In United States v. Yepez, --- F.4th ---, No. 22-50233 (9th Cir. 2024), the Court dismissed as moot Roberto Yepez’s appeal from the district court’s order dismissing his motion for compassionate release.
Before briefing in the appeal was concluded, he was released from prison.
The Court held "that a motion for compassionate release may not be used to shorten a term of supervised release."
However, the Court also noted "that, even when a person has been released from imprisonment, a challenge to his sentence is not moot if a favorable ruling could be used as a factor weighing in favor of reducing the term of supervised release under § 3583(e)." But it held that this rule did not apply in the context of Yepez's appeal because a resolution on the merits "would be irrelevant to the evaluation of any future motion under § 3583(e)."
