The defendant in this case stipulated that a government chemist, if called as a witness, would have testified that the drugs seized were "a mixture and substance containing cocaine base which is commonly known as crack"; and he was sentenced to 262 months in jail on the basis of crack. ...
Court vacated a three level enhancement, holding that management responsibility over property, assets or activities is not a valid basis for such an enhancement.
If nothing else, this case proves that interpreting the Guidelines is often like dancing on the head of a needle. The principal issue here was the ...
Quote from Justice Jackson in which he described the atmosphere under which most police searches are conducted, forcing the citizen to meekly submit or resist at the risk of arrest.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK - A realistic view of the atmosphere in which police searches are conducted:
"[A]n illegal search ...
In this case the Court held that district courts have no authority to review a prosecutor's refusal to file a § 5K1.1 motion for a sentence reduction based on substantial assistance for bad faith.
This is one of those rare cases in which the conviction of one of two defendants (both of whom were
charged with possession of drugs with intent to distribute) was reversed because the trial court had
improperly allowed the prosecution to introduce extensive evidence of gang affiliation. Judge Beatty
determined ...
The defendant in this case had served as the Chairman of a Savings and Loan Association until he left in 1983. In 1993 he was indicted for conspiracy to divert some funds of that bank. Before trial, Judge Hoeveler dismissed the single count against the defendant as untimely. Even though ...
The petitioner in this case sought a writ of habeas corpus on the grounds that New Hampshire had violated the anti-shuttling provisions of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act. The lower court dismissed the petition on the grounds that an IAD violation is not ordinarily a ground for habeas corpus ...
United States v. Roseboro, 87 F.3d 642 (4th Cir. 1996) (Judge Niemeyer)
United States v. Martinez, 87 F.3d 731 (5th Cir. 1996) (Judge Garwood)
Both of these cases deal with the scope of the Jencks Act (18 U.S.C. § 3500); and, although the defendants in both cases failed to prevail ...
Quote from Justice Jackson in which he described the atmosphere under which most police searches are conducted, forcing the citizen to meekly submit or resist at the risk of arrest.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK - A realistic view of the atmosphere in which police searches are conducted:
"[A]n illegal search ...
United States v. Gomez, 87 F.3d 1093 (9th Cir. 1996) (Judge Hall)
United States v. Ferranti, 928 F.Supp. 206 (E.D.N.Y. 1996) (Judge Weinstein)
Both of these cases involved challenges to the Federal arson statute (18 U.S.C. § 844(i)) on the grounds that the properties that were burned did not sufficiently ...
United States v. Gomez, 87 F.3d 1093 (9th Cir. 1996) (Judge Hall)
United States v. Ferranti, 928 F.Supp. 206 (E.D.N.Y. 1996) (Judge Weinstein)
Both of these cases involved challenges to the Federal arson statute (18 U.S.C. § 844(i)) on the grounds that the properties that were burned did not sufficiently ...
Here the Eleventh Circuit held that the trial court had not abused its discretion in finding that the defendant was prejudiced by a ten year delay between the period that he ceased to have any connection with a bank and the date of his indictment.
The defendant in this case ...
Although this decision was later overruled, the Court held that a statute authorizing reimposition of new term of supervised release which was enacted after original crime of conviction was unconstitutional as violation of Ex Post Facto Clause.
The Court held: "In United States v. McGee, 981 F.2d 271, 274 (7th ...
United States v. Gomez, 87 F.3d 1093 (9th Cir. 1996) (Judge Hall)
United States v. Ferranti, 928 F.Supp. 206 (E.D.N.Y. 1996) (Judge Weinstein)
Both of these cases involved challenges to the Federal arson statute (18 U.S.C. § 844(i)) on the grounds that the properties that were burned did not sufficiently ...
Court held that Guideline Amendment 518 merely clarified, rather than amended, the Guidelines by specifying the weight of drugs to be considered in a completed transaction and therefore should be given retroactive effect.
One of the issues raised by the Government in this appeal was the validity of Judge Berrigan's downward departure from the money-laundering Guideline range specified in § 2S1.2. The Judge rejected a defense motion to depart downward on the grounds that this was not a typical money-laundering case. However, she ...
Here's another case that addresses the growing efforts by defendants to mitigate the onerous sentences that the Government seeks to impose though its indiscriminate use of money laundering charges in virtually every conceivable case. One of the many issues raised in this appeal was the validity of Judge Berrigan's downward ...
In this case the Eleventh Circuit expanded the breadth of Pinkerton liability to include reasonably foreseeable but originally unintended substantive crimes, including crimes occurring as a result of an unintended turn of events.
In this case the Eleventh Circuit gave a particularly broad reading to the principles of conspiratorial liability ...
United States v. Roseboro, 87 F.3d 642 (4th Cir. 1996) (Judge Niemeyer)
United States v. Martinez, 87 F.3d 731 (5th Cir. 1996) (Judge Garwood)
Both of these cases deal with the scope of the Jencks Act (18 U.S.C. § 3500); and, although the defendants in both cases failed to prevail ...
Over the strong dissent of six judges, the Court afirmed the validity of a consent given for a search of a car, despite the troopers admission that he searches 97% of the cars that he stops.
United States v. Lattimore, 87 F.3d 647 (4th Cir. 1996) (Judge Wilkins) (En banc) ...
The issue before the Court in this case was whether a combination of liquid by-products and methamphetamine constitute a "mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine" for purposes of sentencing under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b). Specifically under the facts of this case the question was whether thirty-two kilograms ...
United States v. Lattimore, 87 F.3d 647 (4th Cir. 1996) (Judge Wilkins) (En banc)
United States v. Ramirez-Gonzalez, 87 F.3d 712 (5th Cir. 1996) (Judge Stewart)
These two Fourth Amendment search cases present some interesting issues. In Lattimore, a slim majority of judges upheld an earlier ruling that denied the ...
Following the Supreme Court's hilding in U.S. v. Ursery, the Court sua sponte again affirmed that a proposed forfeiture if $140,000 in funds that a defendant failed to report on a currency transaction report was excessive.
This is one of the first reported cases to cite the Supreme Court's recent ...
