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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
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PC World
Posted on September 05, 2010United States v. Pfaff, No. 09-1702-cr (2d Cir. August 27, 2010)(Jacobs, Winter, McLaughlin, CJJ) (per curiam)Apprendi rears its head once again in this latest per curiam, this time with respect to a fine.A jury convicted John Larson, one of the defendants in the KPMG tax shelter case, of twelve counts of tax evasion under 26 U...
PC World
Posted on September 05, 2010United States v. Epstein, No. 09-4025-cr (2d Cir. September 3, 2010) (Miner, Cabranes, Straub, CJJ) (per curiam)In United States v. Merced - argued and won by our favorite blogger - the circuit held that prior terms of imprisonment for supervised release violations counted toward, and limited, the statutory maximums contained in 18 U...
You See Davis
Posted on August 23, 2010United States v. Bonilla, No. 09-1799-cr (2d Cir. August 13, 2010) (Miner, Cabranes, Wesley, CJJ)Five months ago, in United States v. Davis, a Second Circuit panel denied the government?s motion for summary affirmance in a criminal case. Davis held that summary affirmance is a ?rare exception? that should only be granted where the issues raised by the appellant are truly frivolous...
PC World
Posted on August 22, 2010United States v. Green, No. 08-5548-cr (2d Cir. August 13, 2010) (per curiam)An unconstitutionally vague condition of supervised release is the theme of this most recent per curiam opinion. Defendant Green, while serving a long prison sentence for crack cocaine trafficking, was convicted of possessing a weapon and marijuana in prison...
Summary Summary
Posted on August 22, 2010Here are two more summary orders of interest. Probably the last of this Term.In United States v. Johnson, No. 06-2206-cr (2d Cir. July 28, 2010), the court ordered a resentencing because the district court did not comply correctly with a prior order vacating the sentence...
Sorry, Right Number
Posted on August 21, 2010United States v. Kumar, No. 06-5482-cr (2d Cir. August 12, 2010) (Walker, Sacks, Livingston, CJJ)Sanjay Kumar and Stephen Richards, officers as a company called Computer Associates, engineered a huge accounting fraud that ended in October of 2000. Had that been the end of the story, their sentence would have been calculated under the November 1998 Guideline Manual (for obscure political reasons there is no November 1999 Manual), and their offense level would have been 30...
We Can Recall
Posted on August 14, 2010United States v. Rojas, No. 09-3007-cr (2d Cir. August 12, 2010) (Jacobs, Wesley, Chin, CJJ)Nicholas Rojas was convicted of participating in crack conspiracy. On the written verdict form, the jury found that he was involved with five grams or more of a mixture or substance containing ?cocaine base...
A Bad Call
Posted on August 14, 2010United States v. Gomez, No. 08-3829-cr (2d Cir. August 4, 2010) (Leval, Pooler, Parker, CJJ)Here, the improper admission of indirect hearsay resulted in a new trial.BackgroundFred Rivas and a confederate sold 5,000 Ecstacy pills to a confidential informant...
PC World
Posted on August 13, 2010United States v. Shyne, No. 08-0865-cr (2d Cir. August 5, 2010) (Kearse, Sack, Hall, CJJ) (per curiam)An unusual discovery issue is the theme of this per curiam opinion.Three defendants went to trial on bank fraud and money laundering charges. Before trial, the government provided notice that it would offer statements of five other individuals as co-conspirators' declarations under Fed...
Coach Bagged
Posted on August 13, 2010United States v. Broxmeyer, No. 09-1457-cr (2d Cir. August 3, 2010) (Jacobs, Miner, Wesley, CJJ)Todd Broxmeyer, was a field hockey coach for teenage girls in upstate New York and elsewhere. For many years he engaged in sexual relationships with some of them , relationships that sometimes also involved the exchange of photographs...
Court Reads the Riot Act
Posted on August 13, 2010United States v. Johnson, No. 08-5245-cr (2d Cir. August 2, 2010) (Cabranes, Parker, CJJ, Amon, DJ)In this split decision, the majority held that a conviction for the Connecticut offense of ?Rioting at a Correctional Institution? is a ?violent felony? under the ?otherwise involves? clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act (?ACCA?)...
Our Blips Aren't Sealed
Posted on July 29, 2010United States v. Amanuel, No. 06-1103-cr (2d Cir. July 29, 2010) (Cabranes, Katzmann, Hall, CJJ)After a nearly eight-year journey through both the state and federal courts without being tried, the defendants here will finally have to face the music. In this decision, the circuit vacated most of the district court?s order suppressing the evidence against them...
Cops Out
Posted on July 29, 2010United States v. Caracappa, No. 09-1177-cr (2d Cir. July 23, 2010) (Kearse, Sack, Wesley, CJJ)When last we heard from Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito, two corrupt NYPD detectives who also did hits for the mob, the circuit had vacated a district court order tossing their RICO conspiracy conviction and granting them a new trial on the remaining counts...
PC World
Posted on July 28, 2010United States v. DeSilva, No. 09-2988-cr (2d Cir. July 28, 2010) (per curiam)In this child pornography case, the sentencing court made a clearly erroneous finding of fact in the defendant?s favor. On the government?s appeal, the circuit vacated and remanded...
Land of Enhancement
Posted on July 28, 2010United States v. Tutty, No. 09-2705-cr (2d Cir. July 16, 2010) (Calabresi, Pooler, Chin, CJJ)In United States v. Dorvee, 604 F.3d 84 (2d Cir. 2010), the court held that the child pornography Guidelines are entitled to less deference because they are not the product of an ?empirical approach,? and because they ?provide for a series of enhancements that apply in virtually every case,? resulting in enormous sentences ?even in run-of-the-mill cases...
PC World
Posted on July 25, 2010In the current crop of per curiams the court follows the Supreme Court's lead on two sentencing issues.United States v. Pickett, No. 09-0683-cr (2d Cir. July 20, 2010) (Winter, Cabranes, Wesley, CJJ) (per curiam), follows Dolan v. United States, 2010 Wl 2346548 (June 14, 2010)...
Summary Summary
Posted on July 25, 2010It?s been a while, but here is the latest set of summary orders of interest.In United States v. Romeo, No. 09-3106-cr (2d Cir. July 19, 2010), the court found plain error in the sentencing court?s fact-finding as to the number of victims, and ordered a Jacobson remand...
Second Time Aground
Posted on July 14, 2010United States v. Castello, No. 09-2784-cr (2d Cir. July 7, 2010) (Jacobs, Winter, McLaughlin, CJJ)Joseph Castello was convicted of failing to file CTRs in connection with his check cashing business. When last we heard from him, see Cashed and Burned, posted 2/6/2009, the circuit vacated a 12 million dollar-plus forfeiture order and remanded for more complete findings under United States v...
Le Platt Du Jour
Posted on July 08, 2010United States v. Woltmann, No. 10-413 (2d Cir. July 6, 2010) (Jacobs, Winter, Walker, CJJ)Once again, Judge Platt?s unconventional way of doing business has resulted in a sentencing remand to a different judge. Here, the issue was his treatment of the guideline range in a plea agreement as binding, even in the face of a 5K1...
A Study In Contradictions
Posted on July 07, 2010United States v. Ramirez, No. 07-2912-cr (Calabresi, Cabranes, Parker, CJJ) (2d Cir. June 29, 2010)In this case, the circuit found that the district court erred in applying the ?impeachment by contradiction? doctrine. But since the error was harmless, it affirmed...
Lost In Translation
Posted on July 07, 2010United States v. Malki, No. 08-4417-cr (2d Cir. June 29, 2010) (Newman, Raggi, Hall, CJJ)In this rare choice-of-guideline appeal, the circuit vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing under a different guideline.BackgroundDefendant Malki entered the United States illegally in 1978...
Kaiser on a Roll
Posted on July 07, 2010United States v. Kaiser, No. 07-2365-cr (2d Cir. July 1, 2010) (Jacobs, Calabresi, Pooler, CJJ)Mark Kaiser was convicted after a jury trial of securities fraud-related offenses in connection with an accounting fraud scheme at USF, a large food product distributor...
Penalty Phase Two
Posted on July 07, 2010United States v. Wilson, No. 07-1320-cr (2d Cir. June 30, 2010) (Jacobs, Miner, Livingston, CJJ)An Eastern District jury convicted Ronell Wilson of capital crimes for the murder of two NYPD detectives during a botched undercover gun buy; it also unanimously voted to sentence him to death...
Ordinary People
Posted on June 21, 2010United States v. Heras, No.09-3150-cr (2d Cir. June 18, 2010) (Raggi, Lynch, Wallace, CJJ)On this government appeal, the circuit vacated a district court order granting a Rule 29 motion that misconstrued the ?ordinary consequences? rule and remanded the case for reinstatement of the verdict...
Wholly Terror
Posted on June 20, 2010United States v. Awan, No. 07-4315-cr (2d Cir. June 14, 2010) (Pooler, Raggi, Livingston, CJJ)On this government appeal, the circuit remanded for resentencing in light of the district court?s refusal to apply the terrorism enhancement, U.S.S.G. § 3A1...
Julius? Seizure
Posted on June 19, 2010United States v. Julius, No. 08-4267-cr (2d Cir. June 11, 2010) (Pooler, Hall, CJJ, Sweet, DJ)Here, the district court granted the defendant?s motion to suppress a gun seized during Julius? arrest on a parole violation. on the government's appeal, the circuit remanded for reconsideration in light of Herring v...
PC World
Posted on June 19, 2010United States v. Vallejo, No. 09-1673-cr (2d Cir. June 11, 2010) (Winter, Cabranes, Raggi, CJJ) (per curiam)This latest per curiam opinion looks at the petty offense exception to the Sentencing Guidelines? criminal history rules, set out in U.S.S.G. § 4A1...
PC World
Posted on May 31, 2010In its two latest per curiam opinions, the court discusses a traffic stop and the district court?s obligation to sua sponte ensure that the defendant is competent.In United States v. Harrison, No. 09-2907-cr (2d Cir. May 26, 2010)(Jacobs, Miner, Wesley, CJJ)(per curiam), the court rejected a claim that the police unreasonably prolonged an otherwise lawful traffic stop by questioning the defendant and his passengers about matters unrelated to the basis for the stop...
Summary Summary
Posted on May 31, 2010Here are the three latest summary orders of interest.In United States v. Cabrera, No. 09-2553-cr (2d Cir. May 26, 2010), the defendant argued that claims based on his pretrial motions should not be deemed waived by his guilty plea because the district court did not advise him of this during the allocution...
Something Barrow-ed
Posted on May 31, 2010United States v. Oluwanisola, No. 08-4442-cr (2d Cir. May 21, 2010)(Leval, Pooler, Parker, CJJ)Taking a case to trial after the client has proffered is a difficult thing to do. Most proffer agreements have a clause permitting the government to introduce the defendant?s proffer statements to rebut evidence offered or elicited, or factual assertions made by, the defense...
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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?
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Can I substitue photo of people in blog
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