Here is the latest crop of summary orders of interest:

In United States v. Adelson, No. 06-2738-cr (2d Cir. December 9, 2008), a government appeal, the court affirmed a 42-month sentence, which was a substantial downward variance from the guidelines, which recommended life. Citing Cavera, the court noted that for “financial offenses” sentences “if adequately explained, should be reviewed especially deferentially.”

In United States v. Cardenas, No, 06-5601-cr (2d Cir. December 9, 2008), the court remanded for an evidentiary hearing as to whether an “oral cooperation agreement” existed. The defendant alleged that there was, and there was not “overwhelming evidence to the contrary.” Moreover, the defendant’s allegations were not contradicted by any of his prior statements. Since the defendant made “sufficiently specific allegations under oath to raise issues of material fact as to the existence of the alleged oral agreement . . . the record was insufficient to deny the …

This week there were three interesting summary orders:

In United States v. Solano, No. 07-1656-cr (2d Cir. November 14, 2008), the government repeatedly insisted before trial that a detective had not taken notes when he interviewed the defendant. Mid-trial, the government did an about-face and disclosed that the notes had once existed but had been destroyed. The circuit granted the defendant no relief, but did note that the government’s behavior “was far from exemplary. We would expect the government to review their procedures to assure against a repetition.”

In United States v. Johnson, No. 07-5356-cr (2d Cir. November 12, 2008) the court granted a Regalado remand even though the defendant did not ask for one on appeal.

And, in United States v. Medley, No. 06-3204-cr (2d Cir. November 12, 2008), defense counsel did not file a timely notice of appeal, despite his assurances to the client that he would. The …