Court Opinion

ID: 9931293
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-08 19:01:16.22541+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:18:15.585640
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-40135         Document: 00517059885             Page: 1      Date Filed: 02/08/2024

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit                                          United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                           Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________
                                                                                         FILED
                                                                                  February 8, 2024
                                        No. 23-40135
                                      ____________                                    Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                           Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                       Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Cortese Sears,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                           for the Eastern District of Texas
                               USDC No. 4:20-CR-203-1
                      ______________________________

   Before Elrod, Willett, and Duncan, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
          The attorney appointed to represent Cortese Sears has moved for
   leave to withdraw and has filed a brief that relies on Anders v. California, 386
   U.S. 738 (1967). Sears has not filed a response.
          Counsel’s brief is inadequate in the following respect. Counsel has not
   addressed whether there is a nonfrivolous issue for appeal on plain error
   review as to whether Sears’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) violates

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-40135      Document: 00517059885           Page: 2   Date Filed: 02/08/2024

                                     No. 23-40135

   the Second Amendment in light of New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v.
   Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), and whether such a challenge is barred by the
   appeal waiver in Sears’s plea agreement.
          Counsel is ORDERED to file within 30 days a supplemental Anders
   brief addressing the above issue or, in the alternative, a brief on the merits
   addressing any nonfrivolous issues that counsel deems appropriate.
          The motion to withdraw is CARRIED with the case. This motion
   will be considered moot if a merits brief is filed.

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