Case Explained: Non-Argument Calendar UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JEROME WALTER KIGGUNDU

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-08-05 Docket: 1:20-cr-00089-JRH-BKE-1 The eleventh-circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Jerome Kiggundu’s motion to dismiss his indictment and vacate his conviction for bank fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and making a false statement under oath. The court held that the law-of-the-case doctrine bars Kiggundu from raising these challenges on this second appeal because he failed to raise them during the merits briefing stage of his first appeal, thereby waiving his right to challenge those specific district court rulings. The court applied the standard rule that legal decisions made at one stage of litigation, which are not challenged in a subsequent appeal when the opportunity existed, become the law of the case and preclude revisiting them later. The court noted three exceptions to this doctrine—substantially different evidence, a change in controlling law, or a prior decision that was clearly erroneous and would work a manifest injustice—but found none applicable here since there was no second trial, no change in controlling law, and Kiggundu had been given the opportunity to raise these issues during his first appeal’s merits briefing. Consequently, the court affirmed the district court’s order without addressing the substantive merits of the bank fraud or constructive amendment arguments. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.