Dolphy v Mantello, No. 03-2738-pr (2d Cir. January 9, 2009) (Jacobs, Hall, CJJ, Arcara, DJ) At Seth Dolphy’s state-court criminal trial, the prosecutor exercised a peremptory challenge against the only African-American member of the jury panel, and Dolphy raised a Batson challenge. The prosecutor’s supposedly race-neutral explanation for striking the juror was that she was … Read more
United States v. White, No. 07-1180-cr (2d Cir. January 9, 2009)(Kearse, Sack, Livingston, CJJ) Police officers entered Anthony White’s home in response to a domestic violence call. According to the officers, they found him in the bedroom. He was sitting on the bed loading a sawed-off shotgun that was pointed at the doorway where the … Read more
United States v. Owen, No. 07-4966-cr (2d Cir. January 9, 2009)(Feinberg, Cabranes, Hall, CJJ) This decision addresses one of the procedural complexities that can arise when a defendant changes counsel on appeal while post-verdict motions are pending in the trial court. Lance Owen was convicted of a drug offense in the district court. He made … Read more
United States v. Stewart, No. 07-3003-cr (2d Cir. January 8, 2009) (Winter, Miner, Cabranes, CJJ) Brett Stewart was a passenger in a livery cab that stopped at a red light. Two police officers claimed that the cab’s front wheels ended up in the crosswalk, a traffic violation. They pulled over the cab and recovered a … Read more
Here are two summary orders of interest: In United States v. Mammedov, No. 06-2971-cr (2d Cir. December 30, 2008), the court vacated a restitution order where the district court failed to set a payment schedule and, at least implicitly, ordered that the full amount be paid immediately. Ordering immediate payment when nothing in the record … Read more
United States v. Williams, No. 08-1065-cr (2d Cir. January 7, 2009) (Hall, Livingston, Gibson, CJJ) Here, the defendant, Saquan Lewis, unsuccessfully appealed the district court’s denial of his motion for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c) based on the retroactive amendment to the Guideline for offenses involving crack cocaine. The District Court Proceedings … Read more
United States v. Uddin, No. 07-3121-cr (2d Cir. January 6, 2009) (Kearse, Sack, Katzmann, CJJ) Mohammed Uddin owned a small grocery store in Manhattan, and used it to commit food stamp fraud between 2003 and 2006 by dispensing cash in exchange for food stamps. He pled guilty but admitted in his allocution only that the … Read more
United States v. Kelley, No. 06-5536-cr (2d Cir. January 5, 2009) (per curiam) Kevin Kelley, a stock broker, was convicted of securities and wire fraud based on his fraudulent activities with respect to four separate securities. For each of them he would either (1) purchase stocks for his clients without their authorization (2) do so … Read more
United States v. Hayes, No. 07-0063-cr (2d Cir. December 24, 2008) (Miner, McLaughlin, Pooler, CJJ) On the morning of September 3, 2002, Derrick Hayes overdosed on cocaine. After he was put in an ambulance, his girlfriend gave local police officers permission to search the house. They found evidence suggesting that Hayes was a large-scale drug … Read more
There were some interesting summary orders this week. In United States v. Romero, No. 06-1199-cr (2d Cir. December 18, 2008), the district court imposed a $10,000 fine, observing that the debt would make the defendant eligible for work in prison. That observation was incorrect, since a fine is not a prerequisite for obtaining prison employment. … Read more