United States v. Perisco, No. 08-5266-cr (2d Cir. May 3, 2011) (Jacobs, Kearase, Leval, CJJ) Defendants Perisco and DeRoss, former high-ranking members of the Colombo crime family, were convicted of murder-in-aid-of racketeering and related offenses in connection with the murder of one William Cutolo, in connection with an intra-family power struggle. In this long opinion, … Read more
United States v. Cedeno, No. 09-1857-cr (2d Cir. May 2, 2011) (Jacobs, Calabresi and Chin, CJJ) In 1990, the Appellate Division specifically found that a New York City detective lied at a suppression hearing, by “patently tailor[ing]” his testimony to avoid suppression. Here, the circuit held that it was error for the district court to … Read more
Another crop of three: In United States v. Reed, No. 09-2093-cr (2d Cir. May 5, 2011), the court vacated special conditions of supervised release requiring the defendant to participate in drug and alcohol treatment. He committed the offense of conviction while in prison, without access to drugs or alcohol, and there was no evidence that … Read more
United States v. Wells, No. 10-1266-cr (2d Cir. April 28, 2011) (Kearse, Sack, Katzmann, CJJ) The defendants here, Wells and Rhodes, both former prison guards, were convicted of covering up the beating of a prisoner at the Queen Private Correctional Facility (“QPCF”). The episode began when the prisoner commented on the appearance of a female … Read more
United States v. Curley, No. 09-3314-cr (2d Cir. April 25, 2011) (Jacobs, Wesley, Chin, CJJ) In this circuit, it is a fairly rare occurrence for a conviction to be vacated based on a Rule 404(b) error. But here, James Curley, convicted of interstate stalking offenses, will get a second bite at the apple. Background In … Read more
Here are four recent summary orders of interest. In United States v. Durham, No. 10-1046-cr (2d Cir. April 12, 2011), a supervised release violation case, the defendant claimed that his CJA lawyer was ineffective due to a conflict of interest. The circuit observed that in a VOSR the right to counsel is “statutory, not constitutional,” … Read more
United States v. Perez-Frias, No. 10-1401-cr (2d Cir. March 31, 2011) (Jacobs, Calabresi, Lohier, CJJ) (per curiam) Pedro Ruben Perez-Frias appealed his 42-month, below-Guideline illegal reenty sentence, arguing that it was substantively unreasonable. The circuit affirmed. His case presented a particularly unsympathetic set of facts. In 1995, Perez-Frias was convicted of a drug-related manslaughter. He … Read more
United States v. Quinones, No. 09-4361-cr (2d Cir. March 29, 2011) (Walker, Straub, Katzmann, CJJ) Antonio Quinones and his son, Herman, were convicted of conspiring to distribute controlled substances. Antonio was also convicted of a money laundering conspiracy. In this opinion, the Court tries to make sense of a confusing Supreme Court money laundering case … Read more
Here are three more summary orders of interest. United States v. Hernandez, No. 09-4930-cr (2d Cir. March 25, 2011), points out an interesting Guidelines question. Under § 3B1.1, the government bears the burden of proving that the defendant played an aggravating role. And one of the requirements for safety valve consideration is that the defendant … Read more
United States v. Potes-Castillo, No. 07-5518-cr (2d Cir. March 15, 2011) (Straub, Hall, CJJ, Underhill, DJ) The defendant here received a 188-month sentence after a jury convicted him of a drug conspiracy. At sentencing, it emerged that he had but one prior conviction: a 2004 New York State conviction for driving with ability impaired by … Read more