I. A state court’s ruling denying collateral review of a “mixed claim” of ineffective assistance of counsel (involving matters on the record and outside of the record), on the procedural ground that the claim was not raised on direct appeal, was not “adequate” to bar federal habeas corpus review (28 U.S.C. § 2254). Pierotti v. … Read more
The Circuit issued decisions in four criminal cases today. In United States v. Brown, 14-4643, the Court vacated and remanded for resentencing. The district court had imposed special conditions of supervision, but had not given any explanation for the conditions or stated the relationship between the conditions and any sentencing objective. But a district court … Read more
The Court issued two summary orders in criminal cases today. Neither Appellant prevailed. United States v. Humphries, No. 14-985-cr (2d Cir. May 26, 2016) (Cabranes, Straub, and Lohier) Humphries was convicted after a jury trial of interstate travel in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud to defeat Canadian tax revenue, conspiracy to manufacture … Read more
Three short summary orders today: First up, United States v. Fiume: In this case, the sentencing court imposed “GPS tracking” as a condition of Mr. Fiume’s supervised release, but never stated that it was also imposing home detention, a “separate and additionally burdensome condition.” Nonetheless, a condition of home detention appeared in Mr. Fiume’s written … Read more
United States v. Cassesse, No. 10-2210-cr (2d Cir. July 11, 2012, amended July 25, 2012) (Newman, Katzmann, Parker, CJJ) This case untangles a mathematic quandary left by some unclear statutes: how can a life term of supervised release, imposed on a supervised release violation, be reduced by the number of months of the prison term … Read more
United States v. Carthen, No. 10-4817-cr (2d Cir. May 23, 2012) (Winter, McLaughlin, Cabranes, CJJ) Defenant Tyrone Carthen appealed the government’s reliance on hearsay at his supervised release violation hearing. The circuit, finding no error, affirmed. Carthen was charged with violating his supervised release by beating and threatening his ex-girlfriend, Marquita Cox. The matter was … Read more
United States v. Roccisano, No. 10-5237-cr (2d Cir. March 14, 2012) (Katzmann, Parkjer, CJJ, Restani, JCIT) (per curiam) Guideline section 4A1.1(d) adds two criminal history points if the defendant committed the federal offense while under a criminal justice sentence, e.g., probation, parole or supervised release. The defendant here was deported to Italy in 2006 after … Read more
United States v. Jennings, No. 10-1642-cr (2d Cir. July 22, 2011) (Kearse, Miner, Chin, CJJ) For defendant Russell Jennings, looking at child pornography was a hard habit to break. He served a twenty-one-month possession sentence in a 2006 case then, in 2009, while on supervised release, did it again. For the 2009 case, he received … Read more
United States v. Spencer, No. 10-1869-cr (2d Cir. May 20, 2011) (Parker, Pooler, Lohier, CJJ) Joseph Spencer left much to be desired as a supervised-releasee. He was originally sentenced to time served and three years’ supervised release for bank fraud, then, after a hearing, the district court found that he, in essence, committed the same … Read more
United 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. As part of … Read more