This case has already evolved into a major confrontation between the Government and Judge Gertner over the conditions under which the death penalty may be imposed under the Federal Death Penalty Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3591 et seq. (“FDPA”), should the defendants be convicted of the various gang-related crimes for ...

Previously, in U.S. v. Ameline, 400 F.3d 646 (9th Cir. Feb. 9, 2005) (Ameline I) (P&J, 01/24/05), a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit held that the defendant’s sentence - which was imposed prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Booker, 125 S.Ct. 738 (Jan. 12, 2005) - ...

Here the Court held that there was no principled basis for distinguishing subsection 3553(b)(1) from 3553(b)(2) with respect to the rationale of Booker - and thus § 3553(b)(2) should be deemed excised from the law just as § 3553(b)(1) was.

In this case, the Court considered "whether the rationale of ...

One defendant plead guilty to drug charges under 18 U.S.C.S. § 2, 21 U.S.C.S. § 841(a)(1). A co-defendant plead guilty to drug charges under 21 U.S.C.S. § 846. For sentencing, defendants raised arguments as to a reasonable doubt standard of proof, the Ex Post Facto Clause, U.S. Const. art. 1, ...

Here the Court held that a legislative extension of the applicable statute of limitations period for sex offense crimes before the prosecution was barred under the existing limitations period did not violate the ex post facto clause.

In 2003, the defendant was indicted on six counts of abusive sexual contact ...

Defendant was sentenced to 322 months in prison after he was convicted of conspiring to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C.S. § 846. Subsequent to the Booker decision, defendant sought a reduction in his sentence.

Defendant was indicted in 1990 on various drug ...

This is the first case we can remember seeing in which a petitioner has successfully challenged his classification by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) as a sex offender. The core issue was whether a prisoner could be classified as a sex offender, under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § ...

By a vote of 6-to-5, and over a compelling dissent by Judge hawkins, the majority of the en banc court rejected a claim that the model grand jury instructions violate the Fifth Amendment by undermining the independence of the grand jury.

Once again, the Ninth Circuit has been forced to ...

Here the Court reversed a Sixth Circuit decision which held that section 3 of the RLUIP was facially unconstitutional, thereby upholding a Federal law that requires State prison officials to remove unneeded restrictions on religious exercises.

In this unanimous decision, the Supreme Court upheld a five-year old federal law that ...

Here a unanimous Court overturned the criminal conviction for obstruction of justice of the auditing giant, Arthur Andersen LLP, because of faulty jury instructions that failed to convey properly the elements of a corrupt persuasion under 18 USC § 1512(b).

In this unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court overturned the criminal ...