(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense
Find a Local Lawyer
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402
Second Circuit Blog 
Case Summaries and Commentary by Attorneys from the Federal Defenders Office in New York City
Post Frequency: 2.4/day Last Entry: March 25, 2016 at 12:33:00 Recent Entries: 391
Go to Second Circuit Blog, find other Public Defense blogs, or browse all law blogs.
Waiving Bye-Bye
Posted on January 02, 2011United States v. Arevalo, No. 09-0576-cr (2d Cir. December 21, 2010) (Jacobs, Kearse, Straub, CJJ)Defendant Manuel Vigil pled guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and using a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. He did so pursuant to a plea agreement that contained an appeal waiver - he promised not to ?file an appeal or otherwise challenge? his conviction or sentence if the district court imposed a sentence of 195 months? imprisonment or less...
PATRIOT Games
Posted on January 02, 2011United States v. Abu-Jihaad, No. 09-1375-cr (2d Cir. December 20, 2010) (Raggi, Hall, Chin, CJJ)Defendant Hassan Abu-Jihaad, whose birth name was Paul R. Hall, was convicted of communicating national defense information about the movement of a Navy battlegroup to unauthorized persons...
Equal Rejection
Posted on December 19, 2010United States v. Thomas, No. 09-4335-cr (2d Cir. December 16, 2010) (Jacobs, Kearse, Straub, CJJ)The circuit has twice upheld strict liability nature of the ?stolen gun? enhancement, currently codified as U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(4)(A). Here, the defendant raised the issue again, arguing that Apprendi and its progeny have undermined the circuit precedent on this point, and also made an equal protection claim...
PC World
Posted on December 19, 2010United States v. Diaz, No. 10-317 (2d Cir. December 15, 2010) (Cabranes, Pooler, Wesley, CJJ) (per curiam)In October, the court issued a non-precedential summary order holding that the Fair Sentencing Act (the "FSA") is not retroactive. See "Summary Summary" posted October 27, 2010...
Summary Summary
Posted on December 19, 2010Here are the two latest summary orders of interest.In United States v. Spitsyn, No. 09-4698-cr (2d Cir. December 16, 2010), the court agreed with the parties that the district court relied on clearly erroneous findings of fact in a bank fraud case to support ts finding that all of the checks the defendants cashed were relevant conduct...
Labor Pains
Posted on December 19, 2010United States v. Markle, No. 06-1600-cr (2d Cir. December 14, 2010) (Jacobs, Pooler, Parker, CJJ)In United States v. Enmons, 410 U.S. 396 (1973), the Supreme Court held that extortion liability under the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951, did not extend to violence in pursuit of ?legitimate labor ends? that occurs during a lawful strike that is intended to achieve ?legitimate collective-bargaining objectives...
Plain Terror
Posted on December 18, 2010United States v. Marcus, No. 07-4005-cr (2d Cir. December 7, 2010) (Calabresi, Straub, Wesley, CJJ)This is Marcus? second go-round in the circuit. He won the first time, in August of 2008, (see ?Sex Post Facto?, posted August 18, 2008). The government got cert, and the Supreme Court reversed, holding that the first panel had used an incorrect plain error standard...
PC World
Posted on December 13, 2010United States v. Bouknight, No. 09-4085-cr (2d Cir. December 7, 2010) (Katzmann, Livingston, CJJ, Korman, DJ)This latest per curiam was a summary order that, on the government's motion, the court published. In it, the court holds that a sentence to a conditional discharge in Connecticut state court is a "criminal justice sentence" for purposes of the criminal history enhancement in U...
What You Don?t Know Can Hurt You
Posted on December 11, 2010United States v. Andino, No. 09-4694-cr (2d Cir. December 3, 2010) (Kearse, Calabresi, Wesley, CJJ)In 2008, customs officials intercepted a package containing cocaine addressed to ?Andino Jose? at an address in the Bronx. After a controlled delivery to that address, the recipient called defendant Andino, who picked up the package and brought it to an adjacent building, where he left it unopened...
Two Steps Forward
Posted on December 11, 2010United States v. Capers, No 07-1830-cr (2d Cir. December 1, 2010) (Pooler, Hall CJJ, Trager, DJ)This decision, which was sub judice for nearly two and one-half years, attempts to sort out the confusion left by the Supreme Court?s decision in Missouri v...
No Gain, Yes Pain
Posted on December 11, 2010United States v. Woolf Turk, No 09-5091-cr (2d Cir. November 30, 2010) (Katzmann, Hall CJJ, Jones, DJ)Ivy Woolf Turk was a principal in a real estate development company. Between 2003 and 2007 she and her partner persuaded investors to lend them $27 million, primarily to renovate apartment buildings in upper Manhattan...
