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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

Jury Trial at the Max with Defendant Shackled

Posted on April 21, 2005
The opinion in Ruimveld v. Birkett, No. 04-1826 (6th Cir. April 21, 2005) upholds the grant of a writ of habeas corpus to defendant Ruimvelt where his shackling at trial, in view of the jury, caused significant harm to the presumption of innocence. For the entirety of the trial, Ruimveld was brought into the courtroom in leg shackles, belly chains, and handcuffs...

EXTRA! EXTRA! - The First Circuit Has a Heart!

Posted on April 19, 2005
United States v. Gorsuch, No. 03-2337 (1st Cir. April 19, 2005) is a case which one can reasonably see having been decided in a manner much less favorable to defendant Gorsuch. For one, the First Circuit held that the Government had forfeited its claim that a downward departure from a statutory weapons sentence was error...

Get the Government to Approve Your Closing Argument - Then You Can Make It

Posted on April 19, 2005
Why does the U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico spend thousands of dollars on seminars to get CJA panel attorneys to use technology in the Courtroom, and then foreclose counsel from making a closing argument using PowerPoint unless defense counsel first showed it to the prosecutor? I hope this is not the understanding of any other members of the federal bench here, but it was certainly disappointing to learn that even one judge thought this was necessary...

Supreme Court of Puerto Rico Approves New Canons of Judicial Conduct

Posted on April 16, 2005
The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico has recently approved a new version of the Cánones de Ética Judicial de 2005.

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Too Little, Too Late

Posted on April 16, 2005
It is difficult to read Cirilo-Muñoz v. United States, No. 02-1846 (1st Cir. April 15, 2005), and not come away feeling that what little remedy the First Circuit has finally granted in this case (a remand for resentencing before the same district judge - although Circuit Judge Torruella's concurrence is sharply worded as to the matter of sending the case back to the same Judge) still amounts to a denial of justice...

Texas Senate Passes Compromise Bill for Life Without Parole as An Alternative in Capital Cases

Posted on April 14, 2005
The Texas Senate has approved a compromise bill for Capital Sentencing. The previous proposed bill had 3 alternative sentences: death, life without parole, and life with parole. The compromise bill eliminates the option of life with parole. Since, reportedly, 78% of Texans wanted to have the option of life without parole (see our previous post), this should result in less death sentences being imposed in Texas, I think...

Life Without Parole Not an Alternative in Texas Capital Cases

Posted on April 13, 2005
If you ever wondered why Texas has such a bad reputation for being the place where the largest number of persons are sentenced to death, check out what Injustice Anywhere - a blog recently started by a Texas Public Defender - has to say about this: Many people are surprised to learn that Texas does not have a sentence of life without parole...

TrialPrep - another PRACDL Blog

Posted on April 09, 2005
Recently I found myself assisting a fellow criminal defense lawyer who is going to trial in his first case before the U.S. District Court in San Juan. Not that I am the ideal person to seek help from as far as trial preparation, for there are many attorneys who are more experienced than yours truly...

Appellant Stumbles at Step Three of the Plain Error Pavane

Posted on April 06, 2005
Everything was going so well as counsel was engaged in his plain error pavane. Then came that difficult third step and he stumbled. The Court decided there would be no Booker remand for resentencing, as the District Court (Cerezo, J.) had made it abundantly clear that her intent was to punish appellant harshly (the guidelines, without any downward departure, would have allowed Judge Cerezo to impose an aggregate sentence as low as 360 months for the grouped counts, and she chose to sentence appellant to nearly double that amount of prison time ? a total of 600 months), even if...

Amnesty International USA's Updated Statistics on the Death Penalty

Posted on April 05, 2005
Amnesty International USA's has published updated statistics on the death penalty, and we select a few here: In 2004, 97 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Viet Nam and the USA. Based on public reports available, Amnesty International estimated that at least 3,400 people were executed in China during the year, although the true figures were believed to be much higher...

"Bert, we hardly knew ye."

Posted on April 02, 2005
U.S. Attorney H.S. "Bert" García has been at the helm of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Puerto Rico for some three years now. Rumor has it that he was brought in from Texas to put the house in order, and that a judicial appointment would be likely at the end...

"First Circuit had departed from the proper role of a reviewing court" - Deputy U.S. Solicitor General Michael R. Dreeben

Posted on March 30, 2005
Recently I listened to the 9th Circuit's en banc oral argument in United States v. Ameline. Arguing for the Government before the en banc panel was Deputy U.S. Solicitor General Michael R. Dreeben, which gives you a feel for the importance the Solicitor General's Office is placing on the case...

Prosecutor Calls Blake Jurors "Incredibly Stupid"

Posted on March 24, 2005
A case of sour grapes? CNN Law reports that "District Attorney Steve Cooley says Robert Blake was 'guilty as sin' and the jurors who acquitted him of murder were 'incredibly stupid.'" Hat tip to CrimProf Blog.

Rivera v. Rhode Island, No. 04-1568 (1st Cir. March 22, 2005)

Posted on March 22, 2005
For a discussion of Rivera v. Rhode Island, No. 04-1568 (1st Cir. March 22, 2005), see our post And it's also "Poor Jennifer and Iris!" at Macondo Law. See also posts on the same case at Crime & Federalism and at Appellate Law & Practice.

First Circuit Quietly Enters a Booker Remand in Antonakopoulos

Posted on March 22, 2005
In United States v. Antonakopoulos, No. 03-1384, 2005 WL 407365, at *4 (1st Cir. Feb. 22, 2005), the First Circuit, after rejecting all of the Blakely/Booker claims actually raised by defendant on direct appeal, stated as follows: There is another type of Booker argument available but which Antonakopoulos has not made: that there is a reasonable probability that the district court, freed of mandatory guidelines, would have given him a lower sentence...

