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Appellate Law and Practice 
Daily summaries of appellate cases from federal circuit courts of appeal. On the weekends, the blog provides appellate practice tips and book reviews.
Post Frequency: 1.8/day Last Entry: December 10, 2008 at 16:15:09 Recent Entries: 612
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CA1: a strange 1983 statute of limitations problem
Posted on May 13, 2008Cao v. Commonwealth of PR, No. 07-1394. This is a 1983 case brought by a an ?an elderly resident [who was] was removed from her home, made to undergo a psychological evaluation, and placed in a substitute home and, later,...
CA1: guilty plea prevents collateral attack on deportation order
Posted on May 13, 2008US v. Vargas, No. 07-2536 (unpublished). A defendant plead guilty to ?illegal re-entry? even though he said that he wanted to contest the due process in the underlying deportation order, but the First says that the guilty plea operates as...
CA1: consecutive sentences, brandishing, and all that
Posted on May 13, 2008US v. Feliciano-Rodriguez, No. 06-2719. This is a drug conspiracy appeal. Pretty exciting facts... including someone in the witness protection program. The government seems to concede a lot on appeal, essentially saying that the District Court judge went too far...
CA1: closing the courtroom is okay during contempt proceeding, as are some redactions
Posted on May 13, 2008US v. Bucci, Nos. 06-2746, 07-1087. The facts of this case go on and on, but it essentially comes down to dirty-cops-turned-drug dealers. The really big issue is the ?courtroom closure? issue. ?Bucci argues that the district court erred by...
CA1: even though some people like naturopaths, it is still a fraud
Posted on May 12, 2008US v. Curran, No. 06-2647. The defendant was not a doctor. But he only had training in naturopathy. He would tell people that they were very sick and take their money. Eventually he was charged with fraud, and he appeals...
CA1: home confinement as a condition of supervised release
Posted on May 12, 2008US v. Marcano, No. 07-1050 holds on plain error review that supervised release can include ?home confinement? where the period of supervised release was less than the statutory maximum term of imprisonment of two years.
GTMO unlawful command influence ruling in Hamdan
Posted on May 11, 2008On Friday one of the military ?judges? issues a 13-page ruling booting the ?legal advisor? to the Convening Authority. (It pretty much vindicates the convening authority, herself, ex-CAAF judge, Susan Crawford.) I am not going to say that this indicates...
CA2: Wu-Tang Clan describes law students and drug dealers
Posted on May 09, 2008What do law students and drug dealers have in common? They both subscribe to the Wu-Tang Clan?s philosophy described in the Second Circuit?s decision in U.S. v. Dent. There, the court wrote that: "Cream Team" is an acronym for "cash...
Sunny Hostin?s normal failures to research
Posted on May 09, 2008Sunny Hostin (an former prosecutor turned ?commentator?) once again writes some ?commentary? on CNN that, well, is stupid. This time she complains about ?pro se? defendants. She begins by talking about criminal proceedings governed by the sixth amendment, but ends...
CA1: two unpublished Chinese immigration decisions
Posted on May 08, 2008In honor of the Olympics, I give you two unpublished decisions holding that Chinese people didn't prove that they were oppressed enough. Huang v. Mukasey, No. 07-1484 (unpublished). Petitioner is Chinese. He says he believes in Democracy. His claims fail...
CA1: Apprendi pipeline case sees briefly sees light in IAAC context
Posted on May 08, 2008Martinez-Medina v. US, No. 06-1594 (unpublished). This affirms a denial of a motion to vacate a sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The grounds asserted are whether, in an ?Apprendi Pipeline? case, the defendant was given ineffective assistance of counsel...
CA1: dealing with a strained reading of claimed exemptions from a bankruptcy estate
Posted on May 07, 2008In re Barroso-Herrans v. Lugo Mender, No. 07-1757. This is actually a fairly interesting theoretical issue. Government contractors got into a dispute with the commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Then didn?t get paid. So, the contractors sued the commonwealth and simultaneously...
CA1: First remands for a real resentencing when mandate not followed
Posted on May 07, 2008US v. Pena-Gonzalez, No. 05-1402. This case was first before the court in United States v. Rodríguez-Marrero, 390 F.3d 1, 32 (1st Cir. 2004) when it remanded for re-sentencing. The District Court didn?t hold a sentencing hearing, and instead it...
CA1: transporting a minor is a crime of violence even post Begay
Posted on May 07, 2008US v. Williams, No. 07-1354 holds that interstate transport of a minor for prostitution in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a) is a ?crime of violence? within the purview of the career offender provision of the federal sentencing guidelines, i.e....
