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Criminal Law

Puerto Rico Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

By Tom Lincoln

Post Frequency: 1.2/day

Last Entry: January 21, 2011 at 18:55:44

Judge Pérez-Giménez Rules on Attorney's Fees Inquiry

Posted on January 19, 2005
I strongly suggest reading Judge Pérez-Giménez's Opinion and Order in U.S. v. Angel González-Méndez, Cr. No. 04-217 (PG) (D.PR January 14, 2005) concerning the Government's interest in inquiring as to the source of attorneys fees --pretrial-- in a case involving the robbery of a financial institution and in which none of the stolen funds have been recovered...

Peter Goldberger on Booker/Fanfan

Posted on January 17, 2005
You can read Peter Goldberger's take on Booker/Fanfan in this post at White Collar Crime Prof Blog. Peter is an NACDL member and an outstanding appellate attorney and, he was on the brief in NACDL's amicus curiae merits brief in Booker & Fanfan. Also read the comments to the post, some written by Peter, and one written by T...

18 U.S.C. § 3553. Imposition of a Sentence

Posted on January 17, 2005
Post-Booker, with Section 3553(b) gone, we still have the remaining subsections of 3553 to deal with. § 3553. Imposition of a sentence (a) Factors To Be Considered in Imposing a Sentence.- The court shall impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection...

The Fox Guarding the Chicken Coop

Posted on January 17, 2005
I apologize that I have been away from the blog, but every once in a while we do have such things called trials to attend to, and I had just started one --briefly interrupted by the Supreme Court's decision in US v. Booker & Fanfan-- and, given the amount of coverage Booker was receiving elsewhere, I thought it best to not attempt to be the Judge Paul G...

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Chief Judge Fusté to Discuss Status of Criminal Defense in Our District

Posted on January 16, 2005
On Friday, January 21, 2005 (3:30 to 5:00 p.m.) the Federal Public Defender's Office will sponsor a meeting for CJA Panel Attorneys with Chief Judge José A. Fusté to discuss the status of criminal defense in our district. If you intend to attend, let Ms...

Off Topic: Earth at Night

Posted on January 11, 2005
I'm preparing for a trial, but thought I'd post this one cool picture of the Earth at Night. Thanks to The Volokh Conspiracy for the link. Check out Puerto Rico and ask yourselves: is there still some place in this island where we haven't poured cement and turned on the lights?

Help for Those Awaiting Surrender to the BOP with recommendations for ICC (Boot Camp) participation

Posted on January 08, 2005
In order to assist those with clients who may be awaiting surrender to the BOP, with recommendations for Intensive Confinement Center (ICC, Boot Camp) participation, which are being discontinued (see Bye, bye to federal Boot Camps), here is a Motion for the Issuance of an Order Staying Defendant's Surrender to the Bureau of Prisons, prepared by AFPD Timothy W...

First Circuit Upholds BOP's Interpretation of Good Time Statute

Posted on January 08, 2005
In Perez-Olivo v. Chavez, No. 04-1486 (1st Cir. January 7, 2005) the First Circuit sides with the BOP's interpretation of the good conduct time (GTC) statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b)(1), to the effect that the maximum of 54 days per year are to be credited for years actually served, and not for years a defendant is sentenced to...

Bye, bye to federal Boot Camps

Posted on January 06, 2005
Howard O. Kieffer of BOPWatch reports on the forthcoming closing of federal Boot Camps: The last inmates for the Bureau's ICC programs (Boot Camp) will be received this Friday, January 7, 2005. When those classes graduate on June 28, 2005, the programs will cease operations...

The Confrontation Blog - devoted to Crawford v. Washington

Posted on January 05, 2005
The Confrontation Blog is devoted to Crawford v. Washington and the Confrontation Clause. Thanks to Crime & Federalism for directing us there. The blog is penned by Professor Richard D. Friedman, of the University of Michigan Law School, and is described by him as "devoted to reporting and commenting on developments related to Crawford v...

