United States v. Randall Kingman
United States v. Randall Kingman
Opinion
USCA4 Appeal: 22-4067 Doc: 39 Filed: 02/02/2024 Pg: 1 of 3
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 22-4067
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
RANDALL GARETH KINGMAN,
Defendant – Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Anderson. Donald C. Coggins, Jr., District Judge. (8:20-cr-00768-DCC-1)
Submitted: August 31, 2023 Decided: February 2, 2024
Before NIEMEYER and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and MOTZ, Senior Circuit Judge.
Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
ON BRIEF: Emily Deck Harrill, Assistant Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellant. Adair F. Boroughs, United States Attorney, William J. Watkins, Jr., Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Greenville, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 22-4067 Doc: 39 Filed: 02/02/2024 Pg: 2 of 3
PER CURIAM:
Randall Kingman pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and the district
court sentenced him to a 60-month term of imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of
supervised release. Kingman appeals that sentence, making several arguments. Having
considered those arguments, we accept only Kingman’s challenge to a special condition of
supervision which, in relevant part, prohibits him from viewing materials that depict nudity
or sexual activity.
After the parties submitted briefing was in this case, the Court issued a published
decision in United States v. Cohen, holding an identical condition had “breathtaking reach”
and vacating it as impermissibly overbroad.
63 F.4th 250, 256–57 (4th Cir. 2023). * Because
the condition challenged in that case mirrors the condition challenged in this one and (like
there) neither the characteristics of the defendant nor the nature of his offense justify such
a sweeping restriction, we conclude the district court erred. And because that error affects
Kingman’s substantial rights and because leaving it uncorrected would cast doubt on the
fairness and integrity of judicial proceedings, we also conclude that warrants relief under
the plain-error standard. See United States v. Ravenell,
66 F.4th 472, 485(4th Cir. 2023)
(outlining plain-error standard to be applied to unpreserved claims).
Accordingly, we vacate the relevant portion of the condition and remand for entry
of a modified judgment striking the offending language. See Cohen, 63 F.4th at 256–57
Kingman also moved to place this case in abeyance pending this Court’s decision *
in Cohen. Because that opinion has now issued, we deny that motion as moot.
2 USCA4 Appeal: 22-4067 Doc: 39 Filed: 02/02/2024 Pg: 3 of 3
(vacating because, in such circumstances, the condition imposed a “greater deprivation of
liberty than reasonably necessary”). We affirm the district court’s judgment in all other
respects. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
VACATED AND REMANDED
3
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished