Joining several other circuits, court holds that 18 U.S.C. § 3651 (repealed 1987) permits district courts to revoke probation based on pre-probation conduct.

This decision explores the boundaries of municipal liability in civil rights actions based on 43 U.S.C. § 1983 - an issue that is destined to take on increasing importance due to the explosive growth of claims based on police brutality. For example, in the past five years alone, the City ...

This decision explores the boundaries of municipal liability in civil rights actions based on 43 U.S.C. § 1983 - an issue that is destined to take on increasing importance due to the explosive growth of claims based on police brutality. For example, in the past five years alone, the City ...

At first reading, this case presented Judge Young with the opportunity to present some rather intemperate views about how the Federal Debt Collection Act (18 U.S.C. § 3001 et seq.) should be utilized to perpetuate and enforce the collection of restitution orders issued in criminal cases - but, as will ...

What does a judge do when he gets reversed? He gets angry!

When Judge Enslen first sentenced the defendant in this case, he imposed a two level enhancement pursuant to the provisions of U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(c) on the grounds that the defendant had acted as an organizer, leader, manager, or ...

As the Government increasingly seeks to attack defense counsel who represent defendants in drug cases, this case presents a timely analysis of the "crime-fraud exception" to the attorney-client privilege. The Court explained that the crime-fraud exception removes the attorney-client privilege from those attorney-client communications that are "relate[d] to client communications ...

This is as rare as it gets in Federal criminal cases these days. Seven times the Fifth Circuit intoned that the Government had failed to present any evidence that the defendant had committed any crime - and for that reason it reversed the defendant's conviction with the comment that "no ...

For a well-reasoned contrary view, see U.S. v. Saavedra, 148 F.3d 1311 (11th Cir. 1998).

Here the Court held that in determining the offense guideline, a sentencing court may properly consider the defendant's relevant conduct, even if that conduct was not part of the offense for which the defendant was ...

One of the most visible lopsided imbalances in the criminal justice system is a comparison of the unfettered freedom by which prosecutors can obtain their witnesses with the severely restricted circumstances under which defendants can obtain theirs. Prosecutors have many weapons in their arsenal ranging from immunity, to promises of ...

At first reading, this case presented Judge Young with the opportunity to present some rather intemperate views about how the Federal Debt Collection Act (18 U.S.C. § 3001 et seq.) should be utilized to perpetuate and enforce the collection of restitution orders issued in criminal cases - but, as will ...

Court observed that, prior to 1995, a defendant convicted of conspiracy could not be sentenced as a career offender.

The Court observed that, prior to 1995, a defendant convicted of conspiracy could not be sentenced as a career offender because the statute under which the Guideline career offender provision was ...

One of this issues raised in this case was whether the district court had erred when it granted a downward departure in part because of a "possible miscalculation" in the defendant's prior sentence. The district court granted a substantial departure based on "diminished capacity" (see, § 5K2.13 infra), but at ...

See also U.S. v. Bremers, 195 U.S. 221 (5th Cir. 1999).

This is another case involving the reassignment of cases based on the pendency of charges against Judge McBryde of Texas, here holding that the Chief Judge exceeded his prescribed jurisdiction in reassigning cases to himself.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - "The methods we employ in the enforcement of our criminal laws have aptly been called the measures by which the quality of our civilization may be judged." Coppedge v. United States, 369 U.S. 438, 449 (1962).

Encouraged by the astonishing indifference of the courts to ...

For similar rulings in other Circuits, see U.S. v. Crawford, 115 F.3d 1397 (8th Cir. 1997) and U.S. v. Muench, 153 F.3d 1298 (11th Cir. 1998).

[Editor's Note: In 1992, Congress enacted 18 U.S.C. § 228, which became known as the Child Support Recovery Act of 1992 (CSRA). The CSRA ...

Case held that when a defendant attempts to excuse his conduct he is not entitled to an acceptance of responsibility sentence reduction even if the excuses are not a legal justification sufficient to negate criminal responsibility.

Case rejected the use of hearsay statements against penal interest, holding that there must be indicia of trustworthiness of trhe specific essential assertions not merely the facts contained in the statement.

What does a judge do when he gets reversed? He gets angry!

When Judge Enslen first sentenced the defendant in this case, he imposed a two level enhancement pursuant to the provisions of U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(c) on the grounds that the defendant had acted as an organizer, leader, manager, or ...

This case addressed downward departures under U.S.S.G. § 5K2.13 based on a defendant's "diminished capacity" in the context of the provision of § 5K2.13 that states that such departures are permissible "provided that the defendant's criminal history does not indicate a need for incarceration to protect the public."

The defendant ...

Case held that the district court improperly sentenced defendant under guideline governing civil rights violations rather than guideline for theft offenses, despite finding that defendant, a former police officer, committed civil rights violations.

Here the Court held that in a case involving fraud relating to food stamps, the correct measure of the loss for Guideline sentencing purposes is the value of the benefits diverted from intended recipients of users.

United States v. Studevent, 116 F.3d 1559 (D.C. Cir. 1997)
United States v. Barnes, ...

In this money structuring case the court held that a guilty plea plea entered before the Supreme Court's decision in Ratzlaf v. U.S., 510 U.S. 135 (1994) was not knowingly and voluntarily made when the defedant was misinformed about the critical elements of the charged offense, even if that misinformation ...

United States v. Studevent, 116 F.3d 1559 (D.C. Cir. 1997)
United States v. Barnes, 117 F.3d 328 (7th Cir. 1997)

In fraud cases under the Guidelines, the length of a defendant's sentence depends on the amount of the "loss" that was involved; and, as shown by these two cases, that ...

Case held that hearsay statements are not admissible under Rule 803 merelt because they appear within public records.

The Court held that "the rule appears to contemplate . . . that a summary will be admitted instead of, not in addition to, the documents that it summarizes . . . and that it will have been prepared by a witness available for cross-examination, not by the lawyers trying ...