In this case, the Ninth Circuit reversed a conviction for attempted sex trafficking either by force or of a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1591(a) on the grounds that the district court had materially modified an essential element of the indictment “by transforming the offense with which the ...

In a decision that significantly broadens the power of Federal prosecutors to seek convictions in securities fraud cases, a divided panel from the Second Circuit upheld the insider trading conviction Mathew Martoma, the largest individual insider prosecution in U.S. history. Insider trading is a violation of § 10(b) of the ...

This is a decision that perfectly symbolizes the quixotic and often fickle nature of sentencing. Here, a divided panel from the Tenth Circuit affirmed sentence of time served for a defendant who kidnapped his ex-girlfriend in Austin, Texas with the aid of a BB gun, handcuffed her, drove he across ...

This is a fascinating child pornography decision in which the Court dismissed, without prejudice, seven counts of an Indictment on the grounds that those counts, which largely recited the statutory language, were “factually insufficient” and “manifestly deficient” and that “while a valid indictment can be clarified through a bill of ...

Here a divided panel held a warrant authorizing officers to search for and seize all cell phones and other electronic devices in defendant's residence was invalid both because it was overly broad and because it was unsupported by probable cause.

In this case, a divided panel from the D.D. Circuit ...