Here is the latest installment of the Blog’s round-up of summary orders of interest. In United States v. Fernandez-Quesada, No. 06-4446-cr (2d Cir. January 4, 2008), the court dismissed a sentencing appeal as moot because the defendant had been released, even though he had a “potentially valid claim” that his sentence was based on an … Read more
United States v. Quinones, No. 04-5554 (2d Cir. December 28, 2007) (Winter, Cabranes, Raggi, CJJ) This case has lengthy discussions of two important issues. It turns out that the one that has received the less press is actually the more interesting of the two, so we’ll begin with that. 1. Sentencing Error Waived Facts: In … Read more
United States v. Griffin, No. 05-4106-cr (2d Cir. December 21, 2007) (Pooler, Sack, Wesley, CJJ) In this case, a divided panel concluded that the government breached its plea agreement in a child pornography case by twice suggesting that the defendant might not be entitled to a downward adjustment for acceptance of responsibility. Facts: Defendant Michael … Read more
Welcome to yet another installment of the blog’s roundup of summary orders of interest. In Mickens v. United States, No. 06-0140-pr (2d Cir. December 19, 2007), the court held that defense counsel’s failure to communicate a plea offer to his client was unreasonable, satisfying the first prong of the Strickland ineffectiveness test, although second prong … Read more
United States v. Lin Guang, No. 05-4724(L)-cr (2d Cir. December 13, 2007) (McLaughlin, Wesley, CJJ, Sessions, DJ) Two defendants in an extortion case raised a host of garden-variety challenges to their conviction, to little effect, and to their sentence, one of which prevailed. During one of the extortions, a victim was beaten and a caustic … Read more
United States v. Liriano-Blanco, No. 06-2919-cr (2d Cir. December 11, 2007) (Walker, Calabresi, Sack CJJ) In this unusual case, the circuit entertained an appeal despite a waiver. Liriano-Blanco pled guilty to illegal reentry under a plea agreement in which he agreed to waive any appeal of a sentence of 60 months or less, with a … Read more
In re Grand Jury Subpoena Dated July 6, 2005, No. 05-6891-cv (2d Cir. November 16, 2007, posted December 10, 2007) (Pooler, Parker, Wesley, CJJ) In January of 2005, an Eastern District AUSA contacted counsel for the unnamed appellant, a former mortgage broker, and advised that appellant was the subject of a grand jury investigation. Appellant … Read more
Welcome to the Blog’s periodic roundup of summary orders of interest. In United States v. Rodriguez, No. 06-1681 (November 29, 2007), the court vacated a restitution order for further factfinding in a case involving the filing of fraudulent tax returns. In United States v. Perez, No. 06-1040 (2d Cir. November 27, 2007), the court, yet … Read more
United States v. Ganim, No. 03-1448-cr (2d Cir. December 4, 2007) (Jacobs, Sotomayor, Wesley, CJJ) Until his downfall, Joe Ganim was the mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 2003, he was convicted of racketeering, bribery and other offenses arising out of a bribery and kickback scheme. In essence, he had a fee-splitting arrangement with public relations … Read more
United States v. Richter, No. 06-1930-cr (2d Cir. December 4, 2007) (per curiam) Richter was sentenced in 1992 and did not appeal. In 2006, he petitioned pro se for a writ of audita querela to make a collateral Booker challenge to his sentence. The court rejected the claim, because Booker does not apply retroactively on … Read more