Ninth Circuit Blog: Federal Judiciary

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Federal Judiciary Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Federal Judiciary

Ninth Circuit Blog

Case Summaries and Commentary by Federal Defenders of the Ninth Circuit

Post Frequency: 1.3/day

Last Entry: November 01, 2020 at 14:48:00

Case o' The Week: Of Trials and Tribulations - Lamar Johnson, Rehaif, and Review of Convictions After Trial

Posted on November 01, 2020
The Ninth Circuit carefully limits its review to facts in the record, when considering a challenge to a conviction after trial. (Facts in the appellate record, that is). United States v. Lamar Johnson, 2020 WL 6268027 (9thCir...

Case o' the Week: Ninth Delivers Intent-ional Reversal -- Alhaggagi and Specific Intent for Terrorism Enhancement in Material Support cases

Posted on October 25, 2020
By simple "cause and effect," one who works with terrorists is necessarily motivated to intimidate or coerce the U.S. government -- right? Mr. August Gugelmann and Ms. Mary McNamaraNope: not in the Ninth. United States v. Alhaggagi, 2020 WL 6192982 (9th Cir...

US v. Alhaggagi, No. 19-10092 (10-22-20)(M.

Posted on October 22, 2020
US v. Alhaggagi, No. 19-10092 (10-22-20)(M. Smith w/Ezra; dissent by Hurwitz). Should providing social media accounts for ISIS sympathizers trigger a GL enhancement under 3A1.4? Not in this case, explains the 9th, because there must be proof that providing as ?material support? was intended to intimidate, coerce, or retaliate against government conduct...

Case o' The Week: Battle of the Bulge -- Bontemps, Terry and Reasonable Suspicion from "Gun Bulges"

Posted on October 18, 2020
?Gun? bulge spotted?Laissez les bon temps rouler (for the cops, that is . . .). United States v. Bontemps, 2020 WL 6040044 (9th Cir. Oct. 13, 2020), decision available here. Players:Decision by Judge Bress, joined by Judge R. Nelson. Compelling dissent by D...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

US v. Kroytor, No. 19-16459 (10-14-2020)(Hunsaker

Posted on October 14, 2020
US v. Kroytor, No. 19-16459 (10-14-2020)(Hunsaker w/Miller & Schiltz). This is a coram nobis case. The 9th denies the claim because the petitioner, facing removal, waited two years before seeing to get out of his guilty plea based on IAC (bad advice)...

US v. Bontemps, No. 19-10195 (10-13-20)(Bress

Posted on October 14, 2020
US v. Bontemps, No. 19-10195 (10-13-20)(Bress w/Nelson; dissent by Gwin). This is a Terrystop decision. The majority affirmed the district court?s denial of a suppression motion. The majority holds there was no clear error in a Terry stop based on an officer observing a bulge under a sweatshirt...

Case o' The Week: The Ninth's Pending Decision - Pacheco Pacheco and Statutory Interpretation

Posted on October 12, 2020
?Deported? to Duluth? A Black?s and white statutory interpretation case, for the Ninth. United States v. Pacheco Pachecho, 2020 WL 5902923 (9th Cir. Oct. 6, 2020), decision available here. Players: Decision by visiting WD Ark...

Case o' The Week: Ninth EDDifies Us on "Victims" - Herrera and Victims Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines

Posted on October 04, 2020
Corporations are ?people,? and government entities are, ?victims.? United States v. Herrera, 2020 WL 5405679 (9th Cir. Sept. 9, 2020), decision available here. Players: Decision by Judge Hunsaker, joined by Judge Wardlaw and visiting Sixth Circuit Judge Cook...

U.S. vs. Cotterman, No. 09-10139

Posted on March 30, 2011
U.S. vs. Cotterman, No. 09-10139 (3-30-11)(Tallman with Rawlinson; dissent by B. Fletcher). This is a troubling Fourth Amendment/border search opinion. The defendant was stopped entering the U.S. at a tiny point of entry. He was on a watch list for a prior sex offense...

U.S. v. Buenrosta, No. 08-16185

Posted on March 23, 2011
U.S. v. Buenrosta, No. 08-16185 (3-23-11) (Per curiam with Graber, Kleinfeld, and Molloy, D.J. Mont.)The petitioner is doing life for drug trafficking with two prior drug convictions. So, why didn't his lawyer allegedly present him with the plea deal for "only" 14 years? Was it true that his lawyer did not know petitioner was facing life? Sounds like IAC...

