Sarah Baumgartel In United States v. Stephen Buyer, No. 23-7202 (2d Cir. Mar. 19, 2025), the Second Circuit upholds the defendant’s trial convictions for securities fraud. This is a dense summary order, but let’s start with the ruling that jumps out. At trial, defendant objected to admission of a Cellebrite forensic cellphone report. The analyst who actually … Read more
In United States v. Harry, No. 23-7106, — F.4th –, 2025 WL 732085 (2d Cir. March 7, 2025), the Second Circuit holds, as a matter of first impression in this Circuit, that setting up a pole camera to continuously monitor a building for 50 days is not a “search” for purposes of the Fourth Amendment—meaning … Read more
Richard Glossip, who was sentenced to death in Oklahoma State for a 1997 murder, has been granted a new trial by the Supreme Court, Glossip v. Oklahoma, 604 U.S. –, 2025 WL 594736 (Feb. 25, 2025). The Court’s opinion recounts some of the saga of Mr. Glossip’s case. Ten years ago, Mr. Glossip’s case first … Read more
The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Barrett v. United States, No. 24-5774, to decide if the Double Jeopardy Clause permits a court to impose separate sentences for an act that violates both 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) and § 924(j). The petition is available here. Section 924(c)(1)(A) is violated if someone, “during and in relation … Read more
In United States v. Jose Ramos, No. 23-6723 (2d Cir. Dec. 3, 2024), the Circuit vacates a significantly above Guidelines sentence imposed for the defendant’s violations of supervised release. There is a lot going on in Ramos, including apparent factual and legal errors related to the defendant’s original underlying sentence. And numerous alleged supervised release … Read more
The Second Circuit has affirmed Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal convictions, see No. 22-1426 (2d Cir. Sep. 17, 2024). Maxwell is the notorious codefendant of the even more notorious Jeffrey Epstein: per the Second Circuit, “Maxwell coordinated, facilitated, and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of women and underage girls” between 1994 and 2004. After Epstein’s death … Read more
Last week, the Supreme Court reaffirmed in Smith v. Arizona, No. 22-899 (June 21, 2024), that criminal defendants have a Sixth Amendment right to confront experts who provide forensic evidence for the prosecution. This right extends to testimonial statements by experts whose testing and opinions form the basis of a different expert’s opinion. This issue … Read more
In United States v. Marcus Odom, No. 23-6105 (2d Cir. May 8, 2024) (summary order), the Second Circuit upheld the defendant’s challenged prison sentence, while also opining that a sentencing court may not increase a prison sentence based on its disagreement with the so-called “categorical” approach. Odom’s case was before the district court for resentencing … Read more
In two recent decisions, the Second Circuit reiterated the requirements for imposing special conditions of supervised release: a sentencing court must undertake an “individualized assessment” of the defendant and “state on the record the reason for imposing” any special condition. The failure to do so is error. In United States v. Alex Oliveras, No. 21-2954, … Read more
Under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f), the so-called “safety valve” provision, district courts have a limited power to impose a sentence below the statutory mandatory minimum in certain drug cases. The defendant’s offense must not involve particular aggravating factors (violence, guns) and the defendant must have a limited criminal history. But how limited? The 2018 First … Read more