United States v. Burt Hughes

505 F. App'x 388

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Decided: January 7, 2013
• Docket: 11-20787
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

On April 21, 2011, Burt Hughes was convicted of possession and distribution of child pornography. Hughes filed a timely notice of appeal, but on December 12, 2012, during the pendency of his appeal, Hughes suffered a cardiac arrest during surgery and died. “[T]he death of a criminal defendant pending an appeal of his or her case abates, ab initio, the entire criminal proceeding.” United States v. Estate of Parsons, 367 F.3d 409, 413 (5th Cir. 2004) (en banc) (quoting United States v. Asset, 990 F.2d 208, 210 (5th Cir.1993)). The case is extinguished, and the defendant is left “as if he had never been indicted or convicted.” Id. (quoting United States v. Estate of Parsons, 314 F.3d 745, 749 (5th Cir.2002)).

We DISMISS the appeal and REMAND with direction to VACATE the judgment of conviction and sentence, and to dismiss the indictment.

* Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.