In this case the Court was faced with the issue of whether forfeiture of property under 18 USC § 982(a)(1) "involved in" a money laundering offense includes property used to facilitate the laundering offense. The Government claimed that the legitimate funds in the account facilitated the money laundering violations by ...

Contrary to the rule in most other Circuits, here the Eleventh Circuit holds that, under its precedent, the law "clearly authorizes delegation of payment schedules to the probation office".

United States v. Messner, 107 F.3d 1448 (10th Cir. 1997) (Judge Porfilio)
United States v. Fuentes, 107 F.3d 1515 (11th Cir. ...

United States v. Oser, 107 F.3d 1080 (3rd Cir. 1997) (Judge Sloviter)
United States v. Schaefer, 107 F.3d 1280 (7th Cir. 1997) (Judge Coffey)
United States v. Fuentes, 107 F.3d 1515 (11th Cir. 1997) (Judge Tjoflat)

This triumvirate of cases deals with another gem of lucidity - the provisions of ...

This "unprecedented" habeas corpus case takes the cake as a blatant example of coaching witnesses to achieve a conviction; but to understand what happened, one must read the descriptive dissenting opinion of Judge Noonan.

The defendant was convicted to sexual assault of a four year old girl. Among the alleged ...

The defendant in this case, a ophthalmologist, was charged in a massive 217 count indictment with numerous counts of Medicare fraud, mail fraud and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (which applies to engaging in monetary transactions in ...

One of the pretend rules that exists in our criminal justice system is that a defendant has a right to a reasonable expectation of finality about his sentence once his sentence is imposed. While we have seen broad exceptions to that rule once a defendant has successfully appealed a portion ...

United States v. Viltrakis, 108 F.3d 1159 (9th Cir. 1997) (Judge Roney)
United States v. McVeigh, 954 F.Supp. 1441 (D.Colo. 1997) (Judge Matsch)

These two cases address another recurrent and fulminic issue: Does an indigent defendant really have the ability to compete fairly with the Government in obtaining funds needed ...

Here the Court affirmed the district court's ruling granting defense witnesses only a small portion of the witness fees they requested, largely on the basis that defendant lacked standing to appeal the payments to the witnesses.

United States v. Viltrakis, 108 F.3d 1159 (9th Cir. 1997) (Judge Roney)
United States ...

Here's another case that deals with the raging, but hopelessly confused, question of whether improper jury instructions constitute "plain" error, within the meaning of Rule 52(b) of the Fed.R.Crim.P. The defendant in this case was charged with being a felon in possession of a gun in violation of 18 U.S.C. ...

United States v. Oser, 107 F.3d 1080 (3rd Cir. 1997) (Judge Sloviter)
United States v. Schaefer, 107 F.3d 1280 (7th Cir. 1997) (Judge Coffey)
United States v. Fuentes, 107 F.3d 1515 (11th Cir. 1997) (Judge Tjoflat)

This triumvirate of cases deals with another gem of lucidity - the provisions of ...

Lozada v. United States, 107 F.3d 1011 (2nd Cir. 1997) (Judge Newman)
Houchin v. Zavaras, 107 F.3d 1465 (10th Cir. 1997) (Judge Henry)
United States v. Asrar, 108 F.3d 217 (9th Cir. 1997) (Order)

By now, it is no dark secret that when Congress passed the mellifluously-named Antiterrorism and Effective ...

One of the issues raised in this case was whether a previous sentence that the defendant served in home detention under a Tennessee program called "Community Alternatives to Prison Program" constituted a "sentence of imprisonment" for purposes of U.S.S.G. § 4A1.1(a). After a lengthy and thoughtful analysis, the Court concluded ...

Lozada v. United States, 107 F.3d 1011 (2nd Cir. 1997) (Judge Newman)
Houchin v. Zavaras, 107 F.3d 1465 (10th Cir. 1997) (Judge Henry)
United States v. Asrar, 108 F.3d 217 (9th Cir. 1997) (Order)

By now, it is no dark secret that when Congress passed the mellifluously-named Antiterrorism and Effective ...

