This set of per curiam decisions deals with mes rea elements. In United States v. Romero-Padilla, No. 08-1817-cr (2d Cir. October 7, 2009) (Calabresi, Cabranes, Hall, CJJ), the court held that 21 U.S.C. § 959(a), a drug importation statute, requires the government to prove that the defendant actually, as opposed to constructively, knew that a … Read more
Here are three more summary orders of interest. In United States v. Delacruz, No. 08-1192-cr (2d Cir. September 11, 2009), the district court did not inform the defendant of the possibility of a forfeiture during the plea allocution, but still entered a forfeiture order at sentencing. While the allocution error was not enough to warrant … Read more
United States v. Concepcion, No. 08-3785-cr (2d Cir. August 31, 2009) McLaughlin, Calabresi, Sack, CJJ) On this government appeal, the court reversed a district court order suppressing evidence obtained pursuant to a wiretap. Background One of Concepcion’s former cellmates (the “CI”) went to the FBI claiming that Concepcion planned to assist foreign terrorists in attacking … Read more
United States v. Ray, No. 08-2795-cr (2d Cir. August 27, 2009)(Leval, Cabranes, Livingstone, CJJ) In this decision, the court holds that an unexplained and prejudicial fifteen-year delay in imposing sentence amounted to a Fifth-Amendment due process violation, but did not violate the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. Background In 1991, Ray pled guilty … Read more
United States v. Main, No. 08-4088-cr (2d Cir. August 27, 2009) (Walker, Wallace, CJJ) Christopher Main pled guilty to a crack cocaine offense pursuant to a Rule 11(c)(1)(C) agreement that stipulated to maximum sentence of 96 months, which was below the 120 to 150-month guideline range, and provided a “carve-out” for Main to seek a … Read more
For your reading pleasure, here are more summary orders of interest: In two related decisions, both captioned United States v. Salvagno, Nos. 06-4201-cr and 06-4202-cr (2d Cir. August 28, 2009), the defendants, who were father and son, complained of a confict of interest between some of their attorneys – they were employed at the same … Read more
United States v. Hassan, No. 05-6949 (2d Cir. August 21, 2009) (Calabresi, Pooler, CJJ) Hassan was convicted of three conspiracy counts – (1) importation of a controlled substance (2) distribution of a controlled substance, and (3) money laundering – along with forty-one substantive money laundering counts, in connection with his importation of khat into the … Read more
The court’s latest per curiam (“PC”) opinion deals with the narrow definition of “crime of violence” in the illegal reentry guideline, U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2. United States v. Gamez, No. 07-3660-cr (2d Cir. August 20, 2009) (per curiam), holds that the New York State offense of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, which … Read more
United States v. Pizzonia, No. 07-4314-cr (2d Cir. August 19, 2009) (Calabresi, Straub, Raggi, CJJ) Dominick Pizzonia, a one-time captain for the Gambino crime family, was convicted of a racketeering conspiracy and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. On appeal, he raised an unsuccessful statute of limitations claim. The government filed the indictment against Pizzonia … Read more
United States v. Ware, No. 07-5222-cr (2d Cir. August 18, 2009) (Kearse, Sack, Hall, CJJ) For five months in 2001 and 2002, Ware, an attorney, ran a “pump and dump” scheme, in which entities he controlled issued fraudulent, and supposedly independent, press releases promoting two penny stocks that he owned. When other investors acted on … Read more