Well, it’s taken months, but at last there are three summary orders worth noting. So, in reverse order, here they are:
United States v. Persing, no. 10-638-cr (2d Cir. August 26, 2011), concerned the district court’s admission of a loan-shark’s computer records. Those records revealed the extent of his business, and other evidence showed that the defendant intervened to try to have those same loans repaid. The government argued he was trying to take over the business, while the defendant argued that he was trying to protect the debtors from the loan-shark. In order for the records to be admissible as a co-conspirator’s declarations, the district court needed to find that there was a single conspiracy that included both the loan-shark and the defendant. The district court did not; in fact, most of its findings on the question, although kind of confusing, seemed to support the defendant’s theory. The circuit …