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U.S. v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, No. 98-16950 (9th Cir.) (190 F.3d 1109) (September 13, 1999) (Per Curiam)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Marijuana Laws/Issues

U.S. v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, No. 98-16950 (9th Cir.) (190 F.3d 1109) (September 13, 1999) (Per Curiam) by In the eyes of the Government, the Ninth Circuit has often been considered a dangerous, run-away maverick court. Two years ago, for example, the Supreme Court reversed 27 of the Court's …

Connors v. Matesanz, No. Civ.A. 98-12002-WGY (D.Mass.) (49 F.Supp.2d 23) (February 24, 1999) (Judge William G. Young)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists

Connors v. Matesanz, No. Civ.A. 98-12002-WGY (D.Mass.) (49 F.Supp.2d 23) (February 24, 1999) (Judge William G. Young) by In this case the petitioner waited from the effective date of the AEDPA, Aptil 24, 1996, until November 15, 1996, to file his state post-conviction motion. That motion was denied on October …

Charles v. Chandler, No. 98-5747 (6th Cir.) (180 F.3d 753) (June 18, 1999) (Per Curiam)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Jurisdiction

Charles v. Chandler, No. 98-5747 (6th Cir.) (180 F.3d 753) (June 18, 1999) (Per Curiam) by This case is noted for the Court's extended discussion of the scope of the so-called "savings clause" of 28 U.S.C. § 2255, which permits a prisoner to file a § 2241 petition if the …

U.S. v. Kyllo, No. 96-30333 (9th Cir.) (190 F.3d 1041) (September 9, 1999) (Judge Michael Daly Hawkins)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Searches - Thermal Imager

U.S. v. Kyllo, No. 96-30333 (9th Cir.) (190 F.3d 1041) (September 9, 1999) (Judge Michael Daly Hawkins) by This is one of those cases which shows that constitutional principles often depend on the make-up of the court. We first discussed this case in the 6/15/98 issue of P&J, where we …

U.S. v. Pickering, No. 96-5464 (11th Cir.) (178 F.3d 1168) (June 25, 1999) (Judge Gerald B. Tjoflat)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Post-Offense Conduct

U.S. v. Pickering, No. 96-5464 (11th Cir.) (178 F.3d 1168) (June 25, 1999) (Judge Gerald B. Tjoflat) by [Editor's Note: See U.S.S.G. § 5K2.19 - entitled "Post-Sentencing Rehabilitative Efforts (Policy Statement)", which became effective on Nov. 1, 2000 (pursuant to Guideline Amendment 602), which now makes Post Conviction Rehabilitation a …

U.S. v. Hickman, No. 97-40237 (5th Cir.) (179 F.3d 230) (June 21, 1999) (Per Curiam)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Interstate Commerce - Effect on

U.S. v. Hickman, No. 97-40237 (5th Cir.) (179 F.3d 230) (June 21, 1999) (Per Curiam) by This decision contains an excellent review of the competing judicial views on the constant struggle over the expanding use of the Hobbs Act (18 U.S.C. § 1951) to prosecute "local" crimes that were previously …

U.S. v. Miller, No. 98-20340 (5th Cir.) (179 F.3d 961) (August 16, 1999) (Judge Carl E. Stewart)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Same course of conduct or common scheme

U.S. v. Miller, No. 98-20340 (5th Cir.) (179 F.3d 961) (August 16, 1999) (Judge Carl E. Stewart) by This is one of those "safety valve" cases that shows how the law can be twisted by savvy drug dealers. In this case the Court held that the defendant's untruthful statements about …

U.S. v. Conde, No. 98-1364 (2nd Cir.) (178 F.3d 616) (June 2, 1999) (Judge Amalya Lyle Kearse)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Disclosure Obligations

U.S. v. Conde, No. 98-1364 (2nd Cir.) (178 F.3d 616) (June 2, 1999) (Judge Amalya Lyle Kearse) by Citing the Fourth Circuit's decision in U.S. v. Ivester, 75 F.3d 182, 184 (4th Cir. 1996), the Court emphasized that the disclosure obligations under ther safety-valve provision are different than under the …

U.S. v. Beltran-Garcia, No. 98-50345 (9th Cir.) (179 F.3d 1200) (June 11, 1999) (Judge Donald P. Lay)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Elements of Offense

U.S. v. Beltran-Garcia, No. 98-50345 (9th Cir.) (179 F.3d 1200) (June 11, 1999) (Judge Donald P. Lay) by The Court noted that "As to Count One, the only dispute was whether Garcia had knowledge of the marijuana in his spare tire. As was the case in James, Garcia did not …

U.S. v. True, No. 98-3824 (8th Cir.) (179 F.3d 1087) (June 11, 1999) (Judge Gerald W. Heaney)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists

U.S. v. True, No. 98-3824 (8th Cir.) (179 F.3d 1087) (June 11, 1999) (Judge Gerald W. Heaney) by Here, despite agreeing that the prosecutor engaged in improper tampering with a defense witness by threating him with perjury if he testified, and by making improper comments during summation, it held the …