Case o' The Week: Major Analysis for a "Minor" Issue - Doss, and Nijhawan in Criminal Sentencings

Posted on March 19, 2011
A slow week in the Ninth (for non-capital cases, at least), and an order amending the opinion, gives us an excuse to go back for a second pass at the interesting decision and sentencing issues in United States v. Doss, _ F.3d __, 2011 WL 871391 (Mar...

Cook vs. Brewer, No. 11-5303 (3-16-11)

Posted on March 18, 2011
Cook vs. Brewer, No. 11-5303 (3-16-11) (O'Callahan with O'Scannlain and Graber).[Ed. note: This case arises from the Arizona FPD office].Petitioner is set to be executed on April 9, 2011. He filed a 1983 action challenging the use of foreign manufactured, FDA-unauthorized sodium thiopental, one of the lethal drugs used for execution...

Ortiz-Hernandez Flashback

Posted on March 17, 2011
Back in 2005, the Ninth Circuit reversed the grant of a suppression motion in an illegal reentry case in Ortiz-Hernandez. The district court had found that the stop was racially based and lacked probable cause (276 F.Supp. 2d 1119). Nevertheless, the appellate court reversed in a split decision...

U.S. vs. Fernandes, No. 09-30135

Posted on March 14, 2011
U.S. vs. Fernandes, No. 09-30135 (3-14-11)(Per curiam with Thomas, Graber, and Tallman). Must a court order a defendant convicted of abusive sexual contact under 18 U.S.C. 2244(b) to register as a sex offender? The defendant here worked as a security officer at a national park when he fondled and groped an intoxicated female employee in her room without her permission...

U.S. vs. Bonilla, No. 09-10307

Posted on March 14, 2011
U.S. vs. Bonilla, No. 09-10307 (3-11-11) (Reinhardt with Berzon and Pollak, Sr. D.J., E.D. Pa).In Padilla, the Supremes made clear that the defendant must be advised of the immigration consequences to a guilty plea. Here, the defendant, a legal resident who had been in the country for 30 years, faced a count of possessing an unregistered firearm and being a felon in possession...

Houston vs. Schomig, No. 10-15048

Posted on March 14, 2011
Houston vs. Schomig, No. 10-15048 (3-8-11) (Trott with O'Scannlain and Tena Campbell, Sr. D.J., D. Utah).Petitioner's lawyer, in an attempt to commit murder trial, was a member of the same public defender's office that had represented a key witness in this case previously in another case...

U.S. vs. Williams, No. 10-30084

Posted on March 07, 2011
U.S. vs. Williams, No. 10-30084 (3-7-11) (O'Scannlain with Beezer and Paez). Convicted of receipt of child pornography, and sentenced to 15 years, the defendant appealed his life term of supervised release, arguing that it constituted "cruel and unusual punishment...

Case o' The Week: "Opened Door" Closes Door on Defense Challenge - Sepulveda-Barraza and Drug Courier Experts

Posted on March 05, 2011
What happens when the defense "opens the door" to the relevance of drug courier testimony? A federal drug courier "expert" strolls on through . . . United States v. Sepulveda-Barraza, 2011 WL 723108 (9th Cir. Mar. 3, 2011), decision available here.Players: Hard-fought appeal by D...

U.S. vs. Sepulveda-Barraza, No.

Posted on March 03, 2011
U.S. vs. Sepulveda-Barraza, No. 09-10362 (3-3-11) (Ikuta with Gould and Mahan). [Ed. note: this case is from our office].The defense in this border drug case was that the defendant was a "blind mule" who did not know drugs were in the car. He had been charged with importation of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute, but not conspiracy...

Case o' The Week: "Original" Sin, and Lynn - Interstate Commerce and Digitized Child Porn

Posted on February 27, 2011
Philosophers have wrestled for centuries with the meaning of identity as framed in Theseus's paradox: the riddle of the wooden ship with the replaced planks. They should have asked the Ninth: it takes only four pages to get to the answer in the recent Lynn decision...

U.S. vs. Salazar-Mojica, No. 09-50632

Posted on February 24, 2011
U.S. vs. Salazar-Mojica, No. 09-50632 (2-24-11) (Clifton with Pregerson and Holland, Sr. D. J., D. Alaska). Can one change the past? Specifically, in a 1326 prosecution, can one change a past state conviction that is classified as an aggravated felony to a misdemeanor, and avoid a +16 level increase? The 9th shakes its head, "no...

