Case held that legislator's receipt of some $9,000 in shared meal and entertainment expenses over an eight year period was sufficient to support a conviction for honest services fraud under 18 USC § 1346.

United States v. Woodward, 149 F.3d 46 (1st Cir. 1998) (Judge Bownes)
United States v. Bloom, ...

Quote from "The Death of Common Sense" which concludes that vague laws foster a culture of resistence.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - Attorney Philip Howard noted, in his eye-opening book, The Death of Common Sense, that modern American laws and regulation have become so elaborate and technical that they are ...

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - Attorney Philip Howard noted, in his eye-opening book, The Death of Common Sense, that modern American laws and regulation have become so elaborate and technical that they are beyond the understanding of all but "a handful of mandarins". He concluded:

"[I]ncreasingly, law makes us feel ...

Court held that the district court erred in failing to give a requested buyer-seller instruction to the jury in the case of one defendant which required reversal of his conviction.

Here the court stated that "A defendant must satisfy a four-part test before he is entitled to a jury instruction ...

Court held that the district court erred in failing to give a requested buyer-seller instruction to the jury in the case of one defendant which required reversal of his conviction.

Here the court stated that "A defendant must satisfy a four-part test before he is entitled to a jury instruction ...

United States v. Woodward, 149 F.3d 46 (1st Cir. 1998) (Judge Bownes)
United States v. Bloom, 149 F.3d 649 (7th Cir. 1998) (Judge Easterbrook)

It is sometimes almost amusing to watch the way in which Big Brother polices morality in America. On the one hand, when it comes to imposing ...

Here the 8th Circuit rejected a broad constitutional challenge to Rule 413 which permits the admission into evidence of details pf a defendant's past sex offenses.

This case is noted for its discussion of the Government's power to incarcerate a witness for civil contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury, and then later prosecuting the same person for criminal contempt for the same refusal to testify. The Court noted that "it is totally clear ...

This decision explores the interesting issue of whether a sentencing court may always use "relevant conduct", as defined in Sentencing Guidelines, to enhance a defendant's sentence regardless of the charges contained in the indictment; and the ruling in this case shows that, at least in some Circuits, there are some ...

This decision explores the interesting issue of whether a sentencing court may always use "relevant conduct", as defined in Sentencing Guidelines, to enhance a defendant's sentence regardless of the charges contained in the indictment; and the ruling in this case shows that, at least in some Circuits, there are some ...

Case held that district court abused its discretion by denying defendant a one-month continuance so his newly retained counsel could adequately prepare for trial.

In this case, the district court(Judge Huff) granted the defendant's motion to proceed pro se, but sua sponte and over the defendant's objection, it also appointed ...

Case held that conditional release to a halfway house was not "detention" within meaning of speedy trial provision of Federal Juvenile Deliquency Act requiring Government to bring him to trial within 30 days of detention.

Here, the Court acknowledged that the Circuit courts are split over whether a district court has authority, pursuant to USSG § 5K2.0, to depart downward to effectuate a federal sentence concurrent with a discharged state sentence where the conduct underlying the state sentence has been fully taken into account in ...

Here the defendant contended at sentencing that the district court erred by impermissibly double counting a prior aggravated felony when, in addition to using the felony as the basis for a sixteen point increase in his base offense level pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(2), it added three points to his ...

In this case, the panel focused on whether the victim was titled a corrections officer, whether he spent a significant amount of time guarding prisoners, and whether he was guarding prisoners at the time he was assaulted. The Court held that for the purposes of § 3A1.2(b) a corrections officer ...

See the subsequent Supreme Court affirmation of this ruling, albeit on somewhat different grounds, in Strickler v. Greene, decided 6/17/99.

Here the 4th Circuit held that despite the Government's withholding of material exculpatory materials, it reversed the grant of a habeas petition, holding that the petitioner had established neither "cause" ...

Case held that the district court committed plain error by resolving a suppression motion without an evidentiary hearing to determine whether defendant was in custody and entitled to Miranda warnings.

Case held that the State was not bound by an informal immunity agreement between the defendant and federal officials, and ruled that such testimony cannot be considered "compelled".

This case is a good reminder of another important limitation on the use of uncharged relevant conduct to enhance a defendant's sentence - namely the so-called "aggregation rule" which permits a sentencing court to enhance a defendant's sentence based on relevant conduct so long as it is "part of the ...

Case held that Federal Juvenile Deliquency Act was violated when juvenile was held for 33 hours without being arraigned, but that such delay was not prejudicial.

Case held that the Government's call for upward departures in a money laundering case would amount to a "needless act of cruelty" given the nature of the crime and the personal circumstances of the defendants.

Deep into this decision, Judge Weinstein casually observed a challenging philosophy that has molded many ...

After the Government alone appealed from a sentencing decision, the Court held that the defendant's failure to file a notice of appeal precluded him from receiving affirmative relief from the appellate court.

See the dissent by Judge DeMoss which argued that the majority's decision was precluded by the Fifth Circuit's ...

Court reversed district court's dismissal of indictment as overly harsh, based on the Government's invasion of defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel - finding lack of sufficient prejudice.

Case held that a defendant generally must strictly comply with provisions of Article III of IAD, and therefore a letter sent by inmate requesting a speedy resolution of his outstanding Federal charges was not sufficient for purposes of IAD.

The Court noted as follows: "Appellant was convicted of criminal contempt under 18 U.S.C. § 401. There is no specific sentence mandated for this offense. The applicable Guideline for this offense is provided by § 2J1.1, which directs that § 2X5.1 be used. That section in turn directs the use ...

The Court found it reasonable for the BOP to classify a conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon as a crime of violence in all cases for the purpose of eligibility in drug treatment programs due to the inherently violent nature of firearms.

This decision is noted for its brief discussion of the Government's use of extensive drug profile evidence and testimony, a frequently used ploy that is highly effective because the standards for such profiles are so infinitely flexible. In this case a DEA agent gave extensive testimony about the common practices ...

In this case the Court expressed strong reservations about using "group character evidence" from which the jury could conclude that the defendant is guilty based on his membership in some nefarious group or based on some propensity.

Here the Court noted that it is difficult to come up with a ...

Case rejected claim that the admission into evidence of drug dealer profile evidence was so prejudicial that it warranted exclusion, despite acknowledging the inherent prejudicial nature of such evidence and testimony.

This decision is noted for its brief discussion of the Government's use of extensive drug profile evidence and testimony, ...

This case is a good reminder of another important limitation on the use of uncharged relevant conduct to enhance a defendant's sentence - namely the so-called "aggregation rule" which permits a sentencing court to enhance a defendant's sentence based on relevant conduct so long as it is "part of the ...