No relevant opinions today; two summary orders. In United States v. Grady, Syracuse police noticed that Grady’s car was parked in violation of the city’s odd/even street parking rules. They approached the car, shone their flashlights inside and saw, in plain view, a bag of crack cocaine on Grady’s lap. A loaded gun was also found in … Read more
The Second Circuit today issued a summary order affirming the denial of a motion for a new trial. Unites States v. Jiau, 15-366. On a motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, the defendant bears the burden of establishing “(1) the evidence is genuinely ‘new,’ i.e., it was discovered after trial; (2) the evidence could … Read more
Yesterday in the SDNY, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan found that the career offender guidelines overstated the seriousness of the offense in a case involving a conviction under 21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(C), and that a sentence within the career offender guideline range of 151-188 months would have resulted in a sentence greater than necessary to achieve the … Read more
United States Jonathan Bulluck, No. 13-255-cr (Summary order of March 24, 2016 (Leval, Calabresi, Lynch): The Court did not a issue a published opinion today. Its one summary order affirmed the denial of an ineffectiveness claim for lack of prejudice, on the ground that the search of a bag (which contained drugs)in a car stop … Read more
In Caetano v. Massachusetts, No. 14-10078, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous per curiam decision, reversed the decision of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts that a stun gun is not a “bearable arm” protected by the Second Amendment, District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), and McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 … Read more
Two summary orders today. First, United States v. Tanaka: To understand this one, a short backstory is needed: In 2010, Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Vilar were sentenced to 60 months and 108 months of prison time, respectively. Both were fined $25,000. Fast forward to 2014, when both men were resentenced after a successful appeal. But, things … Read more
No new criminal decisions out of the Second Circuit today. But there was one interesting argument that focused on prosecutorial overreach. The Second Circuit heard argument today in the case of former Connecticut governor, John Rowland, who was sentenced last year to 30 months for trying to conceal his role as a paid consultant in … Read more
Three short summary orders today: First up, United States v. Fiume: In this case, the sentencing court imposed “GPS tracking” as a condition of Mr. Fiume’s supervised release, but never stated that it was also imposing home detention, a “separate and additionally burdensome condition.” Nonetheless, a condition of home detention appeared in Mr. Fiume’s written … Read more
United States v. Ronell Wilson, 04-Cr-1016 (NGG), Mem. & Order (Dkt 1535) (Filed 3/15/16) Ronell Wilson cannot be executed, Judge Garaufis found, despite twice being sentenced to death, because under the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Hall v. Florida, he is intellectually disabled, and, therefore, executing him would violate the Eighth Amendment and the Federal … Read more
The Court did not release any published criminal decisions today, but did issue four summary orders in criminal cases: United States v. Peña, No. 14-3837(L) (Katzmann, Lohier, and Droney) The Peña brothers (Hector and Jose) were convicted after a jury trial of various counts relating to the murders of a drug dealer and others. The … Read more