One of the issues raised in this case was whether the Supreme Court's ruling in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993) had any impact on the long tradition of admitting handwriting analysis through expert testimony.

In Daubert, the Supreme Court clarified the admissibility requirements for expert ...

Case held that the Government's breach of a plea agreement constituted plain error; and it directed the Government to reduce all oral pleas to writing.

This was one of those massive drug conspiracy cases that charged twenty-seven people as co- conspirators. Twenty two of them pled guilty; and five went to trial. One of the many issues raised in this appeal was a claim that the defendants who went to trial were seriously prejudiced when ...

Here, based largely on Koon v. U.S., the Fourth Circuit re-evaluated its former position and held that post-offense rehabilitation efforts may justify a downward departure - but see USSG § 5K2.19 which became effective on Nov. 1, 2000.

This could be an extremely important departure decision under the Guidelines. Until ...

One of the pretend rules that exists in our criminal justice system is that a defendant has a right to a reasonable expectation of finality about his sentence once his sentence is imposed. While we have seen broad exceptions to that rule once a defendant has successfully appealed a portion ...

United States v. Messner, 107 F.3d 1448 (10th Cir. 1997) (Judge Porfilio)
United States v. Fuentes, 107 F.3d 1515 (11th Cir. 1997) (Judge Tjoflat)

A number of interesting restitution issues are raised in these two cases. In Messner, for example, the Court holds that "unlike the sentencing guidelines, which allow ...

In this case, the habeas corpus petitioner's arresting officers discovered cocaine in his house and in his car a week later, which had been impounded since the search. In separate proceedings, Rashad was tried in state court based on the cocaine found in the different locations. He was tried both ...

Case held that district court committed reversible error by culling from the record only a portion of the Government's direct examination of a witness in response to the jury's open ended request for information.

Noteworthy quote from Judge Harrington in which he criticized the "unbridled power, unchecked by judicial scrutinity" which enables prosecutors to impose grossly disproportionate sentences by virtue of their charging decisions.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - The unfettered power of Federal prosecutors to shatter the lives of so many.

"It is ...

Case held that the jury must decide the question of materiality under the currency reporting statute, 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1).

This is an important tax case that confirms a strong split among the Circuits regarding the impact of the Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Gaudin, 132 L.Ed.2d 444 (1995) ...

This decision is actually an extraordinary sentencing memorandum written by a courageous judge who plaintively cries out once again for some sanity in the sentencing practices that exist.

In this case, the defendant was arrested by the Boston Police Department on a charge of possession of a gun by a ...

See U.S. v. Torres, Docket No. 98-3006 (10th Cir. 7/7/99) where this approach was criricized.

The Court held that because the district court did not take the defendant's prior sentence into account in determining his base offense level for the instant offense, the prior sentence was not relevant conduct for ...

United States v. Oser, 107 F.3d 1080 (3rd Cir. 1997) (Judge Sloviter)
United States v. Schaefer, 107 F.3d 1280 (7th Cir. 1997) (Judge Coffey)
United States v. Fuentes, 107 F.3d 1515 (11th Cir. 1997) (Judge Tjoflat)

This triumvirate of cases deals with another gem of lucidity - the provisions of ...

Court reversed district Judge Bechtle's earlier decision in which he held that the Child Support Recovery Act was unconstitutional, reasoning that the Act was a valid exercise of Congress' power under the Commerce Clause.

[Editor's Note: In 1992, Congress enacted 18 U.S.C. § 228, which became known as the Child ...

As gingerly and quickly as possible, Judge Sessions approached the delicate, but explosive, issue of jury nullification by stating that "it is well settled that juries are not to consider penalties in reaching their verdicts", and by citing Shannon v. U.S., 512 U.S. 573 (1994) for that proposition.

In our ...

Lozada v. United States, 107 F.3d 1011 (2nd Cir. 1997) (Judge Newman)
Houchin v. Zavaras, 107 F.3d 1465 (10th Cir. 1997) (Judge Henry)
United States v. Asrar, 108 F.3d 217 (9th Cir. 1997) (Order)

By now, it is no dark secret that when Congress passed the mellifluously-named Antiterrorism and Effective ...