Federal Defenders of New York Second Circuit Blog

United States v. Gregg, Docket No. 03-1229-cr (2d Cir. Sep. 12, 2006) (Feinberg, Sotomayor, Hall) (per curiam): This decision nicely explains the meaning and consequences of a guilty plea for subsequent proceedings arising from the same incident. The Court correctly rejects the district court’s broad-brush ruling that Gregg’s guilty plea in state court to a … Read more

United States v. McCargo, Docket No. 05-4026-cr (L) (2d Cir. Sep. 13, 2006) (Walker, Jacobs, Wallace): This is a terrible Fourth Amendment decision, even accounting for the general awfulness of the Circuit’s jurisprudence in this area. (Disclosure: Darrell Fields of this Office, on behalf of this and other FPD offices in the Second Circuit, submitted … Read more

United States v. Muhammad, Docket No. 05-4923-cr (Miner, Wesley, Swaine): This minor opinion upholds a Terry stop justified by (1) an anonymous 911 call describing someone fitting the defendant’s appearance and location as carrying a gun, and (2) the defendant’s (supposed) “headlong flight” when the police car approached him. Although the tip alone would have … Read more

United States v. Snow et al., Docket No. 05-0968-cr (L) (2d Cir. Sep. 1, 2006) (Jacobs, Pooler, Gibson): Nothing of interest to non-parties in this fact-based opinion affirming the conviction and sentence of three defendants for various crack and gun-related offenses. The sole point worth mention concerns whether the evidence was sufficient to convict one … Read more

United States v. Noel Davila, Docket No. 05-2545-cr (2d Cir. Aug. 30, 2006) (Leval, Parker, Sessions): Any opinion that references the severed-horse’s-head-in-bed scene from “The Godfather” is a worthy read. Here, the Circuit principally rejects Davila’s argument that the two statutes under which he was convicted, 18 U.S.C. § 2232a and § 876(c), criminalize only … Read more

United States v. Olmeda, Docket No. 05-4331-cr (2d Cir. Aug. 29, 2006) (Cabranes, Sotomayor, Raggi): This is a fact-intensive opinion dismissing on Double Jeopardy grounds an SDNY indictment (for a § 922(g) violation) that followed upon Olmeda’s guilty plea to an earlier North Carolina indictment that also charged a § 922(g) offense. The earlier indictment … Read more

United States v. Eric Jones, Docket No. 05-2289-cr (2d Cir. August 2, 2006) (Newman, Walker, Katzmann): Others have already sung the praises of this terrific opinion by Judge Newman (click here for Professor Berman’s comments and click here for the Second Circuit Sentencing Blog’s) , but it is new to me since it was decided … Read more

United States v. Roman Nektalov, Docket No. 05-2780-cr (2d Cir. Aug. 25, 2006) (Meskill, Cabranes, Wesley): This is a fascinating opinion — maybe too interesting for a Friday afternoon. The issue is whether the conscious avoidance doctrine — under which a defendant can be held liable for his “knowledge” of fact X upon a finding … Read more

United States v. Park, Docket No. 05-6158-cr (2d Cir. Aug. 25, 2006) (Cabranes, Straub, Hall): We’re not sure why the Circuit felt the need to publish this opinion in light of Castillo, but what’s a few more trees felled for the cause of justice? In Castillo, the Circuit held that “a non-Guidelines sentence imposed simply … Read more

United States v. Osameh Al Wahaidy, Docket No. 05-4770-cr (2d Cir. Aug. 24, 2006) (Leval, Jacobs, Rakoff): This case concerns the constitutionality of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”), which authorizes the President to regulate financial transactions with foreign countries (or nationals) in times of security crisis and prescribes penalties for violations of executive … Read more