Here the Second Circuit held that in computing a defendant's relevant conduct for the purposes of the gun enhancement in USSG § 2K2.1 it is not proper to include State firearms offenses that contain elements that are not elements of the Federal crime.

In this case the Second Circuit held ...

Joining seven other Circuits, the Third Circuit held that conduct which is not chargeable because the statute of limitations has expired may be considered as relevant conduct under § 1B1.3(a)(1)(A) in determining the appropriate Guideline sentence.

The defendant in this case pled guilty to social security fraud, in violation of ...

Here the Court held that the district court had impermissibly "double counted" by relying on the same conduct (defendant's use of his car as a dangerous weaon) in determining that he committed aggravated assault and used a dangerous weapon.

The defendant in this case was convicted of aggravated assault on ...

The defendant in this case was convicted of aggravated assault on a Federal officer when he "panicked" after being approached at night by four men in a parking lot and attempted to drive away, striking one of the men in the knee. The four men happened to be INS agents ...

In holding that the redacted confession of a non-testifying codefendant could not be used against the defendant, the Court found two problems with the proposed redaction. "First, although the statement does not have a literal blank or asterisk, it has a logical blank and asterisk. . . . No reasonable ...

In this case the defendant entered a conditional guilty plea to the charge of possessing a firearm by a person who has been committed to a mental institution, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4). On appeal, the contended that his previous confiement was not the result of a "commitment" ...

This is an interesting case in which the Eleventh Circuit not only vacated a money laundering conspiracy conviction on ex post facto grounds (because the alleged conspiracy had ended more than a year prior to the enactment of the money laundering statute), but it also because vacated a sentencing enhancement ...

In affirming a four-level enhancement under the "fencing enhancement" provisions of U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1(b)(4)(B), the Court stated that such an enhancement "is intended as a 'punishment for fences, people who buy and sell stolen goods, thereby encouraging others to steal, as opposed to thieves who merely sell the goods which ...

In this case Judge Adelman granted a writ of habeas corpus to a petitioner who had been denied the right to present expert psychiatric testimony regarding a post-traumatic stress disorder, which denied her the right to present a fair defense.

In this decision, Judge Adelman granted a writ of habeas ...

Here the Court held that a defendant was improperly denied the right to question a cooperating witness about her perceptions of the sentencing risks she faced before agreeing to cooperate, although it also held that the error was harmless.

This case also deals with another highly popular version of depriving ...

Here, joining decisions from the 7th, 8th and 10th Circuits, the 9th Circuit held that witnesses have absolute immunity from damages under 42 USC § 1983, even when they conspire to present perjured testimony that leads to a criminal conviction.

If one ever needed proof that the decks are stacked ...

In this case Judge Ross granted a motion for acquittal to three defendants who had been convicted of various crimes arising out of the filing of an allegedly false residential loan application with a bank on the grounds that the loan application form was “fundamentally ambiguous” and could not serve ...