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 …

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 …

This case also deals with another highly popular version of depriving a defendant of his right to present a fair defense - namely, the use of limitations on the defendant’s ability to cross-examine key Government witnesses about their motives for testifying.

Here, the defendant was convicted of engaging in a …

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 …

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 …

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 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" …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 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 …