Here the Court concluded that the mere fact that the doctor/defendant wrote at least 129 medically unwarranted prescrptions in exchange for sexual favors was insufficient to support conviction for conspiracy to sell drugs.

The Court wrote: "As we have explained, the mere agreement of one person to buy what another ...

Although the Supreme Court once observed that "[t]here can be no equal justice where the kind of trial one gets depends on the amount of money that he has" (see, Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 19 (1956)), that principle often suffers under the four preeminent goals of criminal justice: ...

This is an extremely rare case in which the Court vacated a conviction and granted a new trial because of the cumulative effect of a series of improper comments and arguments by the prosecutor. At issue were a series of "isolated" instances of a prosecutor's vouching for and bolstering of ...

Based on recent Supreme Court decisions, the Court rejected the defense claims that USSG § 1B1.2(d) violates the 5th and 6th Amendment because it permits the sentencing judge to determine the object of multi-object conspiracy.

For a long time now, the Circuits have debated whether a sentencing judge, when faced ...

For a long time now, the Circuits have debated whether a sentencing judge, when faced with a general verdict of guilty on a count charging a conspiracy with multiple objects, can select the object of the conspiracy when the jury's verdict fails to specify the particular conspiracy object upon which ...

After some 20 years of litigation, the district court finally concluded that the female inmates in Michigan prisons are treated on a par with male prisoners for purposes of their access to educational, vocational and work pass programs.

Relying principally on Muscarello v. U.S., the Court held that evidence which established that the defendant carried a firearm in the bed of his truck was more than sufficient to sustain a conviction for "carrying" a gun under § 924(c)(1).

The Court ruled that in Muscarello v. United States, _______ ...

Here the Court affirmed a district court's order granting relief to a defendant who was denied credit for 22 months spent on a writ ad prosequendum, which the BOP denied, it did so on a different basis uder the provisions of USSG § 5G1.3(c).

In this case the Bureau of ...

The court observed: "In the circumstance where an issue has not been raised prior to appeal at trial or sentencing, that issue is not properly preserved for appeal and "must be reviewed under the strict standards of the plain error doctrine . . . which allows appellate courts to correct ...

In rejecting a claim of error based on a refusal to grant a Frank's hearing, the Court ruled that such refusal is reviewed only for clear error and "we presume that the affidavit supporting the seach warrant is valid." (Id., at 545).

Citing Perpich v. Dep't of Defense, 496 U.S. 334 (1990), the Court concluded that the Act does not apply to the National Guard unless they have been called into "federal service" - and until then they remain state, rather than Federal, officers.

Case held that participation in an arrest by ...

In rejecting the defendant's claim that the district court improperly admitted hearsay evidence, the Court observed that: "While a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at trial, is
inadmissible as hearsay if it is offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted, see Fed. R. ...

Case held that even if he did not know he was trafficking marijuana, he was deliberately indifferent to his active paticipation in criminal wrongdoing, and thus the conscious avoidance or ostrich instruction given was proper.

In this case the defendant objected to the following "ostrich" instruction: "If a Defendant maintains ...

Quote from an article in The New York Times which described some of the effects of the increasing case-load that courts face and showed how that process is leading to greater numbers of unpublished decisions.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - Coping with burgeoning appeals -

Part I - The Facts. ...

Apparently not satisfied with its already virtually unbounded control over the lives of probationers, the Probation Office in this case made the novel request to extend the defendant's period of supervised release for an additional two years to permit it to continue collecting (and getting its cut on?) the defendant's ...

Here the Court held: "The question here is whether the Government should be held responsible for the state custodian's failure to serve Pena with the federal detainer and to advise him of his right to demand a trial. We think not. In reaching this conclusion, we follow the lead of ...

Case held that judgment of acquittal on drug conspiracy charge did not preclude, on collateral estoppel grounds, retrial on charges of money laundering on which jury did not reach any verdict.

Apparently not satisfied with its already virtually unbounded control over the lives of probationers, the Probation Office in this case made the novel request to extend the defendant's period of supervised release for an additional two years to permit it to continue collecting (and getting its cut on?) the defendant's ...

Here the 2nd Circuit again rejected an "unorthodox" plea agreement which required the defendant to waive the right to appeal "any sentence so long as it does not exceed the maximum term allowed" under the applicable statutes.

Although there clearly is a national imperative to limit the numbers of appeals ...

The Court noted that only one Federal appellate court has ruled on the constitutionality of § 922(j), namely the Eighth Circuit in an unpublished decision, U.S. v. Kocourek, 116 F.3d 481, 1997 WL 307160 (8th Cir. 1997). In that case, the Court upheld the constitutionality of § 922(j) based on ...

In 1996 the defendant in this case burglarized a residence in Corpus Christi, Texas and stole five firearms. He was charged with knowingly possessing five stolen firearms that had been shipped and transported in interstate commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(j). At sentencing, the district court (Judge Head) ...

Relying on its holding in U.S. v. Staufer, 38 F.3d 1103 (9th Cir. 1994), the Court held that the district court's findings were not sufficiently explicit to support court's rejection of defendant's claim of sentencing entrapment.

The court wrote: "After hearing Riewe's sentencing entrapment argument, the district court found that ...

Despite precedent to the contrary, the defendant's claim that an enhancement under USSG § 2K2.1(b)(4) applies only when the firearm had already been "stolen" prior to the defendant's taking possession of it.

In 1996 the defendant in this case burglarized a residence in Corpus Christi, Texas and stole five firearms. ...

Here the Court held that "stipulation" as used in USSG § 1B1.2(a) does not require a defendant's acknowledgment of more serious conduct to be part of a formal procedure and encompasses oral admissions made during plea colloquies.

See U.S. v. Domino, 62 F.3d 716 (5th Cir. 1995) which is in ...

The court held: "Although plaintiff's complaint does not include an express request for injunctive relief,
a liberal construction of his allegations demonstrates a clear desire for injunctive relief. Our research reveals that only two circuits have considered whether § 1997e(e) limits claims for injunctive or declaratory relief, and both have ...

While most of the decision in this case deals with the jurisdictional requirements, under Rule 23 of the Fed.R.Civ.P., for bringing a class action lawsuit, it is noted here for its discussion of one timely and much discussed law enforcement - the practice of using racial profiling as the basis ...

The Supreme Court has often noted that the "touchstone of due process is protection of the individual against arbitrary action of government." Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 558 (1974). This decision sorely tests that principle. The issue in this case was whether the defendant was entitled to any relief ...

Court affirmed that whether a defendant possessed the threshhold number of marijuana plants that would trigger the statutory mandatory minimum sentence had to be based only on the plants directly associated with the count of conviction.

The Court held that " § 841(b) is "quite unlike the sentencing guidelines," which ...

Here Judge Schwartz condemned the police practice of "perp walks" which he said were designed to titillate the press and humiliate the defendant, but which lacked any law enforcement objectives or justifications.

The plaintiff in this civil rights suit for damages was a doorman at a building in New York, ...

The essence of this decision was the Court's ruling that: "Gail Atwater became the victim of an over-zealous police officer who abused the power entrusted to him by the City of Lago Vista. This case serves to remind us that "the central concern of the Fourth Amendment is to protect ...