It will be a Quiet Place

Posted on March 20, 2005
The New York Times has this article As Town for Deaf Takes Shape, Debate on Isolation Re-emerges. It will sure be a quiet place. Can you imagine being a lawyer there and prepping up for trial? I'm sure the lawyers will use great visual effects, but I'm just not quite ready for those closing arguments using sign-language.

Judge Gertner Issues Amended Memorandum in US v. Jaber

Posted on March 19, 2005
We have updated our March 3, 2005 post Judge Nancy Gertner on Sentencing Under Booker to reflect that an amended memorandum (replacing the March 3, 2005 one) was issued by Judge Gertner in United States v. Jaber, et al., Crim. No. 02-10201-NG (D.Mass...

At Last! A Booker Remand from the First Circuit

Posted on March 16, 2005
If United States v. MacKinnon, No. 03-2219 (1st Cir. March 16, 2005) was not remanded for resentencing in light of Booker and the strict standard set up by the First Circuit in United States v. Antonakopoulos, No. 03-1384, 2005 WL 407365 (1st Cir. Feb...

Legal Ethics Blog

Posted on March 05, 2005
We have added to our sidebar a link to the Legal Ethics Forum which we found out about via: Appellate Law & Practice: Legal Ethics Blog.

First Circuit Judges Lipez and Torruella Propose "Presumed Prejudice" Standard, which the Government can then Try to Rebut for Unpreserved Booker Claims

Posted on March 04, 2005
In United States v. Serrano-Beauvaix, No. 02-2286 (1st Cir. March 4, 2005) (a case involving an unpreserved Booker claim) the First Circuit holds that no remand for resentencing is necessary because "Serrano has failed to carry his burden that there is a 'reasonable probability' that he would be sentenced more leniently under an advisory Guidelines system...

Judge Nancy Gertner on Sentencing Under Booker

Posted on March 03, 2005
UPDATED POST: Judge Gertner issued her first "official" word on post-Booker sentencing in a "Memorandum and Order Re: Sentencing Under United States v. Booker" in US v. Jaber, et al., Crim. No. 02-10201-NG (D.Mass. March 3, 2005), and has now issued an "Amended Memorandum and Order Re: Sentencing Under United States v...

More on Taser Guns

Posted on February 27, 2005
The Wall Street Journal Online (paid subscription required) has an article under its Shareholder Scoreboard dated February 28, 2005 on Best 3-Year/1-Year Performer: Taser International, which details the remarkable growth Taser stock has enjoyed, but also indicates that safety concerns (see our February 12, 2005 post On Taser Guns) are becoming a problem for the company, which manufactures Taser Guns...

PRACDL Request for Sentencing Information

Posted on February 26, 2005
All PRACDL members are urged to submit information as to each sentencing hearing they attend, so as to give us all a better idea of how Judges are sentencing post-Booker. The following information will be helpful: Offense Judge Nature of plea agreement (if any), i...

New PRACDL Group - Members Only

Posted on February 26, 2005
We have created a PRACDL Group (open only to PRACDL members) which you can join by e-mailing PRACDL-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or use the link below by entering your email address. This will be much like the BOPWatch and CJAFirstCircuit groups many of you are already familiar with, and will allow you to post and receive messages from all group members via e-mail or online...

First Circuit's First Booker Shots

Posted on February 24, 2005
I had not posted earlier on the First Circuit's first responses to Booker, see US v. Antonakopoulos, No. 03-1384 (1st Cir. Feb. 22, 2005) and US v. Sahlin, No. 04-1324 (1st Cir. Feb. 22, 2005), and much of it had to do with the fact that neither case is good news for defendants...

Additions to PRACDL Blog

Posted on February 24, 2005
We have added two new lists to the right sidebar of the blog - Booker in the First Circuit (includes District and appellate cases) and Booker Elsewhere. As the number of cases are likely to grow exponentially, we will in time start trimming these lists to the most important cases...

Fifth Circuit Rejects Order of Bifurcation with non-death-qualified jury for guilt phase and death qualified jury for penalty phase as contrary to Federal Death Penalty Act

Posted on February 15, 2005
In a capital case, the Fifth Circuit has rejected a district court's order of bifurcation with a non-death-qualified jury to hear the guilt phase and a death-qualified jury to hear the penalty phase if necessary. See U.S. v. Williams, No. 05-20080 (5th Cir...

On Taser Guns

Posted on February 12, 2005
Only lawsuits may stop the use of Taser guns. The New York Times has published today on Chicago Rethinks its Use of Stun Guns, by Monica Davey and Alex Berenson, detailing Chicago Police's and City Council's reaction to two incidents involving the use of Taser stun guns...

PRACDL Seminar on Booker & Crawford

Posted on February 08, 2005
PRACDL will be holding a one-day seminar on the application of Booker and Crawford on February 24, 2005 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the amphitheater of Inter-American University School of Law. The guest speakers for the seminar are nationally renowned judge and attorneys: The Honorable Nancy Gertner, U...

US v. Barkley, 04-CR-119-H (ND Ok. Jan. 24, 2005)

Posted on January 27, 2005
In what has to be one of the more interesting post-Booker opinions, Chief Judge Holmes of the Northern District of Oklahoma who, post-Blakely, gave us US v. O?Daniel, 328 F. Supp. 2d 1168 (N.D. Okla. 2004) (see this post), and US v. Leach, No. 03-CR-114-H (N...

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