Yuanchung Lee In Stinn v. United States, No. 25-293 (2d Cir. Aug. 17, 2026) (Walker (writing), Sullivan, Bianco), the Second Circuit affirmed the denial of Bradley Stinn’s petition for a writ of error coram nobis, holding as a matter of first impression that harmless-error review on coram nobis is governed by Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. … Read more
United States v. Matos, No. 22-1561 (2d Cir. Aug. 13, 2026) (Cabranes, Livingston, Nardini), is the Second Circuit’s first published application of Hunter v. United States, 146 S. Ct. 1702 (2026). The result of Judge Livingston’s opinion is unremarkable: Matos’s challenges to his criminal history calculation under the Guidelines and to the substantive reasonableness of … Read more
United States v. McCrone, No. 22-3178 (L) (2d Cir. July 21, 2026) (Walker, Lee, Robinson) The Second Circuit today struck, on plain-error review, a supervised-release condition requiring the defendant to “continue to take any prescribed medications unless otherwise instructed by the health care provider.” Slip op. at 6. (The condition was a stock sentence embedded … Read more
Chatrie v. United States, No. 25–112 (U.S. June 29, 2026) (Opinion by Kagan, joined by Roberts, Sotomayor, Kavanaugh, and Jackson; Gorsuch concurs in the judgment) Introduction The facts in Chatrie look daunting — a bank robbery solved through a multi-step “geofence” warrant served on Google, full of unfamiliar ideas like anonymized device lists, “Location History,” and … Read more
The Supreme Court just decided Abouammo v. United States, No. 25-5146 (U.S. June 11, 2026), which significantly narrows where venue may lie in the Second Circuit. A brief summary of the case is followed by its three key rulings. Section 1519 of Title 18 makes it a crime to “knowingly… falsif[y]… any record, document, or … Read more
Please note that on May 12, 2026, the panel in Jimenez sua sponte amended its original opinion, issued February 25th. The amendments are significant, rendering irrelevant much of our February 27th blog post. A redline version of the amended opinion, indicating additions and deletions from the original, can be accessed here.
The Second Circuit reversed a material support conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 2339B where a lone-wolf attacker discharged an explosive after consuming ISIS propaganda online, adopting ISIS slogans, and telling investigators he acted “on behalf of the Islamic State” – but having no actual connection to or relationship with ISIS. On this evidence, the majority … Read more
This week in United States v. Jimenez, No. 24-1661 (2d Cir. Feb. 25, 2026) (Pérez, J.), the Circuit affirmed a 105-month sentence and three special conditions of supervised release. Although Jimenez (represented by this Office) did not prevail, the opinion contains significant pro-defense language useful for objecting to or challenging electronic search conditions. I. The … Read more
In United States v. Linda Mangano and Edward Mangano, 2d Cir. No. 22-861 (L) (Feb. 13, 2025), the Court upheld the defendants’ convictions for honest-services fraud and obstruction of justice, but vacates Edward Mangano’s bribery-related convictions. We focus on that aspect of Judge Livingston’s thorough opinion. Edward Mangano was the County Executive of Nassau County … Read more
Judge Chin’s opinion in United-States-v.-Robert-Sylvester-Kelly, 2d Cir. No. 22-1481 (L) (Feb. 12, 2025), joined almost entirely by Judges Carney and Sullivan, affirms the singer R. Kelly’s conviction for RICO and Mann Act offenses, as well as his 30-year prison sentence and a restitution award of $300,668 to “Jane,” a minor whom Kelly infected with herpes … Read more