In this brief decision, the Second Circuit rather sharply rebuked Judge McKenna of the S.D.N.Y. for granting the defendant a downward departure based on family circumstances, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 5H1.6. The defendant, Shawn Smith, pled guilty to possession of a gun by a convicted felon. His adjusted Guideline offense ...

Here the Court held that the Apprendi rule has no retroactive effect on cases on collateral review; and that Apprendi does not fit within one of the "hen's-teeth rare" exceptions established under Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288 (1989).

The defendant in this case, Michael O’Driscoll, is currently serving a 325 year sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in Allenwood, PA on a prior kidnapping conviction. On August 29, 2001, he was indicted on a charge of first degree murder, arising out of a stabbing death that occurred in prison ...

In U.S. v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873 (1975), the Supreme Court established the principle that the fourth Amendment requires a finding of "reasonable suspicion" in order to conduct roving border patrol stops. Applying that principle to the facts developed at a suppression hearing, Judge Vazquez of the D.N.M. concluded that, ...

Here the Court granted an eight-level downward departure due to the defendant's diminished capacity - not based on U.S.S.G. § 5K2.13 (since his mental condition was not outside th Guidelines "heartland") - but rather pirsuant to 18 USC § 3553(b).

The defendant in this case pled guilty to conspiracy to ...

The defendant in this case was convicted by a jury of two counts of conspiring to import the controlled substance methylenedioxymethamphetamine (commonly known as ecstasy) in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 963 and to distribute the same drug in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. Defendant disputed the calculation of ...

Here the Court held that the “catchall” provisions of U.S.S.G. § 5K2.0 do not trump the specific prohibition in § 5K2.13 against departures when the significantly reduced mental capacity “was caused by the voluntary use of drugs or other intoxicants”.

The defendant in this case pled guilty to unarmed bank ...

This is one of those slippery and highly fact-specific cases in which sympathy for the defendant appeared to win out over logic and the technical mandates of the law. The defendant, Virginia Cockett, while a nurse at a medical center, prepared a series of false Federal income tax returns for ...

This case started back in 1990 with abduction at gunpoint of Dr. Alvarez-Machain, a Mexican citizen, from his office in Guadalajara by DEA agents and his subsequent removal to the United States for a trial on charges that he had participated in the murder of a DEA agent. The case ...