Additional Findings to Justify 2 Juries for Capital Case

Posted on December 31, 2004
We previously posted here on Judge Nancy Gertner's Memorandum and Order Re: Bifurcation in United States v. Darryl Green, et al., 343 F.Supp.2d 23 (D.Mass. 2004), Criminal No. 02-10301-NG (D.Mass, Nov. 3, 2004) -a capital case- whereby there would be two juries, one non-death qualified to decide guilt or innocence, and a second death-qualified jury to, if necessary, decide on punishment...

Eyewitness Identification Reform

Posted on December 23, 2004
CrimProf Blog reports here on a column in the December issue of The Champion by NACDL President Barry Scheck on changes on the horizon that will go a long way towards avoiding mistaken eyewitness identifications. "Soon, the single greatest cause of the conviction of the innocent -- mistaken eyewitness identification -- will be significantly redressed by a series of historic reforms: We will see photo arrays and lineups conducted by a blinded examiner (the person running the procedure doesn't know the identity of the suspect); proper admonitions to witnesses that the real perpetrator may not be present; proper selection of...

Adobe Reader 7.0 Now Available

Posted on December 22, 2004
Adobe has released the free Adobe Reader 7.0, which should be a marked improvement over version 6.0. While I am a fan of the Firefox browser, I had noticed that many PDF files did not open correctly using Firefox, and had to constatly work with Internet Explorer as well...

CJA Case Caps Increased Effective December 8, 2004

Posted on December 16, 2004
We have received notice that the CJA case cap for felonies has been increased from $5,200 to $7,000. The new cap will apply to cases in which any work was done on or after December 8, 2004. This will shorten the amount of time counsel have to wait to get paid in cases falling within the cap, since these do not have to be certified to the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, who will now review only cases in which compensation claimed (and certified by the District Court) exceeds the new $7,000 cap...

No Booker/Fanfan Today, but Unanimous Opinion in Florida v. Nixon

Posted on December 13, 2004
No Booker/Fanfan today, so continue dealing with the status quo at least until January 11th, 2005. Among the opinions the Court issued today is Florida v. Nixon, 543 U.S. --, No. 03-931 (Dec. 13, 2004), a capital case, in which a unanimous (without participation by the Chief Justice) Supreme Court ruled that counsel's admission of defendant's guilt, without defendant's consent, was not per se ineffecftive assistance of counsel...

Help for your Next Appeal

Posted on December 12, 2004
So you now have to face that appeal, and you would like some pointers on writing briefs as well as arguing your case. The folks at Appellate Law & Practice have come up with a number of excellent links, and I will add a few more to assist anyone writing a brief and arguing a case on appeal...

OOPS or DOPES - take your pick

Posted on December 08, 2004
This, picked from a list-serve, really made me laugh today: Just a thought ... maybe the Department of "Justice" should be renamed the "Office of Prosecutorial Services"... Justice is beyond the comprehension of most career prosecutors. That way whenever you see an AUSA you just go OOPS! But just think of the Department of Prosecutorial Excesses Services, or DOPES...

No Booker/Fanfan Today, but . . . maybe tomorrow?

Posted on December 07, 2004
According to this post by Marty Lederman at SCOTUS Blog, the Court issued one opinion today and it was not Booker/Fanfan. The Court is expected to announce at least one more opinion tomorrow in argued cases. If Booker & Fanfan are not announced then, it will be either December 13th or January 11th, at the earliest...

7th Circuit Sides with BOP's Interpretation of Good Time Statute

Posted on December 03, 2004
In White v. Scibana, No. 04-2410 (7th Cir. Dec. 2, 2004) the Seventh Circuit reversed the District Court's opinion in White v. Scibana, 314 F. Supp. 2d 834 (W.D. Wis. 2004) which had interpreted 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b)(1) - the "good time" statute - as meaning that a prisoner should get 54 days of good time for each year of the sentence imposed, minus any deductions for disciplinary violations...

Attorney's Lounge Now has Internet Access

Posted on December 01, 2004
The District Court has today sent out a Notice that it is now providing free internet access in the Attorney's Lounge. That is very good news. But like the spoiled kid who can never be satisfied, I can only wait for the Courtrooms to have WiFi or some other internet connection...

