Public Defense

In United States v. Johnson, No. 06-2206-cr (2d Cir. July 28, 2010), the court ordered a resentencing because the district court did not comply correctly with a prior order vacating the sentence. The original order required a de novo resentencing, but the district court did not conduct one. It simply issued a new sentencing opinion imposing the same sentence. The circuit also remanded to different judge because "the number of errors that have attended defendant's repeated sentencing proceedings could lead a reasonable observer to question the court's impartiality."

In United States v. Bonczek, No. 09-3865-cr (2d Cir. August 19, 2010), the court noted that there is a circuit split on the question whether a judge issuing a search warrant in a child pornography case needs to view the images in order to find probable cause. The court did not reach the question itself, because it found that the officers acted on the warrant in good faith.

Full post as published by Second Circuit Blog on August 22, 2010 (boomark / email).