Arredondo v. U.S., No. 96-2126 (6th Cir.) (178 F.3d 778) (May 28, 1999) (Judge Karen Nelson Moore)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Effective Assistance of Counsel

Arredondo v. U.S., No. 96-2126 (6th Cir.) (178 F.3d 778) (May 28, 1999) (Judge Karen Nelson Moore) by The defendant in this case sought to vacate his drug conviction on the grounds that his counsel was ineffective, in part because his counsel had failed to tell him about a plea …

U.S. v. Moreno-Chaparro, No. 97-50641 (5th Cir.) (180 F.3d 629) (February 5, 1999) (Judge Henry A. Politz)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Searches - Border Stops/Searches

U.S. v. Moreno-Chaparro, No. 97-50641 (5th Cir.) (180 F.3d 629) (February 5, 1999) (Judge Henry A. Politz) by The Court noted that the Supreme Court, in U.S. v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873 (1975), had identified eight factors that the courts should consider when evaluating the validity of such "border" searches, …

U.S. v. Townsend, No. 98-3041 (D.C. Cir.) (178 F.3d 558) (June 11, 1999) (Judge David B. Sentelle)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists

U.S. v. Townsend, No. 98-3041 (D.C. Cir.) (178 F.3d 558) (June 11, 1999) (Judge David B. Sentelle) by Here the Court held that even though the district court allocated 120 months of the original sentence to each of the drug charges and the gun charges, when the gun charges were …

U.S. v. Duffy, No. 98-9020 (11th Cir.) (179 F.3d 1304) (June 30, 1999) (Judge Frank May Hull)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Notice - Adequacy of

U.S. v. Duffy, No. 98-9020 (11th Cir.) (179 F.3d 1304) (June 30, 1999) (Judge Frank May Hull) by Notwithstanding defendant's prior entry of a "Notice of Entry of Plea of Guilty," the Court held that the Government's subsequent filing of information required to trigger mandatory minimum at plea hearing was …

U.S. v. Nunez, No. 98-11010 (5th Cir.) (180 F.3d 227) (August 16, 1999) (Judge Jerry E. Smith)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Elements of Offense

U.S. v. Nunez, No. 98-11010 (5th Cir.) (180 F.3d 227) (August 16, 1999) (Judge Jerry E. Smith) by The Court held that the Supreme Court's decision in Jones v. U.S., 143 U.S. 311 (1999) "forecloses this reading of federal criminal statutes except where statutory sections specifically increase punishments for prior …

U.S. v. Crash, No. 91-CR-1235 (E.D.N.Y.) (50 F.Supp.2d 150) (April 21, 1999) (Judge Thomas C. Jr. Platt)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Travel Restrictions

U.S. v. Crash, No. 91-CR-1235 (E.D.N.Y.) (50 F.Supp.2d 150) (April 21, 1999) (Judge Thomas C. Jr. Platt) by In this case, the defendant had made an earlier application to visit his daughter, who was studying in Italy, on her birthday. The trip would have been paid for by the defendant's …

U.S. v. Hawkins, No. 98-3318 (8th Cir.) (181 F.3d 911) (June 28, 1999) (Judge David R. Hansen)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Double Counting

U.S. v. Hawkins, No. 98-3318 (8th Cir.) (181 F.3d 911) (June 28, 1999) (Judge David R. Hansen) by In a case of first impression, the Court held that it was not impermissible double counting to apply the enhancement contained in USSG § 2K2.1(b)(4) after the defendant's base offense level had …

U.S. v. Messino, No. 99-1674 (7th Cir.) (181 F.3d 826) (June 22, 1999) (Judge William J. Bauer)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Conflict of Interest

U.S. v. Messino, No. 99-1674 (7th Cir.) (181 F.3d 826) (June 22, 1999) (Judge William J. Bauer) by Here the Seventh Circuit held that the district court had abused its discretion by excluding the testimony of a Government witness in order to remedy an attorney conflict of interest, holding that …

U.S. v. Craig, No. 98-2252 (7th Cir.) (178 F.3d 891) (May 20, 1999) (Judge Michael S. Kanne)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists

U.S. v. Craig, No. 98-2252 (7th Cir.) (178 F.3d 891) (May 20, 1999) (Judge Michael S. Kanne) by This case is noted for its detailed discussion of the so-called "ostrich" instruction, in which the jury is told that a conviction is permissible if it equates actual knowledge with the deliberate …

U.S. v. Kyllo, No. 96-30333 (9th Cir.) (190 F.3d 1041) (September 9, 1999) (Judge Michael Daly Hawkins)

Article • August 1, 1999 • from P&J August, 1999

Filed under: Punch And Jurists, Searches - Thermal Imager

U.S. v. Kyllo, No. 96-30333 (9th Cir.) (190 F.3d 1041) (September 9, 1999) (Judge Michael Daly Hawkins) by Some comments from Judge McKay on the dangers of thermal image scanners. QUOTE OF THE WEEK - The evils of thermal image scanning devices as seen by one Judge. "[T]he fact that …