Court held that expert testimony regarding eyewitness reliability was unadmissible under Daubert.
United States v. Torres, 128 F.3d 38 (2nd Cir. 1997) (Judge Calabresi)
Torres dealt principally with the rules that apply to dismissal of jurors for bias; but it also discussed a motion for a new trial, based upon newly discovered evidence that a key Government witness had committed perjury during ...
Court held that the defendant should get no credit or offset against his forfeiture order for the value of property previously forfeited.
Relying heavily on U.S. v. Various Computers and Computer Equipment, 82 F.3d 582 (3rd Cir. 1996), the Court denied the defendant's claim that the prior forfeiture violated the ...
In U.S. v. Nottingham, 898 F.2d 390 (3rd Cir. 1990), the Third Circuit held that a previous version of Section 5G1.3(c) was invalid because that section, which mandated consecutive sentences, conflicted with the provisions of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3584(a), which provides generally that a district court has discretion to order ...
Here the Court held that the seizure of funds from a probationer and transfer of such funds, without a hearing, to the U.S. Treasury as reimbursement for legal fees was proper.
United States v. Proctor, 127 F.3d 1311 (11th Cir. 1997) (Per Curiam)
United States v. Embry, 128 F.3d 584 ...
Case held that bare check-kiting constitutes a Federal crime under the bank fraud statutes.
Bad cases make bad law - and this case is no exception. Responding to a claim that the defendant had engaged in a massive check-kiting scheme (697 checks, amounting to over $20 million, within a ten ...
This is an important case that deals with the fairly customary practice of putting the screws to cooperating witnesses after they have cooperated. Here, the defendant appealed her 20-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering which she received after she had received a 5K1 letter from the Government and ...
One of the issues raised in this case was whether the defendants could properly be convicted of a gun charge under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), for "using" or "carrying" a weapon "during and in relation to" a conspiracy, when the conspiracy never resulted in an underlying substantive crime. The defendants ...
Convictions reversed on grounds that eight year hiatus between indictment and trial violated the Sixth Amendment's call for a speedy trial.
Here the Court held that because "the prosecutor and the court have an affirmative constitutional obligation to try the defendant in a timely manner . . . The burden ...
One of the issues raised in this case was a contention by the defendant that the district court had erred by failing to grant him a judgment of acquittal based on entrapment. The Tenth Circuit disagreed. It held that "conflicting evidence as to a defendant's predisposition precludes a finding of ...
Case held that a person may not be denied the extra one point sentence reduction for "super acceptance" of responsibility on the grounds that he also qualified for an obstruction of justice enhancement.
One of the issues raised in this telemarketing-fraud was whether the district court (Judge Wiseman) had erred ...
Incarceration upon revocation of supervised release is proper even when the total incarceration, including the time served for the substantive offense, exceeds the maximum incarceration permissible under the substantive statute.
United States v. Proctor, 127 F.3d 1311 (11th Cir. 1997) (Per Curiam)
United States v. Embry, 128 F.3d 584 (7th ...
Case held that role as "organizer" does not require proof that defendant exercised control over subordinates.
The principal issue raised on this appeal was whether the district court had erred by imposing a two-level sentence enhancement, under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(c), for the defendant's role as an "organizer" of a criminal ...
Here the Court held that a district court violates Rule 32 when it merely "adopts" the findings of the PSR, or "accepts" the PSR's recommended sentencing level without making any findings of fact on disputed issues.
Last week, we noted two cases, U.S. v. Berndt, 127 F.3d 251 (2nd Cir. ...
The Koon case (Koon v. U.S., 135 L.Ed.2d 392 (1996)) continues to carve out significant new changes in the manner that courts will analyze the propriety of sentencing departures under the Guidelines. Essentially, under Koon, a court must first ask whether a potential basis for departure was adequately considered by ...
In McCarthy v. Madigan, 503 U.S. 140 (1992), the Supreme Court ruled that no exhaustion of administrative remedies was required for a Federal prisoner to bring a Bivens-type action (see, Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Narcotics Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971)). Subsequently, as part of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, ...
Court vacated a sentence because the district court relied only on the first paragraph of Sec. 5K2.11 and failed to consider wether the crime "may not threaten the harm sought to be prevented by law.".
This is one of those rare cases that discusses a sentencing reduction based on the ...
Case upheld sentencing enhancement for use of guns during drug offense (even though defendant argued that gun was not in his possession at time of drug crime) based on relevant conduct.
This is one of those "fair game" cases that deals with the sentencing enhancement, provided for in U.S.S.G. § ...
The district court in this case refused to group the defendant's mail fraud and money laundering convictions as closely related counts under U.S.S.G. § 3D1.2, instead applying § 3D1.4, which resulted in a one-level sentence enhancement. Citing its decision in U.S. v. Wilson, 98 F.3d 281 (7th Cir. 1996), the ...
Relying heavily on U.S. v. Various Computers and Computer Equipment, 82 F.3d 582 (3rd Cir. 1996), the Court denied the defendant's claim that the prior forfeiture violated the Fifth Amendment's prohibition against multiple punishments.
Court held that the defendant should get no credit or offset against his forfeiture order for ...
United States v. Torres, 128 F.3d 38 (2nd Cir. 1997) (Judge Calabresi)
United States v. Slaughter, 128 F.3d 623 (8th Cir. 1997) (Judge Rosenbaum)
Buried deep in two cases this week was evidence of the futility of attempting to reverse convictions that were obtained, at least in part, on the ...
Case held that "intended loss" is not an appropriate criterion in cases "in which the total intended loss bore no relation to 'economic reality' . . . because . . . the plan had no chance of success." (Id., at 288).
Incarceration upon revocation of supervised release is proper even when the total incarceration, including the time served for the substantive offense, exceeds the maximum incarceration permissible under the substantive statute.
United States v. Proctor, 127 F.3d 1311 (11th Cir. 1997) (Per Curiam)
United States v. Embry, 128 F.3d 584 (7th ...
Convictions reversed on grounds that eight year hiatus between indictment and trial violated the Sixth Amendment's call for a speedy trial.
This gem of a case is noted because it shows how extreme the conditions must be before the courts will find a Constitutional violation of a defendant's Sixth Amendment ...
Court finds that bare check-kiting constitutes a Federal offense under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1344(1).
In this case the Court expressly declined to discuss the question of retroactivity and whether it barred the application of the AEDPA to prisoners who had filed their first writ prior to the effective date of the new limits in habeas appeals set forth in that statute. However, the Court ...
Petitioner under obligation to perform community service qualifies for the "in custody" jurisdictional requirement for habeas corpus actions/.
One interesting holding in this case was that, for purposes of habeas corpus jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, a person is deemed to be "in custody" when his sole obligation was ...
United States v. Torres, 128 F.3d 38 (2nd Cir. 1997) (Judge Calabresi)
United States v. Slaughter, 128 F.3d 623 (8th Cir. 1997) (Judge Rosenbaum)
Buried deep in two cases this week was evidence of the futility of attempting to reverse convictions that were obtained, at least in part, on the ...
As a matter of first impression, the Court held that community service qualifies for the "in custody" jurisdictional basis for habeas corpus actions.
