This significant case overrules the long standing precedent in the Fifth Circuit that polygraph evidence
is per se inadmissible for any purpose. The lower court had refused to allow the defendants to use
polygraph evidence to corroborate their version of the events that led to their arrest; and the Court ...

In what is likely to be one of the last cases of its kind, the court granted relief to prisoners in this case after concluding that the jail conditions were not only not fit for human habitation, they were not even fit for livestock.

This decision is part of a ...

This decision is probably the Granddady of cases dealing with a disruption of a Governmental function - although it is also noted because it deals extensively with the issue of whether a sentencing court may use conduct underlying counts that have been dismissed under the terms of a plea agreement ...

Because this decision was written by a retired Supreme Court Justice, it will take on great weight and be accorded unusual deference. One of the issues discussed was a lawyer's nightmare: an order barring the defense from calling two defense witnesses on the grounds that she had violated a Magistrate ...

This decision is probably the Granddady of cases dealing with a disruption of a Governmental function - although it is also noted because it deals extensively with the issue of whether a sentencing court may use conduct underlying counts that have been dismissed under the terms of a plea agreement ...

Court held that district court abused Its discretion in rejecting defendant's offer to stipulate to prior felony conviction.

Case explored issue of when a petitioner is entitled to assistance of counsel on a habeas appeal to claim ineffective assistance of counsel claim in a prior appeal.

This case held that because a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel could not be raised on direct appeal under Virginia law, ...

This decision is probably the Granddady of cases dealing with a disruption of a Governmental function - although it is also noted because it deals extensively with the issue of whether a sentencing court may use conduct underlying counts that have been dismissed under the terms of a plea agreement ...

Case held that appellate courts have authority, in vacating conviction under Bailey, to vacate entire sentence, thereby freeing district court to restructure entire sentence on resentencing.

Here the Court affirmed a sentencing error that led to a 16-month increase in prison time on the grounds that the increase was not significant - a ruling that Judge Rovner called "repugnant" to the Guidelines and to the judiciary.

What is noteworthy about this brief decision is not its ...

United States v. Landerman, 109 F.3d 1053 (5th Cir. 1997) (Judge Benavides)
United States v. Sinclair, 109 F.3d 1527 (10th Cir. 1997) (Judge Henry)

Both of these cases deal with the same underlying question: How much leeway should a defendant be given to delve into the details of the secret ...

Here the en banc court reversed a panel's decision which held that the mother of a boy who shot a policeman could not be prosecuted under 18 USC § 922(a)(6) under a "straw man" theory, stating the Gun Laws do not make irresponsible parenting a crime.

Last July, when we ...

United States v. Landerman, 109 F.3d 1053 (5th Cir. 1997) (Judge Benavides)
United States v. Sinclair, 109 F.3d 1527 (10th Cir. 1997) (Judge Henry)

Both of these cases deal with the same underlying question: How much leeway should a defendant be given to delve into the details of the secret ...

Quote from Judge Goldberg about the evils of bartered testimony.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - The evils of bartered testimony - "the virtual purchase of perjury!"

"One of the basics of our jurisprudence is the search for truth, and by this is meant not the purchased truth, the bartered-for truth, ...

In affirming the dissolution of a consent decree over prisons in Missouri, the Court outlined the factors the trial court must consider.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - The evils of bartered testimony - "the virtual purchase of perjury!"

"One of the basics of our jurisprudence is the search for truth, and by this is meant not the purchased truth, the bartered-for truth, but the unvarnished truth that comes from the lips of ...

Case held that the safety valve statute, which contemplates shorter sentences for first time offenders otherwise subject to the mandatory minimum statutes, applies to cases pending on appeal when it was enacted.

The Court reasoned that "A case is not yet final when it is pending on appeal. The initial ...

The Court also conlcuded that "Although Rule 16 does not control this case, it provides a helpful point of reference for our analysis by describing the district court's authority to remedy discovery infractions in analogous circumstances. Rule 16(d)(2) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure invests the district court with ...