Federal Defenders of New York Second Circuit Blog

Yuanchung Lee

Circuit Affirms Limitation on Testimony by Grand Jurors and Rebuffs Government’s Attempt to Remove Judge from 9/11-Related Case

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United States v. Osama Awadallah, Docket No. 05-2566-cr (2d Cir. Jan. 26, 2006) (Feinberg, Parker, Cudahy (by desig’n)): A very fine opinion by Judge Parker that (1) upholds Judge Scheindlin’s pretrial ruling limiting the testimony of grand jurors the Government proposed to call as witnesses at Awadallah’s perjury trial, and (2) rejects the Government’s request … Read more

Eligibility for Safety Valve Unaffected by Booker

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United States v. Holguin, Docket No. 04-5277-cr (2d Cir. Jan. 26, 2006) (Winter, Straub, Raggi): In this opinion, the Circuit finally and unsurprisingly slams the door on Booker-based challenges to the district court’s determination of a defendant’s eligibility for the safety valve under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f). Here, Holguin argued inter alia that in light … Read more

Bribery Conviction Requires Proof that Recipient Accepted Thing of Value with Intent to Be Influenced by Bribe

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United States v. Ford, Docket No. 03-1774 (2d Cir. Jan. 19, 2006) (Winter, Katzmann, Raggi): “[R]estraint must be exercised in defining the breadth of the conduct prohibited by a federal criminal statute.” Op. 14. Hallelujah — we just wish this maxim were applied more frequently in non-white collar cases. In this case, the Circuit vacates … Read more

Trial Judge’s Clear Acceptance of Prosecutor’s Peremptory Strike Suffices as Adequate Batson Ruling

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Messiah v. Duncan, Docket No. 04-5311-pr (2d Cir. Jan. 19, 2006) (Cabranes and Sack) (Jacobs, concurrence): The Circuit rejects a § 2254 petitioner’s Batson challenge to his state murder conviction. Petitioner Messiah claimed principally that the trial judge failed to rule on his Batson challenge with respect to the prosecutor’s strike of an African-American juror … Read more

Alien Smuggling Conviction Upheld

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United States v. Kim, Docket No. 05-1605-cr (2d Cir. Jan. 18, 2006) (Calabresi, Parker, Wesley) (per curiam): The Circuit affirms Kim’s conviction for smuggling aliens into the United States (from Canada) “for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain,” rejecting his sufficiency challenge to the jury’s verdict. Kim’s principal argument was that the … Read more

Martha Stewart Conviction Upheld

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United States v. Martha Stewart and Peter Bacanovic, Docket Nos. 04-3953(L) (2d Cir. Jan. 6, 2005): Yet another reminder of the White Album’s timelessness: Don’t forget me martha my dearHold your head up you silly girl look what you’ve doneWhen you find yourself in the thick of itHelp yourself to a bit of what is … Read more

Immigration Issues in the Criminal Context

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Our colleague Steve Sady over at the Ninth Circuit Blog has once again written a great resource for criminal defense lawyers — this time concerning immigration-related issues that arise in criminal cases. (Click here for Steve’s discussion). Steve focuses in particular on how to use the Supreme Court’s decision in Leocal to fight the Government’s … Read more