United States v. Tzolov, No. 10-562-cr (2d Cir. June 15, 2011) (Feinberg, Parker, Wesley, CJJ) Eric Butler, the appellant here, was one of the conspirators in a securities fraud scheme arising from the failure of the auction rate securities market. The scheme operated largely out of an office in Manhattan, but Butler was prosecuted in … Read more
Here are two per curiams in white collar cases, decided on the same day. First, in United States v. Lauerson, No. 09-0255-cr (2d Cir. June 7, 2011) (McLaughlin, Pooler, Sack, CJJ) (per curiam), the circuit agreed that the district court lacked the authority to waive the delinquency and default penalties arising from the defendant’s falling … Read more
United States v. Figueroa, No. 10-2050-cr (2d Cir. May 16, 2011) (Miner, Cabranes, Straub, CJJ) Several months ago, in a per curiam, the court held that it was not error for a district court to treat the combination of BZP and TFMPP, which is commonly sold on the street as ecstasy, but for which there … 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. Perisco, No. 08-5266-cr (2d Cir. May 3, 2011) (Jacobs, Kearase, Leval, CJJ) Defendants Perisco and DeRoss, former high-ranking members of the Colombo crime family, were convicted of murder-in-aid-of racketeering and related offenses in connection with the murder of one William Cutolo, in connection with an intra-family power struggle. In this long opinion, … Read more
United States v. Cedeno, No. 09-1857-cr (2d Cir. May 2, 2011) (Jacobs, Calabresi and Chin, CJJ) In 1990, the Appellate Division specifically found that a New York City detective lied at a suppression hearing, by “patently tailor[ing]” his testimony to avoid suppression. Here, the circuit held that it was error for the district court to … Read more
Another crop of three: In United States v. Reed, No. 09-2093-cr (2d Cir. May 5, 2011), the court vacated special conditions of supervised release requiring the defendant to participate in drug and alcohol treatment. He committed the offense of conviction while in prison, without access to drugs or alcohol, and there was no evidence that … Read more
United States v. Wells, No. 10-1266-cr (2d Cir. April 28, 2011) (Kearse, Sack, Katzmann, CJJ) The defendants here, Wells and Rhodes, both former prison guards, were convicted of covering up the beating of a prisoner at the Queen Private Correctional Facility (“QPCF”). The episode began when the prisoner commented on the appearance of a female … Read more
United States v. Curley, No. 09-3314-cr (2d Cir. April 25, 2011) (Jacobs, Wesley, Chin, CJJ) In this circuit, it is a fairly rare occurrence for a conviction to be vacated based on a Rule 404(b) error. But here, James Curley, convicted of interstate stalking offenses, will get a second bite at the apple. Background In … Read more
Here are four recent summary orders of interest. In United States v. Durham, No. 10-1046-cr (2d Cir. April 12, 2011), a supervised release violation case, the defendant claimed that his CJA lawyer was ineffective due to a conflict of interest. The circuit observed that in a VOSR the right to counsel is “statutory, not constitutional,” … Read more