Sentence enhancement for obstruction of justice based on perjury vacated due to lack of evidence that defendant gave false testimony with willful intent to deceive.
United States v. Barnes, 125 F.3d 1287 (9th Cir. 1997) (Judge Brunetti)
United States v. Webster, 125 F.3d 1024 (7th Cir. 1997) (Judge Ripple)
United ...
Among the several issues reviewed in this case, the Court addressed the scope of Rule 16(a)(1)(E) of the Fed.R.Crim.P., which requires the Government to "disclose to the defendant a written summary of [expert] testimony the government intends to use . . . during its case in chief." Here, the defendant ...
Failure to give advance notice of expert witnesses.
Case explains differences between the Victim & Witness Protection Act and the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996.
Case held that restitution orders under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act do not require consideration of defendant's economic circumstances.
This is a significant prison litigation case in which the court invalidated - as "facially violative of the First Amendment" - a recent, little noticed statute that permits the Federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") to refuse to distribute to prisoners mail that it deems to be "sexually explicit" or that ...
Failure of Government to provide notice of its plan to use expert witness was not reversible error absent a showing of prejudice.
Case held that court may order restitution to cover Government's costs of relocating victims.
In this case, the Ninth Circuit reversed two convictions on the grounds that the defendants' speedy trial rights had been violated. The two defendants were originally indicted in 1992 on a number of drug charges. Their initial trial commenced in June of 1993; and they were found guilty and sentenced ...
United States v. Chan-Jimenez, 125 F.3d 1324 (9th Cir. 1997) (Judge Reinhardt)
United States v. Brodie, 975 F.Supp. 851 (N.D.Tex. 1997) (Judge Sanders)
United States v. Alvarado-Ramierez, 975 F.Supp 906 (W.D.Tex. 1997) (Judge Furgeson)
This medley of Fourth Amendment cases shows the continuing, if not growing, mentality of police officers ...
United States v. Baggett, 125 F.3d 1319 (9th Cir. 1997) (Judge Hall)
United States v. Kunzman, 125 F.3d 1363 (10th Cir. 1997) (Judge Logan)
United States v. Malpeso, 126 F.3d 92 (2nd Cir. 1997) (Judge Leval)
Among the plethora of cases this week that deal with restitution issues, these three ...
In this case the Fifth Circuit joined in similar rulings from the Fourth Circuit (U.S. v. Locklear, 24 F.3d 641 (4th Cir. 1994)) and subsequent decisions from the Eleventh Circuit (U.S. v. Saavedra, 148 F.3d 1311 (11th Cir. 1998) and from the Ninth Circuit (U.S. v. Crawford, 185 F.3d 1024 ...
Here the Court held that a claim seeking "the recovery of identified property and monies [is] an action that is equitable in nature and sharply distinguishable from an action at law for damages." (Id., at 1477).
Although the Court held it did not have jurisdiction under the Tucker Act to ...
Case reversed drug convictions due to violations of Speedy Trial Act because district court erred in granting lengthy continuances based on end of justice exception.
Essentially, the Court stated that: "Although it is the government's initial burden to prove by a preponderance of evidence 'that the defendant possessed a weapon in a place where drugs were present', the burden of persuasion then falls upon the defendant to demonstrate that it is 'clearly improbable' that the ...
QUOTE OF THE WEEK - One of the most vivid assessments of the evils of ignoring the Fourth Amendment was given by Justice Marshall some ten years ago when he described the all-too common intrusive conduct of police officers stopping citizens under any pretext with these thought-provoking words:
"The evidence ...
This is a significant prison litigation case in which the court invalidated - as "facially violative of the First Amendment" - a recent, little noticed statute that permits the Federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") to refuse to distribute to prisoners mail that it deems to be "sexually explicit" or that ...
This case highlights both an important limitation on a 1994 amendment to the statutes regulating supervised release (18 U.S.C. § 3583(h)) and an oft-overlooked, but important, provision of the same statutes (18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3)) which limits the ability of the Government to convert the supervised release statutes into a ...
QUOTE OF THE WEEK - One of the most vivid assessments of the evils of ignoring the Fourth Amendment was given by Justice Marshall some ten years ago when he described the all-too common intrusive conduct of police officers stopping citizens under any pretext with these thought-provoking words:
"The evidence ...
