When this decision was first announced it was widely billed as the decision that would end all future debate on the politically sensitive issue of jury nullification. Perhaps such promises were based on the fact that the decision was written by Judge Cabranes, a likely future choice for a seat ...

United States v. Morris, 116 F.3d 501 (D.C.Cir. 1997) (Judge Williams)
United States v. Martin, 116 F.3d 702 (3rd Cir. 1997) (Per Curiam)
United States v. Hernandez, 116 F.3d 725 (5th Cir. 1997) (Per Curiam)

When the Supreme Court ruled, in Bailey v. U.S., 133 L.Ed 2d 472 (1995), that ...

Ah, the fickle standards of criminal justice! Not too long ago, the Second Circuit ruled, in United States v. Matthews, 106 F.3d 1092 (2nd Cir. 1997), that the defendant could properly be charged with a Federal crime for assaulting a handyman because the handyman worked for a private maintenance firm ...

Court held that the late disclosure of evidence by the Government did not warrant suppression due to the failure of the defendant to prove prejudice.

The petitioner in this case was a long-time permanent resident alien of the United States who had committed a criminal offense that rendered him deportable. He was place in deportation proceedings and, in September 1994, he applied for § 212(c) relief (8 U.S.C. § 1182(c)). In January, 1995, the Immigration ...

Court held that an act that is alleged to have been done in furtherance of an alleged conspiracy is not an "other" act within the meaning of Rule 404(b); rather is is part of the very act charged.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - Jury nullification - a different view.

Although Judge Wiseman's decision in this case was subsequently vacated by an unpublished order of the Sixth Circuit, his words represent one of the most comprehensive judicial analyses of the controversial topic of jury nullification made in recent times. ...

Case is noted for Judge Sloviter's dissent in which he argues that in a § 2255 petition, the court has no authority to modify the original sentence after an appeal limited to the issues raised in Bailey v. U.S.

United States v. Morris, 116 F.3d 501 (D.C.Cir. 1997) (Judge Williams) ...

Case held that there was no plain error in determining that the defendant could be sentenced under an amendment to the statute that became effective after her probation was ordered.

Because this is an en banc decision, and because it is yet another attempt to make some sense out of the Supreme Court's plain error doctrine as enunciated in U.S. v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725 (1993), it is noted. However, we warn you - it is one of those highly ...

Here the Court adopted the "sentencing package" theory as the basis for its authority to amend the unchallenged portions of the original sentence following a Bailey-type appeal filed pursuant to a motion under 28 USC § 2255.

United States v. Morris, 116 F.3d 501 (D.C.Cir. 1997) (Judge Williams)
United States ...

Every prisoner should read this case, because it contains one of the best recent reviews of the few due process rights that prisoners still retain. In this case a prison guard alleged that, during a "shakedown", he discovered a bottle containing an orange colored substance in the prisoner's cell, and ...

Following a Bailey-type appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2255, district court has authority to increase the sentence on the unchallenged counts of conviction.

In a case of first impression the Court held that "prior felony conviction" included conviction committed after the defendant committed the instant offense, but before sentencing in the instant offense.

In its ruling, the Fifth Circuit joined a majority of the Circuits on this issue - essentially holding that it ...

Ah, the fickle standards of criminal justice! Not too long ago, the Second Circuit ruled, in United States v. Matthews, 106 F.3d 1092 (2nd Cir. 1997), that the defendant could properly be charged with a Federal crime for assaulting a handyman because the handyman worked for a private maintenance firm ...

Here the Court held that "Precluding the district court from reconsidering the entire sentence after one count of conviction is vacated would be inconsistent with the purposes and structure of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines." (Id., at 859).

For a case that lists those Circuits which follow the majority view ans ...

In this case, Judge Shanahan dismissed an indictment that was based on one of the recently enacted provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) on the grounds that the applicable statute was an unconstitutional exercise of congressional power under the Commerce Clause. It purports to be the first reported ...

The Government really hit the jackpot in this drug case. The aggregate sentences imposed on the nine defendants were 17 life sentences, plus 60 years, plus 3,529 months (which comes out close to another 300 years). So, on average, each defendant got the equivalent of 1.89 life sentences plus and ...

Early last year the Seventh Circuit issued one of the most devastating critiques we have ever read about the manner in which Congress passes some legislation. In U.S. v. Brumley, 79 F.3d 1430 (5th Cir. 1996) (Brumley I), the Court dismissed a series of convictions for mail fraud, wire fraud, ...