In U.S. v. Jenkins, 537 F.3d 894, 897 (8th Cir. Aug. 8, 2008), the Eighth Circuit held that, in determining whether a mandatory minimum sentence applies to a drug distribution offense, the district court can aggregate drug quantities derived from relevant conduct.

That ruling, however, was flawed because it conflicts ...

On August 3, 2010, the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (“FSA”) was signed into law amidst claims by its sponsors that Congress was finally correcting a national shame and an injustice that had prevailed for more than 20 years. Since 1986, Federal laws mandated sentences for crack cocaine offenses that ...

In this decision, a sharply divided Supreme Court continued its assault on the post-AEDPA remnants of the once mighty powers of the Federal courts to grant habeas review of state court rulings. It also reversed another Ninth Circuit decision which had granted habeas relief to a death row inmate on ...

In the 12/13/10 issue of P&J, we noted the decision entitled U.S. v. Alvarez, 617 F.3d 1198 (9th Cir. Aug. 17, 2010) (“Alvarez I”), in which a sharply divided panel vacated a conviction under the Stolen Valor Act, 18 U.S.C. § 704(b) (the “SVA”), of a defendant who falsely claimed ...

Former Enron Corporation CEO Jeffrey K. Skilling was convicted of conspiracy, securities fraud, making false representations to auditors, and insider trading; and he was sentenced to 292 months in prison and $45 million in restitution damages. On his direct appeal, Skilling argued, inter alia, that the district court had erred ...

Here the Court held that a cell phone, which was only used to make voice calls and send text messages, was a “computer” for purposes of supporting a two-level enhancement called for under U.S.S.G. § 2G1.3(b)(3) for use of a computer in a sex crime.

The defendant in this case, ...

After the defendant in this case was convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, he appealed on a number of grounds, including allegations of numerous violations of this rights under the Fourth Amendment. In one such argument, he alleged that the Government had violated the provisions of ...

This is an interesting decision in which the defendant, an alien convicted of illegal reentry into the U.S. following his earlier removal, challenged the testimony of a Border Agent at his trial in which the agent testified that he had performed a search of the Government’s Computer Linked Application Information ...

For a detailed commentary on and analysis of this decision, see "The Purpose of Reasonable Doubt in Criminal Trials: Prosecutorial, Police Misconduct Lead to Wrongful Conviction Unsupported by Evidence," by John Floyd, Esq. as posted on his Criminal Jurisdiction Blog on Feb. 11, 2011 at
http://www.johntfloyd.com/blog/2011/02/11/the-purpose-of-reasonable-doubt-in-criminal-trials/ as follows:

In a ...

Here a divided panel held that the submission to the jury of a stipulation as to the weight of the drugs that were seized, which was signed by the defendant’s own defense counsel over the defendant’s objection, violated his Confrontation Clause rights.

Here’s a great example of fair trials in ...