hundred (100) yards of the complai… |
| 20-7082 | Edward Bishop v. United States | Seventh Circuit | 2021-02-08 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 6th-amendment 924(c)-prosecution constitutional-violation constructive-amendment deficient-performance drug-trafficking-crime due-process habeas-corpus indictment-defect ineffective-assistance-of-counsel prejudice vagueness-challenge | 1. Whether Trial Counsel's performance was deficient and whether any errors were prejudicial? 2. Is an indictment defective in a 924(c) prosecution i… |
| 20-584 | Michael Wood, et ux. v. United States | Third Circuit | 2020-11-03 | Denied | Response Waived | conspiracy-charges conspiracy-to-commit-immigration-offenses constructive-amendment criminal-procedure first-amendment immigration-law prejudicial-variance statute-of-limitations yates-v-united-states | 1. Whether Defendants' conviction for conspiracy to commit immigration offenses is legally invalid pursuant to Yates v. United States, 354 U.S. 298 (1… |
| 20-5962 | Erik Diaz-Colon v. United States | First Circuit | 2020-10-08 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | civil-rights-conspiracy constitutional-rights constructive-amendment deprivation-of-rights ineffective-assistance plea-agreement right-to-testify trial-counsel | WHETHER PETITIONER'S TRIAL COUNSEL RENDERED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE BY FAILING TO ADVISE HIM OF HIS RIGHT TO TESTIFY AT TRIAL? WHETHER PETITIONER'S TR… |
| 20-401 | Devan Pierson v. United States | Seventh Circuit | 2020-09-28 | Denied | circuit-split constructive-amendment criminal-procedure fifth-amendment grand-jury grand-jury-clause plain-error prejudice rule-52b substantial-rights | 1. What test, if any, should be used to determine whether a constructive amendment impacted a defendant's substantial rights under Rule 52(b)? 2. Wha… | |
| 20-5620 | Ivan Soto-Barraza and Jesus Lionel Sanchez-Meza v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2020-09-09 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | consent conspiracy constructive-amendment criminal-procedure extortion hobbs-act jury-instructions robbery | The Hobbs Act defines extortion, in relevant part, as requiring the wrongful use of violence or fear in order to induce a person to consent to part wi… |
| 20-5540 | Ugunda Giovanni Sanders v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2020-08-31 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | conspiracy-charge constructive-amendment double-jeopardy due-process fifth-amendment grand-jury plea-agreement plea-bargaining prosecutorial-discretion relevant-conduct | The Government charged Sanders with a conspiracy taking place on June 28, 2017. When Sanders pled guilty the Government reserved the right to charge h… |
| 20-5287 | In Re Eddie Allen Jackson | 2020-08-06 | Denied | IFP | constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment grand-jury indictment indictment-modification judicial-error | Whether the district court constructively amended the indictment in petitioner's case and if so does it rise to a Fifth Amendment violation? | |
| 19-1362 | Jason Laut v. United States | Seventh Circuit | 2020-06-11 | Denied | circuit-split constructive-amendment criminal-procedure fifth-amendment grand-jury-clause plain-error prejudice rule-52b substantial-rights | The Grand Jury Clause of the Fifth Amendment demands "that a court cannot permit a defendant to be tried on charges that are not made in the indictmen… | |
| 19-8331 | Jose A. Rodriguez v. Thomas Griffin, Superintendent, Green Haven Correctional Facility | Second Circuit | 2020-04-22 | Denied | IFP | constitutional-error constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process felony-offense grand-jury indictment ineffective-assistance penal-law right-to-counsel | 1. Whether the State Court constructively amended the indictment which charged petitioner on September 1, 2009 through September 1, 2010, before the N… |
| 19-7653 | Roosevelt Bigbee, Jr. v. Jonathan Lebo, Warden | Tennessee | 2020-02-12 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 5th-amendment constructive-amendment conviction criminal-attempt criminal-procedure due-process felony-murder indictment plea-agreement robbery statute testimony | Whether the admission of the plea agreement test mony evidence, of felony murder in the Perpetration of a robbery Included Tenn 3a-12-101 Criminal att… |
| 19-7330 | Michael P. Haldorson v. United States | Seventh Circuit | 2020-01-17 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-844h2 constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process grand-jury indictment statutory-interpretation stirone-v-united-states | Where a grand jury charges a defendant with violating 18 U.S.C. § 844(h)(2) based on the carrying of an "explosive, namely, smokeless powder," may he … |