This case highlights both an important limitation on a 1994 amendment to the statutes regulating supervised release (18 U.S.C. § 3583(h)) and an oft-overlooked, but important, provision of the same statutes (18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3)) which limits the ability of the Government to convert the supervised release statutes into a ...
United States v. Chan-Jimenez, 125 F.3d 1324 (9th Cir. 1997) (Judge Reinhardt)
United States v. Brodie, 975 F.Supp. 851 (N.D.Tex. 1997) (Judge Sanders)
United States v. Alvarado-Ramierez, 975 F.Supp 906 (W.D.Tex. 1997) (Judge Furgeson)
This medley of Fourth Amendment cases shows the continuing, if not growing, mentality of police officers ...
Here the Court held that bank larceny (under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(b)) cannot be a lesser included offense of bank robbery (under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a)) - a result that was subsequently approved by the Supreme Court.
Case held that restitution may be ordered to victims even if the debts owed to them by the defendant have been discharged in bankruptcy.
Case held that offense of conviction includes "relevant conduct" for purposes of two-level sentence adjustment contained in Sec. 2D1.1(b)(6).
This case examines whether a defendant can qualify for one of the oft-overlooked related benefits of the "safety valve" provisions of the Guidelines, namely the two-level sentence reduction provided for in ...
United States v. Baggett, 125 F.3d 1319 (9th Cir. 1997) (Judge Hall)
United States v. Kunzman, 125 F.3d 1363 (10th Cir. 1997) (Judge Logan)
United States v. Malpeso, 126 F.3d 92 (2nd Cir. 1997) (Judge Leval)
Among the plethora of cases this week that deal with restitution issues, these three ...
What sets this case apart from the norm (and shows a great deal about the mentality of District Judge Mills) were the following facts, as recited by the Seventh Circuit: "Tyler contracted polio at the age of two and has been confined to a wheelchair for more than thirty years; ...
Case held that an instruction permitting the jury to convict on the basis if marijuana evidence, when the indictment alleged only concaine and speed, was an impermissible constructive amendment of the indictment.
Conviction reversed because the indictment charged the defendant with cocaine and methamphatimine distribution, but the evidence showed only marijuana use.
This is another one of those rare cases in which a conviction was vacated because of an impermissible constructive amendment of an indictment. The defendant was indicted for illegal distribution ...
QUOTE OF THE WEEK - One of the most vivid assessments of the evils of ignoring the Fourth Amendment was given by Justice Marshall some ten years ago when he described the all-too common intrusive conduct of police officers stopping citizens under any pretext with these thought-provoking words:
"The evidence ...
United States v. Barnes, 125 F.3d 1287 (9th Cir. 1997) (Judge Brunetti)
United States v. Webster, 125 F.3d 1024 (7th Cir. 1997) (Judge Ripple)
United States v. McLaughlin, 126 F.3d 130 (3rd Cir. 1997) (Judge Schwarzer)
These three cases explore various scenarios under which a sentencing enhancement for "obstructing or ...
United States v. Chan-Jimenez, 125 F.3d 1324 (9th Cir. 1997) (Judge Reinhardt)
United States v. Brodie, 975 F.Supp. 851 (N.D.Tex. 1997) (Judge Sanders)
United States v. Alvarado-Ramierez, 975 F.Supp 906 (W.D.Tex. 1997) (Judge Furgeson)
This medley of Fourth Amendment cases shows the continuing, if not growing, mentality of police officers ...
Case reversed enhancement for obstruction of justice because district court had failed to articulate with adequate clarity its basis for imposing the enhancement.
United States v. Barnes, 125 F.3d 1287 (9th Cir. 1997) (Judge Brunetti)
United States v. Webster, 125 F.3d 1024 (7th Cir. 1997) (Judge Ripple)
United States v. ...
Case reversed a conviction on the grounds that an illegal seizure had been made and there was no valid consent to the ensuing search.
Case discusses difference between Victim and Witness Protection Act and Mandatory Victims Restitution Act.
United States v. Baggett, 125 F.3d 1319 (9th Cir. 1997) (Judge Hall)
United States v. Kunzman, 125 F.3d 1363 (10th Cir. 1997) (Judge Logan)
United States v. Malpeso, 126 F.3d 92 (2nd Cir. 1997) (Judge Leval) ...