Fuller Brush-Off
Posted on December 11, 2010United States v. Fuller, No. 09-1437-cr (2d Cir. November 30, 2010) (McLaughlin, Straug, Raggi, CJJ)In 2004, Ross Fuller pled guilty to a sex offense in Missouri and became a registered sex offender. He complied with the applicable registration requirements until June of 2006, when he moved to New York, and failed to register either in Missouri or New York State...
Summary Summary
Posted on December 05, 2010Well, it's been a while since the court gave us any interesting summary orders, but here are two that are worth noting.In United States v. Crawford-Bey, No. 09-3309-cr (2d Cir. December 1, 2010), the defendant challenged on appeal the U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1) gun possession enhancement...
Blame Canada
Posted on November 26, 2010United States v. Miller, No. 08-1152-cr (2d Cir. November 23, 2010) (Straub, Parker, Livingston, CJJ)In 1994, Michelle Miller had a son, Robbie, with her former high school boyfriend; they later married. Shortly thereafter, the marriage dissolved. A Vermont family court awarded Miller legal custody of Robbie, and gave the father visitation rights...
PC World
Posted on November 26, 2010United States v. Douglas, No. 09-4955-cr (2d Cir. November 23, 2010) (Miner, Katzmann, Hall, CJJ) (per curiam)Defendant Douglas was trolling a fetish Internet chatroom, and struck up an acquaintanceship with a Vermont police officer posing as ?Liz,? a thirty-eight-year-old divorced nurse with a thirteen-year-old daughter, ?Anna...
Payoff Games
Posted on November 26, 2010United States v. Kalish, No. 08-3374-cr (2d Cir. November 24, 2010) (Newman, Winter, Lynch, CJJ)Defendant Kalish was convicted of mail and wire fraud in connection with an advance loan fee scheme. The district court ordered him to pay $ 1.2 million in restitution, and also ordered a $ 3...
It?s Not In The Timing
Posted on November 06, 2010United States v. Davis, No. 09-3636-cr (2d Cir. November 5, 2010) (Newman, Raggi, CJJ, Rakoff, DJ)Williams Davis was convicted, after a jury trial, of inter alia, producing child pornography, and was sentenced to 120 years? imprisonment. This opinion address the novel issue of whether the defendant must know that the pornography will be transmitted in interstate commerce at the time he produced it...
Dread Herring
Posted on October 31, 2010United States v. Rosa, No. 09-0636-cr (2d Cir. October 27, 2010) (Walker, Livingston, CJJ, Kaplan, DJ)Back in June, in a case called Julius, after finding a Fourth Amendment violation, the circuit remanded the case so that the district court could perform a cost-benefit analysis in deciding whether to apply the exclusionary rule...
PC World
Posted on October 30, 2010United States v. Drachenberg, No. 09-3114-cr (2d Cir. October 2, 2010) (Kearse, Pooler, Hall, CJJ) (per curiam)The court?s latest per curiam puts to rest several recurring tax-protester argumenst. Representing himself pro se, Drachenberg argued that federal courts had no jurisdiction over him because ?New York is not subject to the legislative or territorial jurisdiction of the United States? and thus that as a ?native-born? New Yorker he was under no obligation to pay income taxes ?unless and until the United States has conquered or subsumed New York...
Deal Or No Deal?
Posted on October 30, 2010United States v. Marks, No. 08-1207-cr (2d Cir. October 19, 2010) (Leval, Hall, Livingston, CJJ)Defendant Chad Marks was convicted after a jury trial of drug trafficking offenses and two § 924(c) counts, and was sentenced to the resulting 40-year mandatory minimum sentence...
No Angry Men
Posted on October 29, 2010Portolatin v. Graham, No. 07-1599-pr (2d Cir. October 18, 2010) (en banc)Earlier this year, a Second Circuit panel held that New York?s persistent felony offender (PFO) statute violated the right to a jury trial under Apprendi. See The Persistents of Apprendi, posted April 9, 2010...
Summary Summary
Posted on October 27, 2010This is hot off the presses - today, in a summary order, the court held that the Fair Sentencing Act is not retroactive, since it "contains no express statement that it is intended to have retroactive effect nor can we infer such intent from its language...
Summary Summary
Posted on October 23, 2010Well, it's been a while, but the court has finally issued a couple of summary orders of interest.In United States v. De La Cruz, No. 09-4641-cr (2d Cir. October 21, 2010), the district court, in imposing sentence, remarked that a "Guideline sentence by definition really can't create unwarranted sentencing disparity...
Unlicensed Striver
Posted on October 03, 2010United States v. Mazza-Alaluf, No. 09-3940-cr (2d Cir. September 22, 2010) (Sack, Raggi, Lynch, CJJ)Mazza-Alaluf operated an unlicensed money-transfer business that, while based in Chile, sent millions of dollars through New York, Illinois and Michigan, without acquiring the appropriate state licenses...