| 19-7070 | Gary R. Tomey, II v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-12-27 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment indictment jury-instructions material-variance self-incrimination sentencing sentencing-hearing | 1. Whether a constructive amendment and/or material variance of the indictment occurs when a court instructs the jury for the first time — during its … |
| 19-6760 | Ijaz Khan v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2019-11-26 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | administrative-procedure-act constructive-amendment criminal-procedure double-jeopardy federal-rules-of-civil-procedure fifth-amendment indictment indictment-modification polygamy polygamy-charge | THE INDICTMENT, AND WHETHER THIS CONSTITUTES A DOUBLE JEOPARDY VIOLATION N AS THE GOVERNMENT CAN LATER BRING A NEW CHARGE FOR POLYGAMY. |
| 19-6581 | Javier Leon v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2019-11-12 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constitutional-rights constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process fourth-amendment ineffective-assistance material-variance methamphetamine-charge search-and-seizure | WHETHER COUNSEL'S FAILURE TO SUBJECT THE GOVERNMENT'S CASE TO STRICT ADVERSARIAL TESTING, BY REASON OF A FICKLE, BARE-BONES 'MERE PRESENCE' THEORY OF … |
| 19-6418 | Wayne Neville Morris v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-10-29 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | certificate-of-appealability constructive-amendment criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-error due-process fatal-variance fifth-amendment modified-categorical-approach rule-of-lenity sixth-amendment | 1. Whether, a conviction based on an erroneous legal theory, interpretation or a mistake about the law, can continue to be sustained, once the petitio… |
| 19-5722 | Moses Shepard v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-08-28 | Denied | Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | 30-70-day-clock circuit-split constructive-amendment due-process grand-jury-clause indictment-clause plain-error speedy-trial-act subsequent-indictment superseding-indictment | Whether (as the Eleventh Circuit holds), under § 3161(d)(1), a "subsequent replacement indictment " "restarts the clock regardless of how the prior in… |
| 19-5669 | Matthew Davis v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2019-08-22 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | conspiracy conspiracy-to-distribute constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instructions | Petitioner is serving a 360-month sentence for a charge of Conspiracy to Distribute 1000 grams or more of heroin and same amount of cocaine, in violat… |
| 18-9829 | Herve Wilmore, Jr. v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-06-27 | Denied | Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | appeal appellate-review constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment grand-jury-clause judicial-review | Consistent with recalling the mandate to prevent injustice 1) Did the Court of Appeals affirm a Constructive Amendment, which requires reversal per s… |
| 18-9723 | Jennifer Cardenas v. United States | Second Circuit | 2019-06-19 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constructive-amendment due-process false-statements indictment indictment-specificity jury-instruction statutory-interpretation variance visa-fraud | 1. Whether an indictment charging visa fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a) or other crimes involving "false statements" must specify the allegedly false s… |
| 18-9030 | Juan Reyes Rivera v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division | Fifth Circuit | 2019-04-29 | Denied | IFP | confrontation-rights constructive-amendment due-process fifth-amendment grand-jury grand-jury-clause indictment ineffective-assistance | 1. Did trial counsel render ineffective assistance for failure to quash or dismiss Constructive Amended Indictment, amended by the trial court on thir… |
| 18-8854 | Steve Zinnel v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-04-16 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | bankruptcy-fraud bankruptcy-schedules constructive-amendment due-process fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment judicial-fact-finding sentencing-guidelines sixth-amendment stirone-v-united-states wamu-personal-checking-account | Whether there was an unconstitutional constructive amendment or prejudicial variance that tainted all counts, caused by the confluence of the governnn… |