Waking up after 30 years and wanting to know about the constitution
Posted on May 07, 2008Norm Pattis has a beautiful story here about speaking to a friend that has been in a coma for 30 years, and wakes up wanting to know about the constitution.
CA1: mea culpa on ?cache? case
Posted on May 02, 2008Commentator ?zephaniah? has read US v. Morales Aldahondo, No. 06-2533 (our coverage here), and convinced me to a 90% probability (enough to send someone to jail) that I was wrong. (Despite claiming to use words precisely, the First employed a...
CA1: all the crimes involved in using a stolen social security card to get public housing
Posted on April 30, 2008US v. Hererra-Martinez, No. 07-1363. An undocumented immigrant got low income housing using someone else?s ID card. She was charged with: use of another's Social Security number, 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(7)(B) knowingly converting public money or property, 18 U...
CA1: race discrimination case affirmed
Posted on April 30, 2008Holloway v. Thompson Island, No. 07-2207 affirms a grant of summary judgment in a race discrimination case because the defendants came up with a non-discriminatory motive. The issue was somewhat complicated by the fact that he had a previous settlement...
CA1: what hath Gall wrought
Posted on April 30, 2008US v. Tom, No. 07-1074 (unpublished). What do you do when the government says that a sentence for insider trading is too lenient, but the Supremes GVR in light of Gall? First you ask for briefing, and then: remand the...
CA1: accrual of warranty claims under the UCC
Posted on April 30, 2008Trans-Spec Truck Ser v. Caterpillar Inc., No. 07-1476. This is a long case, which comes down to ?the accrual and statute of limitations provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code of Massachusetts to breach of warranty claims.? Mass. Gen. Laws ch....
CA1: whistleblower case goes nowhere
Posted on April 30, 2008Lupu v. El Conquistador, No. 07-1659 is a diversity action under Puerto Rico?s whistleblower statute. On the facts, it seems that the employer had a good enough reason to get rid of him from his probationary job. The First is...
CA1: A lesson in 1988 attorneys fees
Posted on April 30, 2008Torres-Rivera v. Espada-Cruz, No. 07-1806. This is another case dealing with how to determine attorneys fees under 42 USC 1988. The plaintiffs take this appeal because they argue that they were not awarded enough. The First sides with the plaintiffs....
CA1: Selya talks about discrimination and prosecution
Posted on April 29, 2008Pulisir v. Keisler, No. 07-1356 denies the petition for review of a Protestant Indonesian. He was absent from Indonesia for a large portion of the time. The only issue on appeal with withholding of removal. But, despite those waivers he...
CA1: reselling prescription drugs causes loss
Posted on April 29, 2008US v. Marti-Lon, No. 07-1040. This is an unlawful distribution of prescription drugs case. Essentially this shows how screwed up our prescription drug market is. ?The drug wholesalers then sold the drugs to Martí-Lón at a lower cost because Martí-Lón...
CA1: at sentencing, restitution amounts are different than intended loss amounts
Posted on April 29, 2008US v. Innarelli, No. 06-2400. After pleading guilty to a ?land-flipping? scheme (which seems to be more like a mortgage scheme) that was perpetrated by, amongst other people, a lawyer. But, the First clarifies some areas of the guidelines that...
Who owns the truth?
Posted on April 29, 2008A Public Defender once again points to Western Justice, whom he accuses of being a hollier-than-thou prosecutor that just doesn?t get it. (See also Simple Justice's post). There are some prosecutors that can smell BS. There are some that can?t....
More on laptop border searches
Posted on April 29, 2008The Ninth Circuit Blog shows all the problems in United States v. Arnold __ F.3d __, 2008 WL 1776525 (9th Cir. April 21, 2008), which we covered here. In short, this holds that not even reasonable suspicion is required for...
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My fiance's check is DD into a local credit union. Bank seems to have a pattern of "invisibly holding" charges from the debit card until just HOURS before his DD is processed (and this is after hours, of course). Over th
Have your fiance take the information you've collected and go into the bank...
I am being accused of hitting a 7 yr old child with my car, but I honestly don't think I hit the child. The Child was never knocked down, ran around my car to go back to ball practice, and was walking around with the par
You are in a serious situation. Get a lawyer immediately. Make no statements to ...
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My fiance's check is DD into a local credit union. Bank seems to have a pattern of "invisibly holding" charges from the debit card until just HOURS before his DD is processed (and this is after hours, of course). Over th
Have your fiance take the information you've collected and go into the bank...
I am being accused of hitting a 7 yr old child with my car, but I honestly don't think I hit the child. The Child was never knocked down, ran around my car to go back to ball practice, and was walking around with the par
You are in a serious situation. Get a lawyer immediately. Make no statements to ...
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