United States v. Frank Douglas

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Decided: March 1, 2022
• Docket: 20-13264
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 20-13264 Date Filed: 03/01/2022 Page: 1 of 2

[DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 20-13264 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus FRANK DOUGLAS,

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 3:18-cr-00005-CAR-CHW-1 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 20-13264 Date Filed: 03/01/2022 Page: 2 of 2

2 Opinion of the Court 20-13264

Before LUCK, LAGOA, and BLACK, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Frank Douglas pled guilty to one count of bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), for which the district court sen- tenced him to 240 months’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay $6,700 in restitution. Douglas appealed the district court’s denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea before sentencing. Shortly after the parties completed briefing, however, Douglas passed away. We review questions of jurisdiction de novo, and we may raise the issue sua sponte. United States v. Lopez, 562 F.3d 1309, 1311 (11th Cir. 2009). “It is a well-settled principle of law that all criminal proceedings abate ab initio when the defendant dies pend- ing direct appeal of his criminal conviction.” United States v. Schu- mann, 861 F.2d 1234, 1236 (11th Cir. 1988). In such a scenario, we must dismiss the appeal as moot and remand to the district court with directions to vacate the judgment and dismiss the indictment. See id. That the district court ordered the deceased defendant to pay restitution does not affect this result. United States v. Logal, 106 F.3d 1547, 1551-52 (11th Cir. 1997). Because Douglas passed away shortly after the parties com- pleted briefing, his appeal is moot. Accordingly, we dismiss the ap- peal and remand with instructions to vacate the judgment and dis- miss the indictment against Douglas. DISMISSED.