⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

Real court arguments, crisp audio, with context.

Court recordings can be difficult to follow, and many suffer from poor audio quality. This podcast enhances the audio, provides a brief introduction to each case, and explains legal concepts that may be unfamiliar to some listeners.

We hope these enhancements make oral argument recordings easier to understand, more accessible, and more enjoyable to listen to.

Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube /feed.xml Open RSS Status

United States v. Angel Vause — 4th Cir. (Oct 29, 2026)

No. 25-4119 Argued October 29, 2026 Published October 30, 2026

The Fourth Circuit considers an eighteen-year sentence for lies told during an FBI investigation into a teenage girl's kidnapping and murder. Angel Vause pleaded guilty to three false-statement counts arising from a single interview. The lies concerned the events surrounding the girl's disappearance, including how she entered a car and what happened to her phone. The three sentences run one after another, rather than at the same time. Vause is challenging whether the interview could support three separate punishments. The rule of lenity favors the defendant when a criminal law remains seriously ambiguous after the usual tools of interpretation have been applied. She also challenges the use of a higher statutory maximum. The false-statements law normally permits up to five years per offense, but allows up to eight for certain specified matters. The court is examining whether a charging defect involving that higher limit requires relief.

United States v. Angel Vause (No. 25-4119) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, argued October 29, 2026.

Sources
Argument audio — official Fourth Circuit recording, October 29, 2026:https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/OAarchive/mp3/25-4119-20261029.mp3
Official argument calendar — No. 25-4119:https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/cal/internetcalOct272026.pdf
Prior guilty pleas — U.S. Attorney, District of South Carolina, September 9, 2024:https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/georgetown-woman-pleads-guilty-lying-federal-investigators
Prior sentencing — U.S. Attorney, District of South Carolina, February 13, 2025:https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/georgetown-woman-sentenced-18-years-lying-fbi-during-brittanee-drexel-investigation
False statements and statutory maximum — 18 U.S.C. § 1001:https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001
Unit of prosecution and lenity — United States v. Smith, Fourth Circuit majority, section II:https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/204414.P.pdf
Limits on the rule of lenity — Barber v. Thomas, Supreme Court majority, part III.A:https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/09-5201.ZO.html

0:00
0:00