Blog is the Word of the Year

Posted on December 01, 2004
Reuters reports that 'Blog' Tops Dictionary's Words of the Year. "A four-letter term that came to symbolize the difference between old and new media during this year's presidential campaign tops U.S. dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster's list of the 10 words of the year...

Timing Booker/Fanfan and the Result - all from 2 questions posed by one Justice at oral argument in two other consolidated cases!

Posted on December 01, 2004
Two posts at SCOTUS Blog raise questions about when the opinions in Booker and Fanfan will be released. In one, Marty Lederman suggests here that a footnote the petitioners' brief in the consolidated cases of Whitfield v. United States and Hall v. United States urging that "[h]owever this Court rules on the question presented specifically by this case [namely, whether commission of an overt act is an element of the crime of conspiracy to commit money laundering under 18 U...

Felicitaciones al Lcdo. Anglada

Posted on November 30, 2004
Congratulations are in order to PRACDL member Rafael Anglada for the winning verdict in US v. Juan Rivera-Reyes, Crim. No. 03-122 (DRD), a case in which the jury credited defendant's mere presence defense, established through the testimony of a co-defendant who had plead guilty.

PRACDL Officers & Open Board Meetings Policy

Posted on November 30, 2004
At the first meeting of the PRACDL's new Board held on November 29, 2004, presided by President Maria H. Sandoval the following officers were selected: Vice President: Juan R. Acevedo-Cruz Secretary: Tom Lincoln Treasurer: Jorge E. Rivera-Ortíz The Board has decided to hold open meetings at which any PRACDL member is welcomed, and the Minutes of all meetings will be notified to all PRACDL members.

No Booker/Fanfan Today

Posted on November 30, 2004
There was a possibility and much speculation that the Court might issue an opinion today in Booker and Fanfan, but that did not happen. SCOTUS Blog reports here that the Court is not scheduled to issue any opinions tomorrow and, therefore, it's likely that the only additional decision days prior to January 11th will be one or more of December 7th, 8th and 13th...

Oral Argument in Shepard v. US, No. 03-9168

Posted on November 26, 2004
The transcript of the oral argument in Shepard v. U.S., No. 03-9168 is available, and we have also added it to the sidebar. Shepard is the ACCA case in which the First Circuit (at least in my view) went beyond the rule established by the Supreme Court in Taylor v...

A Gift from Jorge L. Arroyo to Us

Posted on November 25, 2004
We have added a new section to the Sidebar - From Our Members - and will provide content that can be useful to us all. The first item added comes from Jorge L. Arroyo, who has generously provided us with his Legal Topics Bibliography - a subject matter index to several magazines such as The Champion, ABA Journal, Litigation, The Federal Lawyer, Criminal Justice and others, dating back several years...

A not so level playing field: Prosecutors Run NCIC Checks on Jurors While You Conduct Guesswork

Posted on November 24, 2004
While you are practically blindly conducting what amounts to almost a joke of a voir dire in jury selection, is it possible that the prosecutors are way ahead of you having run background checks of the prospective jurors in federal databases? I always felt uneasy when I saw a federal prosecutor get the prospective jurors' list and hand it off to some US Attorney's Office secretary or legal assistant...

US Sentencing Commission 15 Year Assessment of Guidelines Sentencing

Posted on November 23, 2004
The US Sentencing Commission has issued its 15 year review of the sentencing guidelines: Fifteen Years of Guidelines Sentencing: An Assessment of How Well the Federal Criminal Justice System Is Achieving the Goals of Sentencing Reform. This study is a comprehensive review of the research literature and sentencing data to assess how well the guidelines have achieved the goals for sentencing reform established by Congress in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984...

USSC Booker & Fanfan Page

Posted on November 22, 2004
The U.S. Sentencing Commission has created a Booker & Fanfan Materials page and, although the material is rather scant, you can access the Public Hearing transcript of the sessions held on November 16 and 17, 2004, as well as the submitted testimonies from vatious sources...

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