Archive | Uncategorized

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Summary Summary

Summary orders of interest have literally been piling up on my desk. Here’s the latest crop:

In United States v. Muse, No. 07-4482-cr (2d Cir. March 11, 2010), the court vacated the sentence where the district court erroneously believed that jury’ finding on a special interrogatory indicated that the defendants had been convicted only of a misdemeanor.

In United States v. Nazario, No. 09-0953-cr (2d Cir. March 11, 2010), the court noted, but did not resolve, the looming tension between Samson v. California, 547 U.S. 24 843, 857 (2006), which held that for a California parolee the Fourth Amendment does not prohibit suspicionless searches, and the court’s own precedents on the reasonableness of parole searches.

In United States v. Gardner, No. 08-4793-cr (2d Cir. March 10, 2010), the court remanded for resentencing where, under Williams, the defendant was not eligible for the mandatory consecutive § 924(c) sentence that he received. …

Posted by
Categories: Uncategorized

Posted By
Categories: Uncategorized

Continue Reading

Checking References

United States v.Deandrade, No. 08-4815-cr (2d Cir. March 12, 201(Jacobs, Hall, CJJ, Murtha, DJ)

At Deandrade’s trial, two cooperating witnesses mentioned that he was incarcerated during his trial. The district court denied his mistrial motions, and on appeal, the circuit affirmed.

Deandrade argued that those references improperly impaired the presumption of innocence under Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501 (1976). The circuit disagreed, noting that in situations like this, several other courts have held that under Estelle “brief and fleeting references are generally allowed, but extended comment is impermissible.” The circuit agreed, holding that “a brief and fleeting comment on the defendant’s incarceration during trial, without more, does not impair the presumption of innocence to such an extent that a mistrial is required.”

There was accordingly no error here. The remarks were isolated, “apparently unintentional on the part of the prosecution,” incidental to legitimate questioning and the government did not …


Posted By
Categories: presumption of innocence, Uncategorized

Continue Reading
Saturday, March 13th, 2010

PC World

United States v. Muse, No. 07-4483-cr (2d Cir. March 11, 2010)(Walker, Calabresi, Wesley, CJJ) (per curiam)

Two defendants in a large khat prosecution appealed the multi-million dollar forfeiture orders against them, arguing that a defendant in a drug case is not subject to forfeiture where he does not have assets to satisfy the judgment at the time of sentencing. The court joined the First, Third, Seventh and Ninth Circuits in rejecting that argument and holding that 21 U.S.C. § 853 permits imposition of a money judgment on a defendant who has no assets at the time of sentencing. The court noted that this was consistent with the statute’s language and purpose and that a contrary interpretation “could have the undesirable effect of creating an incentive for an individual involved in a criminal enterprise to rid himself of his ill-gotten gains to avoid the forfeiture sanction.”…


Posted By
Categories: forfeiture, Uncategorized

Continue Reading

Glock-In-Trade

United States v. Gardner, No. 08-4793-cr (2d Cir. March 10, 2010)(Feinberg, Katzmann, CJJ, Castel, DJ)

18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) makes it a crime to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Here, the defendants challenged the applicability of this section in their case, where they purchased firearms using drugs as payment.

The trial evidence showed that the defendants acquired two firearms and paid for them with drugs, specifically an “onion” – one ounce of crack cocaine. They instructed the gun seller to sell the crack and give them $200 – the difference between the value of the drugs and that of the guns.

In affirming, the circuit began with a bit of history. The pre-1998 § 924(c) did not have an “in furtherance” requirement. It made it a crime only to use or carry a firearm “during and in relation to” a drug trafficking offense. Under that …

Posted by
Categories: 924(c), Uncategorized

Posted By
Categories: 924(c), Uncategorized

Continue Reading

Final Examination

United States v. Culbertson, No. 09-0485-cr (2d Cir. March 10, 2010) (Miner, Cabranes, CJJ, Rakoff, DJ)

Defendant Troy Culbertson, acting pro se, moved in the circuit for poor person’s relief and for appointment of counsel to pursue an interlocutory appeal of the district court’s orders (1) denying his speedy trial motion, (2) refusing to appoint him new counsel, and (3) denying his request for a psychiatric evaluation. Noting that the appealability of these last two orders presented questions of first impression in the Second Circuit, the court found that none of the orders was “final” and dismissed the appeal.

By way of background, Culbertson was arrested at the airport, where he met up with a known drug courier. He was detained and within a month went through three appointed attorneys. After his arraignment, he filed a pro se motion to dismiss the indictment on speedy trial grounds, which the court …


Posted By
Categories: collateral order, finality, Uncategorized

Continue Reading

Trailer Trashed

United States v. Navas, No. 09-1144-cr (2d Cir. March 8, 2010) (Leval, Wesley, CJJ, Gleeson, DJ)

In connection with a narcotics investigation, DEA agents watched the defendants unload a tractor-trailer at the Hunts Point Market. The defendants then drove it to a private warehouse, where they parked it, unhitched the cab, and lowered the legs in front of the trailer to stabilize it.

