Two recent cases provide some guidance on the requirement in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c) that the district court state in “open court” its reasons for imposing a particular sentence. 1. United States v. Day, No. 05-4285-cr (2d Cir. January 15, 2008) (Jacobs, Pooler, Sack, CJJ) (per curiam) is particularly shocking. Day was originally sentenced to … Read more
As the Blog has observed, see Post of 11/29/07: Have You Hugged A Sex Offender Recently?, recently sex offenders fared pretty well in the circuit. Until now. In this most recent crop of cases, sex offenders lost three out of four, and the win was in a summary order, to boot. Here they are: 1. … Read more
United States v. Glover, No. 05-5047-cr (2d Cir. January 4, 2008) (Pooler, Raggi, CJJ, McMahon, DJ) At this firearms trial, the judge charged the jury, over objection, that “the crucial, hard-core question” to answer was, “Where do you find the truth?” He also instructed: “The only triumph in any case, whether it be civil or … Read more
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