Combs v. Coyle, 205 F.3d 269 (6th Cir. 2/23/00) (Judge Moore)
United States v. Whitehead, 200 F.3d 634 (9th Cir. 2000) (Judge Wardlaw)

Both of these cases deal with the ever-encroaching danger of prosecutorial comments at trial on a defendant’s silence and they both held that such comments violated the ...

Here, although the court ultimately found the defendant had waived his claims of Jencks Act (18 USC § 3500) violations, the case is noted for its thorough review of the scope of the Government's obligations to produce materials under that act.

Here the Court explained: "The Jencks Act was enacted ...

Here, one of those almost certain to be appealed cases from the Ninth Circuit, the Court held that a defendant did not “use” a firearm in connection with a drug crime because the police never saw the loaded gun that he was initially holding.

In this surprising opinion, the Ninth ...

Here, overruling prior precedent based on the Supreme Court's decision in Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, the Court held that an appeal from revocation of supervised release was mooted by the completion of the defendant's resulting imprisonment.

Here the Court rejected a ten-level downward departure based in part on the defendant's age (72 years old), noting that eight active judges on the Court are seventy years of age or older, holding that the departure was excessive in magnitude.

The defendant in this case was one of 16 ...

This case is another reminder of the fact that the rights of aliens and illegal immigrants in America have been significantly eroded by recent legislation - a point that has not escaped the press, both in this country and abroad. (See the Quote of the Week below).

In this case ...

In this case the Third Circuit held that a restitution order which included conduct outside the temporal limits set forth in the Information were improper because such conduct was not part of the offense for which restitution could be ordered.

This case is noted for its narrow reading of the ...

Some excerpts from an article in The New York Times in which columnist Nicholas Kristof recounted his interviews with five female aliens seeking asylum in America and are being held in prison suffering enormous deprivations of rights.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK - “Seeking Asylum, Some Immigrants Find a Fate Worse ...

Here the Court held that a retrial on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder was not barred by collateral estoppel after the defendants were acquitted on a count of using or carrying firearms in connection with the murder conspiracy.

This case is noted for its discussion of the difficult ...

In this case the defendant argued that, under the current version of U.S.S.G § 5G1.3(c), the district court was required to add together the drug weights from his instant offense and the drug weights from the offense for which he was serving an undischarged prison term in order to create ...

This case deals with the outrageous practice by which prosecutors are often able to manipulate the system to assure that cases involving multiple defendants are assigned to a preferred “pro-Government” district judge. It this case the Government’s ploy worked; it got away, virtually unscathed, for its odious practice.

The defendant ...

Here the Court reversed a downward departure based on the defendant's "overwhelming community support and service", concluding that the departure really involved the defendant's socio-economic status, a prohibited factor under USSG § 5H1.10.

The defendant in this case was one of 16 defendants who were charged with a broad range ...

Here the Court rejected as inadequate the district court's findings that one ground for a valid downward departure was the defendant's wife's health, noting that such a departure requires the defendant to "personally" take care of her.

The defendant in this case was one of 16 defendants who were charged ...

Here the Court remanded for further findings a downward departure based on a series of ailments suffered by the defendant because the district court made no effort to ascertain whether the Bureau of Prisons could treat those ailments.

The defendant in this case was one of 16 defendants who were ...

Here the Sixth Circuit held that prosecutorial comment on a defendant’s pre-arrest silence violates his rights under the Self-Incrimination Clause, an issue on which the Circuits are radically divided.

Combs v. Coyle, 205 F.3d 269 (6th Cir. 2/23/00) (Judge Moore)
United States v. Whitehead, 200 F.3d 634 (9th Cir. 2000) ...