PC World
Posted on October 03, 2010United States v. Folkes, No. 09-3389-cr (2d Cir. September 29, 2010) (Newman, Hall, CJJ, Restani, JCIT) (per curiam)A conceded plain error in applying the definition of ?crime of violence? in the illegal reentry Guideline is the subject of the court?s most recent per curiam...
Gender Contender
Posted on October 02, 2010United States v. Paris, No. 08-5071-cr (2d Cir. September 17, 2010) (Jacobs, Wesley, Chin, CJJ)This interesting Batson decision deals with gender-based peremptory challenges, a subject that the circuit has not previously discussed.Background For about five years, Dennis Paris ran a multi-state prostitution ring centered in the Hartford, Connecticut, area and recruited teenage girls to work for him...
PC World
Posted on September 18, 2010United States v. Ahders, No. 09-4093-cr (2d Cir. September 16, 2010) (Katzmann, Hall, Chin, CJJ) (per curiam)In this latest per curiam, the court vacated a long sentence imposed for producing child pornography, because the district court did not make adequate findings on a sentencing enhancement...
Summary Summary
Posted on September 12, 2010As summer draws to a close, here are two more summary orders of interest.In United States v. Reap, No. 06-5793-cr (2d Cir. August 30, 2010), the court notes that it is an open question in the circuit whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) requires proof that the defendant knew that he had a prior felony conviction...
Max Facto
Posted on September 05, 2010United States v. Ortiz, No. 08-2648-cr (2d Cir. September 1, 2010) (Newman, Pooler, CJJ, Rakoff, DJ)Closing a an open question, the here court holds that the use of a more onerous guideline that is promulgated after the date of the offense can violate the Ex Post Facto Clause...
Southern Discomfort
Posted on September 05, 2010United States v. Barrie, No. 09-3035-cr (2d Cir. August 31, 2010) (Katzmann, Hall, Chin, CJJ)Alalim Barrie was convicted of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme in which he and his confederates obtained money from banks using counterfeit checks and stolen credit card accounts...
Previous | Next
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...
What are the differences in the jurisdictions of State and Federal Courts?
U.S. Supreme Court cases must be followed by all courts nationwide. State Suprem...
Is it libel to write blog posts and/or online reviews about a local business that defames one's reputation?
Libel is the form of defamation expressed in fixed-- usually written form. Sland...
How can I make my blog more popular?
You have to write and submit articles, with backlinks to your blogsite....
Can I substitue photo of people in blog
no...
Why must the jury see who is on trial in the courtroom. Cannot a more fair trial be given if identities were not made available?
When the jury can seen the person they are able also to judge their demeanour an...
#1 Online Legal Resource
On 08-25 at 15:46PM
Acute perpendicular parking #NYPD #NYFD
On 08-18 at 22:18PM
Parallel parking gone bad. Too much gas UES NYC
On 08-18 at 21:41PM
UES NYC
On 08-18 at 21:25PM
Twitter suspends journalist critical of broadcast partner's coverage on dubious grounds @guyadams #nbcfail #twitterfail
On 07-30 at 17:57PM
Model example of 1st Amendment suppression by the People of New York City's Michael Bloomberg #OWS #NYPD
On 07-12 at 21:07PM
AG Holder lackadaisical on Operation in our Sites domain name seizures & RIAA lobbied free speech suppression @dajaz1
On 06-08 at 22:44PM
Why is the Catholic Church going to court over Obama contraception policy? @NewYorker commentary
On 05-31 at 10:08AM
Monks sue Louisiana for right to sell caskets made from forrest destroyed by Katrina
On 05-31 at 07:47AM
Are the abortion ultrasound laws headed for the Supreme Court?
On 05-15 at 21:52PM
What are the differences in the jurisdictions of State and Federal Courts?
U.S. Supreme Court cases must be followed by all courts nationwide. State Suprem...
Is it libel to write blog posts and/or online reviews about a local business that defames one's reputation?
Libel is the form of defamation expressed in fixed-- usually written form. Sland...
How can I make my blog more popular?
You have to write and submit articles, with backlinks to your blogsite....
Can I substitue photo of people in blog
no...
Why must the jury see who is on trial in the courtroom. Cannot a more fair trial be given if identities were not made available?
When the jury can seen the person they are able also to judge their demeanour an...
 |
|
Contact Us | About Us | Celebrity Law Blog |
Our Partners | Disclaimer
| Law Blog Directory
| Law Jobs
| Law Tweets
| GoDaddy Hosting
All original material � 1999-2011 by USLaw.com. |