Case is noted for Judge Murnaghan's strong dissent in which he said that the majority was "forced to spin and exaggerate the underlying facts" in its "valiant" efforts to find probable cause. (Id., at 775).

Over a strong dissent from Judge Murnaghan, the en banc Court rejected a claim that ...

Here Judge Weinstein granted a granted a downward departure based on the defendant's age and infirm physical condition.

This well publicized case shows another aspect of unpublished decisions. The case involved the sentencing of the 69-year old reputed head of the Genovese crime family who had long warded off prosecution ...

En banc decision holding that a defendant's offer to stipulate his status as a prior felon does not block introduction of other crimes evidence.

Here the Court held that a claim that a juror concealed bias during voir dire warranted a "McDonough" evidentiary hearing as established in McDonough Power v. Greenwood, 464 U.S. 548 (1984).

United States v. Harris, 137 F.3d 1058 (8th Cir. 1998) (Judge Beam)
United States v. Crowder, Docket No. 92-3133 (D.C.Cir. May 1, 1998) (En Banc) (Judge Randolph)

Both of these decisions reflect a growing attitude of profound and undisguised judicial dissatisfaction with the Supreme Court's recent decision in Old Chief ...

Here Judge Enslen held that the immediate termination provisions of the PLRA violated both the separation of powers doctrine and the Due Process Clause.

Taylor v. United States, Docket No. 97-16069 (9th Cir. May 1, 1998) (Judge Restani)
United States v. State of Mich., 989 F.Supp. 853 (W.D.Mich 1996) (Judge ...

Here Judge Enslen held that the immediate termination provisions of the PLRA violated both the separation of powers doctrine and the Due Process Clause.

Taylor v. United States, Docket No. 97-16069 (9th Cir. May 1, 1998) (Judge Restani)
United States v. State of Mich., 989 F.Supp. 853 (W.D.Mich 1996) (Judge ...

Case held that application of vulnerable victim Guideline as it existed at the time defednant was sentenced did not violate the ex post facto clause.

Case rejected challenge that conviction was invalid because defendant did not have fair notice that the possession of pornographic materials had become illegal.

Taylor v. United States, 143 F.3d 1178 (9th Cir. 1998) (Judge Restani)
United States v. State of Mich., 989 F.Supp. 853 (W.D.Mich 1996) (Judge Enslen)

The central issue in both of these cases was the constitutionality of one of the provisions in the recently enacted Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) ...

Case reversed conviction because district court failed to follow procedures specified in statute and refused to allow defendant to cross-examine child witness whose testimony was given by closed circuit TV.

Case held that defendant did not provide "complete cooperation" where he ignored Government's request that he stay out of county in which there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest, which prevented him from doing all he could to assist Govt.

This case involved several administrative forfeiture notices, one of which was sent by certified mail to the federal facility at which the plaintiff-appellant was detained. The Court determined that the balancing analysis set forth in Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306 (1950) required more. Essentially, ...

Case held that a 35 month delay between indictment and arraignment did not warrant relief.

Court held that after an enhancement for obstuction of justice an indictment for perjury based on the same false testimony was impermissible even if the Government sought no new punishment.

This case raises an interesting double jeopardy issue that also involves an interesting analysis of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Witte v. U.S., 515 U.S. 389 (1995), where the Court found no double jeopardy violation for a sentencing enhancement based on relevant conduct.

The defendant pled guilty to bank ...

This is one of those wild and wooly cases that arose out of a "massive land and air surveillance" of a now 75 year old defendant and his automobile by "approximately fifty FBI agents and Rhode Island State police officers" that resulted in convictions for the interstate transportation of a ...

Taylor v. United States, 143 F.3d 1178 (9th Cir. 1998) (Judge Restani)
United States v. State of Mich., 989 F.Supp. 853 (W.D.Mich 1996) (Judge Enslen)

The central issue in both of these cases was the constitutionality of one of the provisions in the recently enacted Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) ...

Case held that application of vulnerable victim Guideline as it existed at the time defendant was sentenced did not violate the ex post facto clause.

Here the defendant argued that the district court violated the Ex Post Facto Clause by applying the 1995 version of the Sentencing Guidelines rather than ...

The governing rationale for this decision was probably given away in the very beginning when the majority observed: "Plaintiff is no stranger to the litigation process. In the past four years alone, he as pursued six lawsuits in federal courts, filing more than 241 pro se motions, memoranda, and other ...

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - The Confrontation Clause: its goals and purposes.

The Supreme Court has observed that the foundation of the Confrontation Clause guarantee is "the perception that confrontation is essential to fairness. . . . A witness 'may feel quite differently when he has to repeat his story ...

The governing rationale for this decision was probably given away in the very beginning when the majority observed: "Plaintiff is no stranger to the litigation process. In the past four years alone, he as pursued six lawsuits in federal courts, filing more than 241 pro se motions, memoranda, and other ...

This is one of those speedy trial cases that raises both questions and eyebrows. On April 22, 1993, the defendant was indicted on a series of Federal gun and drug charges. Subsequently, on June 3, 1993, he was convicted in a State court of a murder and he was sentenced ...

This well publicized case shows another aspect of unpublished decisions. The case involved the sentencing of the 69-year old reputed head of the Genovese crime family who had long warded off prosecution with claims of incompetency. He was finally brought to trial on a series of RICO charges that led ...

Case rejected claim that the Child Pornography statutes violated the Commerce Clause.