After further surveillance, the agents arrested the defendants, one of whom admitted that drugs were hidden in a rooftop compartment of the trailer. After receiving verbal consent to search the warehouse and its contents, but with no search warrant, the agents ripped open the roof of the trailer and discovered 230 kilograms of cocaine.

The district court suppressed the cocaine. It rejected the argument that the verbal consent to a general search of the warehouse extended to a physically invasive search of the trailer. The court also …


Posted By
Categories: automobile exception, Fourth Amendment, Uncategorized

Continue Reading

Strong Arm Of The Law

United States v. Walker, No. 08-3874-cr (2d Cir. February 18, 2010) (Feinberg, Katzamann, CJJ, Ellis, DJ)

Here, the circuit upheld the use of Walker’s prior conviction for “strong arm robbery” – a South Carolina common law offense – as a “crime of violence” to enhance his offense level under the firearms guideline. The court rejected the argument that only statutory offenses can be used as guideline enhancements, agreeing with the Ninth Circuit that “when a state crime is defined by specific and identifiable common law elements, rather than by a specific statute, the common law definition of a crime serves as a functional equivalent of a statutory definition.” Common law offenses are just as amenable as statutory offenses to the “categorical approach for enhancement determinations.”

The guideline at issue expressly includes “robbery” as a “crime of violence.” Thus, since “strong arm robbery” in South Carolina corresponds in substance to the …


Posted By
Categories: crime of violence, Uncategorized

Continue Reading

The Liar’s Flub

United States v. Savoca, No. 08-4610-cr (2d Cir. February 25, 2010) (Sack, Parker, CJJ, Goldberg, JCIT)

Defendant Savoca and his brother were both charged in an attempted robbery and shooting. Savoca accepted a plea agreement to a Hobbs Act attempt with a 37 to 46 month range and a “discharge” 924(c) with a mandatory 120-month consecutive sentence, for a total range of 157 to 166 months, including a 3-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility.

After he pled, but before his sentencing, Savoca testified at his brother’s trial and unsuccessfully tried to exonerate him. After the brother’s conviction, when Savoca was sentenced, the district court found that he committed perjury at the trial. It accordingly added 2 levels for obstruction of justice and denied him the 3-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility. With a new range of 183-198 months, the court sentenced Savoca to 190 months, and noted that it would …

Posted by
Categories: Uncategorized

Posted By
Categories: Uncategorized

Continue Reading

A Main Event

United States v. Green, No. 08-5426-cr (2d Cir. February 17, 2010) (Kearse, Winter, Pooler, CJJ)

In this case, the Court holds that a crack sentence that was the product of an imperfectly amended Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement could not be reduced under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2).

Last year, in United States v. Main, 579 F.3d 200, 203 (2d Cir. 2009), the court held that a defendant sentenced under an 11(c)(1)(C) agreement was ineligible for a § 3582(c)(2) sentence reduction. See “Out Of Range,” posted August 30, 2009. Here, the 11(c)(1)(C) agreement specified a 168-month sentence, to run concurrent with Green’s undischarged state sentence. However, by the time Green was to be sentenced, he had completed the other sentence. His attorney wrote to the government and proposed that instead the sentence be 145 months. The government agreed, although not in writing, and at sentencing, the judge agreed as well and imposed …

Posted by
Categories: Uncategorized

Posted By
Categories: Uncategorized

Continue Reading
Monday, February 15th, 2010

Summary Summary

As noted below, the circuit has been a bit slow this month. But here are three more summary orders of interest.

In United States v. Valentin, No. 07-5278-cr (2d Cir. February 9, 2010), the court ordered a Jacobson remand for the district court to clarify whether it would have imposed a shorter sentence if it understood it was permitted to do so under the Williams/Whitley decisions.

In United States v. Drayer, No. 07-1521-cr (2d Cir. February 9, 2010), the district court at sentencing accepted the government’s representation as to the loss amount, but then at a later restitution hearing came up with a loss figure that was seven million dollars lower, rendering the loss figure used at sentencing clearly erroneous. The circuit also found plain error in the district court’s inclusion of an enhancement for more than fifty victims, since the only victims the district court included in the loss …

Posted by
Categories: Uncategorized

Posted By
Categories: Uncategorized

Continue Reading

PC World

It’s been more than a month since the court issued a signed opinion in a criminal case. But here is its latest Per Curiam.

In Re Grand Jury Subpoena Issued June 18, 2009, No. 09-3561-cv (2d Cir. February 1, 2010) (per curiam). In this case, the court rejected a challenge to a subpoena for corporate records where the corporate entities had a sole shareholder, officer and employee, Douglas Rennick. The companies argued that they could resist the subpoena on Fifth Amendment grounds since Rennick was the only person capable of producing the records and his act of production would be testimonial and potentially self-incriminating.

The court noted that the “collective entity rule” prevented the corporations from invoking a Fifth Amendment privilege and that the custodian of corporate records, acting as a representative of the corporation, cannot refuse to produce them on Fifth Amendment grounds. The circuit has long
held that …


Posted By
Categories: Fifth Amendment, Uncategorized

Continue Reading