The defendant in this case was indicted in 2004 for various bank fraud and income tax violations which arose out of a check-kiting scheme that he allegedly orchestrated while serving as a director of several non-profit organizations more than 10 years earlier. Before the indictment was issued, the defendant entered ...

Defendant requested that the court (1) hold an expedited hearing on the writs of garnishment; (2) quash plaintiff government's writs of garnishment; and (3) modify the fine payment schedule ordered pursuant to the judgment against him in a criminal case. The court granted defendant's request for an expedited hearing.

The ...

U.S. v. Rigas (In re W.R. Huff Asset Management Co., LLC), 409 F.3d 555 (2nd Cir. 2005) (Judge Hall)
U.S. v. Marcello, 370 F.Supp.2d 745 (N.D.Ill. 2005) (Judge Zagel)

Background

On October 30, 2004, President Bush signed into law the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (CVRA), which has become codified at ...

Although this is a pre-Booker decision that was just published, it is noted because of its detailed discussion of the Guidelines’ “lesser harms” defense that is contained in U.S.S.G. § 5K2.11. That elusive provision states in part:

“Sometimes, a defendant may commit a crime in order to avoid a perceived ...

The defendant in this case, Peter Fontes, challenged his sentence for trafficking in crack cocaine on the grounds that the government had engaged in “extreme and outrageous” sentencing factor manipulation, and that the district court had erred in refusing to grant him a downward departure based such misconduct, on the ...

U.S. v. Rigas (In re W.R. Huff Asset Management Co., LLC), 409 F.3d 555 (2nd Cir. 2005) (Judge Hall)
U.S. v. Marcello, 370 F.Supp.2d 745 (N.D.Ill. 2005) (Judge Zagel)

Background

On October 30, 2004, President Bush signed into law the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (CVRA), which has become codified at ...

In this case, the Sixth Circuit held that where a search warrant was so lacking in any indicia of probable cause that no police officer could have reasonably relied upon its issuance as justification for the search at issue, that deficiency cannot be sanitized by resort to the good faith ...

Tarry Jackson was stopped by two United States Park Police officers for driving a car at night without a functioning light on the license plate. Jackson could produce neither a driver’s license nor the car’s registration; and the police officers determined that the license plates had been stolen, although there ...