QUOTE OF THE WEEK - The search for truth - one of the casualties of the criminal justice system!

"One of the basics of our jurisprudence is the search for truth, and by this is meant not the purchased truth, the bartered-for truth, but the unvarnished truth that comes from ...

Here the Court held that the imposition of a sentence pursuant to 18 USC § 3147 (which provides for an enhanced penalty if the crime was committed while the defendant was on release ) did not violate the Apprendi rule.

The defendant in this case was convicted on 21 counts ...

Here the Court held that there was no impermissible double counting when the district court imposed upward departures based on USSG § 5K2.2 (physical injury) and § 5K2.8 (extreme conduct) since they addressed different purposes.

In this case the Sixth Circuit rejected a claim that the district court had engaged ...

Here the Court affirmed the authority of the district court to impose three consecutive one year terms of imprisonment upon revocation of three separate concurrent terms of supervised release.

After violating the terms of his supervised release, the defendant in this case was sentenced to serve three consecutive terms of ...

This case is noted for its detailed review of the law on the use of anonymous juries - in the context of a suit by various members of the new media who challenged several orders of the trial court protecting juror anonymity.

Here various members of the new media covering ...

United States v. Espinoza, No. 00-3090 (7th Cir. 7/11/2001) (Judge Coffey)
United States v. Brown, 251 F.3d 286 (1st Cir. 2001) (Judge Stahl)

In Richards v. Wisconsin, 520 U.S. 385 (1997), a unanimous Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment does not permit a blanket narcotics exception to the requirements ...

United States v. Espinoza, 256 F.3d 718 (7th Cir. 2001) (Judge Coffey)
United States v. Brown, 251 F.3d 286 (1st Cir. 2001) (Judge Stahl)

In Richards v. Wisconsin, 520 U.S. 385 (1997), a unanimous Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment does not permit a blanket narcotics exception to the ...

In this consolidated case, two organizations challenged their designations as terrorist organizations by the Secretary of State as unsupported by the evidence and, in fact, in conflict with the views of many members of Congress. After reviewing the facts, the D.C. Circuit remanded the case for further proceedings. As part ...

Here the Court held the district court committed plain error by using only a preponderance of the evidence to impose two sentencing enhancements that more than doubled the defendant's sentence, but refused to apply the Apprendi rule to the enhancements.

This is another in a series of recent decisions by ...

Periodically, cases come to light in which informants and Government witnesses are paid or given such enormous benefits that one can legitimately question whether that person has any real incentive to tell the truth. Jose Antonio Varela, the Damon Runyon character is the instant case, is such an example. Between ...

Here Judge Gertner granted habeas relief to a defendant who had served 20 years in prison after finding that the "cause" that excused his procedural defaults was the trial judge's abuse of discretion in denying a motion for a new trial without a hearing.

Once again District Judge Nancy Gertner ...

Here the Court affirmed the district court's denial of fees and expenses under the Hyde Amendment, stating that the defendant had not met his burden of proving that the Government's prosecution of him was vexatious or in bad faith.

In this case, the Court held that where evidence pointed to ...