Federal Defenders of New York Second Circuit Blog

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

PC World

The court’s latest Per Curiam opinion, United States v. Rossi, No. 08-6108 (Kearse, Cabranes, Straub, CJJ) (2d Cir. January 28, 2010) (per curiam), holds that the district court had jurisdiction under the pre-1996 restitution statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3663, to amend a restitution order after the defendant had completed her sentence and her term of … Read more

Summary Summary

Here are two recent summary orders of interest: In United States v. Prescott, No. 08-2886-cr (2d Cir. January 12, 2010), the government waived its objection to the defendant’s untimely notice of appeal, and the court considered the appeal as if the notice were timely. In United States v. Oliveras, No. 08-4884-cr (2d Cir. January 8, … Read more

Moving Violations

United States v. Guzman; United States v. Hall, Nos. 08-5561-cr; 08-6004-cr (2d Cir. January 7, 2010) (Miner, Straub, Wesley, CJJ) Defendants Guzman and Hall were both registered sex offenders in New York. Each moved to another state without updating his registration, and was charged with violating 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a), which makes it a crime … Read more

Circuit to Probation: Three’s a Crowd

United States v. Reeves, No. 08-2966-cr (2d Cir. January 7, 2010) (Leval, Pooler, Parker, CJJ) Lamont Reeves pled guilty to possessing child pornography. As a condition of his supervised release the district court required that he “notify the Probation Department when he establishes a significant romantic relationship and … inform the other party of his … Read more

PC World

We close out 2009 with two interesting per curiam opinions. In United States v. MacPherson, No. 08-1829-cr (2d Cir. December 30, 2009) (Newman, Calabresi, Katzmann, CJJ) (per curiam), the defendant argued that the government violated a Pimentel-like non-binding plea agreement by advocating for a sentence higher than the estimate contained in the agreement. In the … Read more

Summary Summary

United States v. Doe, No. 08-4064-cr (2d Cir. December 14, 2009), looks the First Amendment implications of a defendant’s request to seal his case. At sentencing, Doe had asked for the total and permanent sealing of his sentencing transcript. The court denied the request, and Doe appealed. After the government agreed that the decision should … Read more