United States v. Samuel Yakobowicz, Docket No. 04-0201-cr (2d Cir. October 14, 2005) (Winter, Sotomayor, Parker): Sometimes those visiting judges are more trouble than they’re worth. Here, a visiting judge from the Northern District of Ohio, presiding over the defendant’s E.D.N.Y. trial for filing false tax returns, sua sponte adopted a trial procedure we’ve never … Read more
Apologies for this diversion, which has nothing to do with criminal law in the Second Circuit. But here’s a great gift idea for that rare teen (or the teen in all of us) with aspirations to become a member of This Great Profession. (Click HERE).
United States v. Coreas, Docket No. 03-1790-cr (2d Cir. Oct. 12, 2005) (Jacobs, Calabresi, Rakoff) (per curiam): Yesterday, the Circuit denied defendant Coreas’s petition for rehearing, thus adding to the confusion surrounding the legality of the Candyman search warrants. To recap the relevant events, in chronological order, for those not keeping score at home: (1st) … Read more
Davis v. Greiner, Docket No. 04-4087-pr (2d Cir. Oct. 11, 2005) (Calabresi, Cabranes, Pooler): The Circuit affirms the district court’s denial of Davis’s § 2254 petition, based on a Sixth Amendment IAC claim that Davis’s attorney failed to warn him that statements he made during proffer sessions with prosecutors could be used against him at … Read more
United States v. Felix Valdez, Docket No. 04-3811-cr (2d Cir. Oct. 5, 2005) (Walker, Cardamone, Parker): There is little of interest in this largely fact-specific opinion, discussing the well-established contours of the diminished capacity departure under U.S.S.G. § 5K2.13. Valdez argues on appeal that the district court (Judge Duffy) “incorrectly applied the Guidelines by using … Read more
United States v. Martin, Docket No. 04-1600-cr (L) (Petition for Rehearing Denied, Oct. 3, 2005) (Walker & Wesley) (Pooler, dissenting): In a published decision, Chief Judge Walker sticks to his guns and denies the defendant’s petition for rehearing in this controversial case involving a Fourth Amendment challenge to a search warrant issued in connection with … Read more
United States v. Rodriguez et al., Docket No. 03-1639 (2d Cir. Oct. 3, 2005) (Calabresi, Pooler, Parker): How does that line go — “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive”? Here, the defendants’ “practice to deceive” — a rather inspired scheme to rip off a drug dealer (who turned … Read more
United States v. Duane Arthur Myers, Docket No. 04-3498-cr (2d Cir. September 27, 2005) (Sotomayor, Raggi, Hall): This is yet another decision in a long line of cases evaluating the propriety of an intrusive condition of supervised release imposed by a district court on a kiddie porn offender. Readers should consult the opinion themselves to … Read more
United States v. Hector B. Ramirez, Docket No. 03-1280 (2d Cir. September 27, 2005) (Sack, Katzman, Parker): This case rejects a Sixth Amendment, Blakely/Booker-based challenge to the statutory safety valve provision, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) (permitting a court to impose a sentence without regard to otherwise applicable statutory minimum if defendant meets a number of … Read more
United States v. Edward Gandia, Docket No. 04-6477-cr (2d cir. Sep. 19, 2005) (Straub, Sack, and Kravitz, D.J.): Yet another fine opinion by Judge Sack, this time reversing the district court’s order denying Mr. Gandia’s motion to suppress evidence seized as the result of a “protective sweep” of the defendant’s apartment. Although no new legal … Read more