United States v. Anthony M. Lynch , 605 F. App'x 963 ( 2015 )

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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 14-14019
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 8:12-cr-00147-VMC-MAP-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
ANTHONY M. LYNCH,
a.k.a. Ant,
Defendant - Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
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(June 3, 2015)
Before JORDAN, ROSENBAUM, and JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
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Anthony Lynch appeals his 21-month sentence, imposed after the district
court revoked his supervised release based its on finding that he fled, eluded the
police, and attempted to murder a law enforcement officer. Mr. Lynch argues that
the district court erred in two ways: (1) by ignoring his duress defense and placing
the burden on him to prove duress; and (2) by denying his fifth motion for a
continuance. After reviewing the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm.
I
We review a district court’s revocation of supervised release for abuse of
discretion, see United States v. Cunningham, 607 F.3d 1264, 1266 (11th Cir.
2010), and are bound by the district court’s findings of fact unless they are clearly
erroneous, see United States v. Almand, 992 F.2d 316, 318 (11th Cir. 1993). We
review the denial of a motion for a continuance for an abuse of discretion. See
United States v. Bowe, 221 F.3d 1183, 1189 (11th Cir. 2000).
II
Mr. Lynch first argues that the district court abused its discretion in failing
to consider evidence that corroborated his duress defense—that he was forced at
gunpoint to flee from the police and did not intend to strike the officer with his car.
This argument, however, fails for two reasons. First, the record shows that the
district court considered the defense but determined that other evidence, such as
Mr. Lynch’s rapid acceleration of the vehicle and failure to obey the officer’s
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commands, supported a finding that he attempted to strike and murder the police
officer. Second, even if the district court had failed to consider evidence that
might have substantiated Mr. Lynch’s claim, under Florida law duress is not an
available defense to those charged with attempted first-degree murder. See Henry
v. State, 613 So. 2d 429, 432 (Fla. 1992) (“Moreover, duress is not a defense to
intentional homicide because ‘duress will never justify the killing of an innocent
third party.’”). Thus, the district court did not abuse its discretion in revoking Mr.
Lynch’s supervised release.
The district court also did not abuse its discretion in denying Mr. Lynch’s
unopposed motion for a fifth continuance. Mr. Lynch contends that because he
had state charges pending, he could not testify in support of his duress defense
without making incriminating statements, which would have exposed him to a state
sentence of 25 years to life in prison. “The denial of a continuance [, however,] is
not an abuse of discretion unless it ‘severely prejudices’ the moving party.” In re
Fisher Island Investments, Inc., 778 F.3d 1172, 1197 (11th Cir. 2015) (citations
omitted). Because the defense of duress was not available as a matter of law, Mr.
Lynch cannot show that he was severely prejudiced by the district court’s denial of
his continuance motion.
III
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm.
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AFFIRMED.
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