In its holding, the Court relied on U.S. v. Castillo, 140 F.3d 874, 883-84 (10th Cir. 1998) where the Court held that Rule 414 was not unconstitutional.

Here the Court affirmed the constitutionality of Rule 414, and held that under the facts of this case the admission of evidence of ...

Here the Court squarely affirmed that "imprisonment", at least in the context of the Guidelines, denotes time actually spent in a penal institution, and does not include time spent in community or home confinement which are substitutes for prison.

In this case, the defendant argued that the district court had ...

Here the Court held that carrying an unassembled destructive device is insufficient to satisfy either the "use" or "carry" prong of § 924(c)(1); it merely established proximity and accessibility but not active use.

Another controversial concept spawned by the Guidelines and America's war on drugs is the issue of whether the quantity of drugs is an essential element of the crime, requiring proof beyond a reasonable doubt, or a mere sentencing factor that must be determined by the judge, based upon a mere ...

The Court stated: "The spousal-communications privilege protects "information privately disclosed between husband and wife in the confidence of the marital relationship." Trammel v. United States, 445 U.S. 40, 51, 100 S.Ct. 906, 913, 63 L.Ed.2d 186 (1980). The purpose of the privilege is to foster harmony in the marital relationship. ...

Here the Court held that the notice provisions of 21 USC § 851(a)(1) are a jurisdictional prerequisite to the imposition of the statutory sentence enhancement for repeat felony drug offenders.

Here Judge Kent bemaoned the Government's practice of inducing defendants to provide the Government with substantial assistance in cases where the Government knows that it does not intend to file a § 5K1.1 motion.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - In a recent case, Judge Samuel Kent of Texas bemoaned the ...

In this case the court found that the defendant was never informed of his rights under the IAD; and it noted that the Government's "failure either to inform Zfaty of the proper procedures under the IAD or to bring Zfaty before the court for over a year after it received ...

In the 6/20/99 issue of P&J, we noted as our leading case Judge Justice's chilling 228-page decision in Ruiz v. Johnson, 37 F.Supp.2d 855 (S.D.Tex. 1999) (Ruiz I). That decision represented his findings, following an evidentiary hearing, on a broad range of barbarous living conditions that exist in the Texas ...

Here the Court held that the ban in 18 USC § 922(g)(9) on possession of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a misdemeanor conviction did not violate the equal protection clause.

Case held that the petitioner, who was accused of assaulting a prison guard, was constructively denied his right to counsel when forced to meet with counsel in the presence of prison guards - a fact that chilled his right to open communication.

Trobaugh v. Hall, 176 F.3d 1087 (8th Cir. ...

One of the issues addressed in this case was the propriety of the growing practice of permitting jurors to participate in questioning witnesses during the course of a trial; and it is noted particularly because of its listing of a number of cases from various Circuits on the issue.

This ...

Trobaugh v. Hall, 176 F.3d 1087 (8th Cir. 1999) (Judge Arnold)
Lakin v. Stine, 44 F.Supp.2d 897 (E.D.Mich. 1999) (Judge Tarnow)

Combined, these two cases are examples of the indifference that some judges exhibit when faced with prison lawsuits seeking redress of constitutional rights. In the Trobaugh case, the plaintiff/inmate ...

Here the Court agreed that the possession of guns for target shooting qualifies as a "sporting purpose" for purposes of § 2K2.1(b)(2), but held that there was no plain error in holding that six guns could not be reconciled with target shooting.

Here the Court held that in a prosecution for causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission, the Government was not required to show that the defendant knew her acts to be unlawful.

Here the Court held that in a prosecution for bank fraud by falsely claiming insolvency in connection with a loan forgiveness agreement, the defendant is entitled to an instruction on the legal meaning of "insolvency" since it was determinative.

In rendering its decision the Court rejected the Government's argument that ...

Here, joining a number of other Circuits, the Eighth Circuit held that a defendant was "voluntariliy absent" - so the trial could continue in his absence - when he attempted to commit suicide prior to the last day of trial.

The Court also noted that any restitution made after the discovery does not affect the total loss; and that even if the bank's actual loss is zero, the court should then use the intended loss to compute the correct amount of loss for sentencing purposes.

Here the Court held that ...

Almost from the beginning, the provisions of U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 have spawned enormous controversy. That section permits a sentencing court to impose a sentence below the sentencing range called for by the Guidelines if the defendant provides substantial assistance to the authorities, and if the Government files a § 5K1.1 ...

Here the defendant argued that his conviction under § 843(b) did not qualify as a "controlled substance offense" for purposes of determining career offender status under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1. The District Court rejected this argument, concluding that Williams had committed a "controlled substance offense" and was
therefore a career offender ...

Here the Court held that neither Fed.R.Crim.P. Rule 49(b) nor Fed.R.Civ.P. 5(b) authorize service of pleadings or other legal papers by fax upon a party or an opposing attorney.

In this case, the defendant made a total of eight interstate telephone calls to Child Find of America, Inc.'s hotline. This hotline is dedicated to locating missing children. During the first call, Freeman told a hotline operator that he had abducted and sexually forced himself on his fourteen-year-old stepdaughter. During ...

See also U.S. v. Cotroneo, 89 F.3d 510 (8th Cir. 1996), U.S. v. Quinones, 136 F.3d 1293 (11th Cir. 1998, and U.S. v. Johnson, 138 F.3d 115 (4th Cir. 1998) - all of which are in accord with the holding in this decision.

Here the Court held that defendant could ...