U.S. v. Watson, No. 09-50666 (2-23-11)

Posted on February 23, 2011
U.S. v. Watson, No. 09-50666 (2-23-11) (M. Smith with Rawlinson and Jones, D.J., D, Nev.) It is well settled that if a defendant on SR takes off, the SR violation petition is tolled. This is the fugitive status tolling of the term. However, if the federal authorities get wind of his whereabouts, then the term starts to run again...

Case o' The Week: Silence is Golden (Except at Trial) - Padilla and "No Adverse Inference" Instructions

Posted on February 21, 2011
A slow week in the Ninth lets us stretch back a bit to consider Padilla, a disappointing recent decision on jury instructions and the right not to testify. United States v. Padilla, 2011 WL 420686 (9th Cir. Feb. 9, 2011), decision available here.Players: Decision by Judge McKeown (below), joined by Judges Hug and D...

U.S. v. Garcia-Guerrero, No. 09-50614

Posted on February 18, 2011
U.S. v. Garcia-Guerrero, No. 09-50614 (2-18-11) (Holland, Sr. D.J., D. Alaska with Pregerson and Clifton). Importation can be a taxing crime. The defendant was caught bringing 10 gallons of hypophosphorous acid across the border. This is a precursor ingredient for meth...

Harrison v. Gillespie, No. 08-16602

Posted on February 17, 2011
Harrison v. Gillespie, No. 08-16602 (2-15-11) (en banc: M. Smith; Kozinski concurrence; Thomas dissent and Reinhardt dissent). The jury said it was hung on the penalty phase of a capital trial. It was pretty clear in the notes and the proposed verdict forms that death was off the table, and the choices were between LWOP, LWP, or a term of years...

Case o' The Week: Tuscon & Thomas - Flyer and Possesion of Child Porn

Posted on February 13, 2011
Child porn on appeal: can you get a fair shake? Does the Ninth deal with the emotionally-charged issues of child pornography in a neutral, detached, and rigorous analysis, with decisions dictated solely by the record and controlling law and not swayed by the nature of the crime? Or are outcomes in the Ninth arguably affected by the reprehensible crime at issue? Yes -- both (and sometimes, in decisions delivered the same week)...

U.S. v. Flyer, No. 08-10580 (2-8-11)

Posted on February 09, 2011
U.S. v. Flyer, No. 08-10580 (2-8-11) (Thomas with Kleinfeld and Tashima). In this child pornography case, the 9th reverses convictions on three counts: two counts for lack of jurisdiction and one count for insufficient evidence. In an undercover operation, the FBI downloaded various files of child porn through a file sharing program, LimeWire...

U.S. v. Padilla, No. 09-10451 (2-9-11)

Posted on February 09, 2011
U.S. v. Padilla, No. 09-10451 (2-9-11) (McKeown with D. Nelson and Hug). A court has a constitutional obligation to give a "no-adverse-inference" instruction to the jury if the defendant exercises his right to remain silent. Carter v. Kentucky, 450 US 288 (1981)...

Apprendi Win in Three Strikes Case

Posted on February 08, 2011
John Balazs, panel attorney in Sacramento and former Assistant Federal Defender in the Eastern District of California, won a significant victory this morning in Wilson v. Knowles, No. 07-17318. The Ninth Circuit held that the California courts violated Mr...

U.S. v. Smith, No. 10-10036 (2-3-11)

Posted on February 07, 2011
U.S. v. Smith, No. 10-10036 (2-3-11) (Gould with Callahan and Korman, Sr. D.J., E.D.N.Y.).You can ride, but not only can you not hide, but it gives reasonable suspicion to seize you. The defendant crossed in front of a police car. The officer sounded his siren twice, got out of the car, and ordered the defendant to "stop!" The defendant asked, "Who me?" "Yes," said the officer...

Related Law Bulletins

2d Circuit Hears Oral Arguments In Muslim Border-Search Case
Yesterday, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arg...

10th Circuit Rules Largely In Favor of Summum "7 Aphorisms" Monuments
In decisions yesterday, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals dea...

Hague Abduction: New 6th Circuit Case on Grave Risk of Harm
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has issued a hi...

New Baptist Covenant Blog
Last week, I pointed to the New Baptist Convenant website, now onl...

The Mexico Trucker Blog
I've written before about the perceived problems with relaxed rest...