| 18-8673 | Jamael Stubbs v. United States | Third Circuit | 2019-04-02 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 133 S.Ct. 2151 (2013) 6th-amendment alleyne-precedent alleyne-v-united-states constructive-amendment due-process ineffective-assistance sentencing sentencing-challenge sixth-amendment trial-counsel | Whether trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to preserve either a sentencing challenge or a constructive amendment claim under All… |
| 18-7215 | Salih Zeki Uces v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-01-02 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment indictment-amendment international-kidnapping international-parental-kidnapping jury-instructions mens-rea parental-rights | Whether, the Eleventh Circuit violated Mr. Uces's rights under the Fifth Amendment, where it upheld the district court decision to constructively amen… |
| 18-6855 | Antonio DeJesus Perez-Martinez v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2018-11-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review constitutional-challenge constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process equal-protection indictment indictment-variance ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel plea-bargaining proportionality sentencing sentencing-proportionality sentencing-reasonableness | APPELLATE COUNSEL WAS GROSSLY INEFFECTIVE, BY ARGUING A MATERIAL VARIANCE IN THE INDICTMENT, INSTEAD OF THE MORE EGREGIOUS CONSTRUCTIVE AMENDMENT OF T… |
| 18-6800 | Robert Ryan Powell v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2018-11-26 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constructive-amendment double-jeopardy fifth-amendment grand-jury indictment jury-instructions jury-unanimity plain-error sixth-amendment statute-of-limitations | Where jury instructions lack the dates and timeframes specified in the indictment, do the jury instructions constructively amend the indictment, and t… |
| 18-6754 | Domonic McCarns v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2018-11-20 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constructive-amendment criminal-procedure harmless-error indictment plain-error-review speedy-trial-act statutory-interpretation | 1. Whether Cryptic Letter, Number Codes are Sufficient to Satisfy the Speedy Trial Act Requirement that Reasons Justifying Delay of a Criminal Trial M… |
| 18-6676 | Herve Wilmore, Jr. v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2018-11-13 | Denied | Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process effective-assistance-of-counsel fifth-amendment grand-jury indictment wire-fraud | 1) WHETHER, MR. WILMORE'S RIGHT TO BE TRIED ON CHARGES ACCEPTED BY A GRAND JURY, AND MR. WILMORE'S RIGHT TO EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL, WERE VIOL… |
| 18-6576 | Susan Kevra-Shiner v. United States | Third Circuit | 2018-11-06 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process fraud fraud-allegations indictment indictment-scope jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct verdict-slip | Can a well written verdict slip cure the confusion created when the Government's Closing Argument and the Court's Jury Instructions constructively ame… |
| 18-6298 | Robert Alan Fratta v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division | Fifth Circuit | 2018-10-11 | Denied | Relisted (2)IFP | capital-punishment civil-rights constitutional-rights constructive-amendment due-process fatal-variance habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jackson-review miscarriage-of-justice pro-se-representation right-to-counsel standing sufficiency-of-evidence | *** CAPITAL CASE IS IT UNCONSTITUTIONAL FOR A U.S. COURT OF APPEALS TO ACCEPT, SANCTION OR MAKE DECISIONS THAT: ALLOW STATE COURTS 110 REFUSE TO. ACCE… |
| 18-5748 | Rory Allen Meeks v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2018-08-27 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | alleyne-v-united-states appellate-review constructive-amendment criminal-procedure drug-offense drug-offenses jury-instructions mccoy-v-louisiana mens-rea sentencing sixth-amendment | QUESTION I: Whether reasonable jurists might debate the following three questions: - In light of Alleyne v. United States., 135 S. Ct. and Apprendi v.… |
| 18-5464 | Jose Benitez, Jr. v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2018-08-03 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | armed-bank-robbery closing-argument constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process firearm firearm-specification indictment indictment-variance jury-instructions prosecutorial-discretion variance | 1. Does a constructive amendment occur where the jury instructions relieve the Government of proving, as alleged in the indictment, that a defendant c… |