United States v. Heatley (Jackson), No. 12-2812 (2d Cir. Nov. 13, 2013) (Newman, Hall, and Lynch) (summary order), available here In this summary order, the Circuit agreed with the district court that the defendant was not eligible for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2) and Amendment 599 to the Sentencing Guidelines. Amendment 599 provides that … Read more
United States v. LaDeau, No. 12-6611 (6th Cir. Nov. 4, 2013) (Rogers, Griffin, and Donald), available here In this noteworthy ruling, the Sixth Circuit upheld a district court’s decision to dismiss an indictment in a child pornography downloading case based on prosecutorial vindictiveness. The defendant was originally charged with one count of possessing child … Read more
United States v. Lopez, No. 12-1019-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 12, 2013) (Livingston, Lynch, and Droney) (summary order), available here Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.2(b)(2)(C) permits a district judge to enter a general forfeiture order if “before sentencing, the court cannot . . . calculate the total amount of the money judgment.” The rule directs … Read more
United States v. Reed, No. 11-4820-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 12, 2013) (Winter, Pooler, and Chin) (summary order), available here This summary order holds that the district court’s factual findings were not adequate to support a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2G2.2(b)(3)(F) for distributing child pornography. Reed was convicted of one count of receiving child pornography and one … Read more
United States v. Murdock, No. 13-3236 (2d Cir. Nov. 8, 2013) (Katzmann, Kearse, and Wesley), available here This decision concerns a district court’s authority to modify a defendant’s conditions of supervised release to require that supervised release be served in another district. In 2012, Murdock was convicted in the District of Vermont of interstate transportation … Read more
United States v. Freeman, No. 12-2233 (2d Cir. Nov. 7, 2013) (Pooler, Wesley, and Droney) (as amended), available here In this important Fourth Amendment decision — required reading for anyone dealing with a search or seizure based on an anonymous tip — the Court held that the police, acting primarily on a pair of anonymous 911 … Read more
In United States v. Bethea, No. 12-961-cr (2d Cir. Oct. 13, 2013) (Winter, Jacobs, and Straub) (per curiam), available here, the Circuit vacated the district court’s decision denying the defendant’s motion to reduce his sentence under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c). Convicted of distributing cocaine, Bethea was originally sentenced in September 2010 to 80 months of imprisonment, … Read more
In United States v. Redd (Shue), No. 13-2971 (2d Cir. Nov. 5, 2013) (Jacobs, Straub, and Pauley) (per curiam), available here, the Circuit held that Alleyne v. United States, 113 S. Ct. 2151 (2013), does not apply retroactively to cases on collateral review. Alleyne held that “any fact that increases the mandatory minimum [sentence] is … Read more
In United States v. Nunez-Banuelos, No. 12-85-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 4, 2013) (summary order), the Circuit upheld the defendant’s convictions of misusing a social security number in violation of 42 U.S.C. 408(a)(7)(B) and of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341. The evidence at trial showed that the defendant used a social security number that he had … Read more
United States v. Gyanbaah, No. 10-2441-cr (2d Cir. November 8, 2012) (Winter, Lynch, Carney, CJJ) The appellant here was part of a group that, for more than three years, stole names and other identifying information, then used it to file thousands of fraudulent tax returns in those victims’ names. The group expected that about half … Read more