United States v. Garcia, No. 08-1621-cr (2d Cir. December 1, 2009) (Jacobs, Sack, Lynch, CJJ) In Cuellar v. United States, 128 S.Ct. 1994 (2008), the Court held that, for the crime of transportation money laundering under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(2)(B)(i), the government most prove more than that the money was hidden during its transportation. Rather, … Read more
United States v. Rodriguez, No. 08-2805-cr (2d Cir. November 30, 2009) (Newman, Calabresi, Katzmann, CJJ) This interesting opinion concludes that a dispute over a taxi fare did not violate the Hostage Taking Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1203. Background In 2005, Azucena Gonzalez Mendez was smuggled into the United States from Mexico. She was driven from … Read more
United States v. Stewart, No. 06-5015 (2d Cir. November 17, 2009) (Walker, Calabresi, Sack, CJJ) This 191-page opinion – three opinions, actually – deals with the aftermath of the Lynne Stewart trial. The defendants appealed their convictions – without success – while the government appealed the sentences. The court found procedural error with respect to … Read more
United States v. Hasan, No. 08-4921-cr (2d Cir. November 10, 2009) (Cabaranes, Sack, CJJ, Rakoff, DJ) Syed Hasan was convicted of a number of crimes in connection with his successful scheme to kidnap his infant son and spirit the child off to India. He appealed on a number of grounds. This long opinion covers little … Read more
United States v. Caraballo, No. 08-4640-cr (2d Cir. November 5, 2009) (Leval, Raggi, Livingston, CJJ) Gilberto Caraballo was a large-scale drug supplier in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn. In September of 2000, he started dating Quincy Martinez, former girlfriend of Jose Fernandez, a dealer who worked for Caraballo. Three months into their relationship, Martinez … Read more
Two summary orders of interest: In United States v. McDarrah, No. 07-1849-cr (2d Cir. November 5, 2009), a child enticement case, the district court admitted opinion testimony from an FBI agent that was improper in two ways. First, the agent used “we” to preface one of his opinions, which suggested that the opinion was based … Read more
United States v. Byors, No. 08-4811-cr (2d Cir. October 29, 2009) (Cabranes, Livingston, CJJ, Korman, DJ) Defendant, while ostensibly raising money for a Vermont marble quarry, made material misrepresentations to his investors. He also converted substantial amounts of their money to pay for his personal expenses, including vacation homes, cars and horses. He pled guilty … Read more
United States v. Jackson, No. 08-5151-cr (2d Cir. 2009) (McLaughlin, Katzmann, CJJ, Korman, DJ) Here, the circuit concluded that erroneous introduction of prejudicial “other acts” evidence required a new trial. The Facts Police officers responding to a “shots fired” call in Queens encountered Jackson and others outside the target apartment building. Jackson fled, and has … Read more
Two more summary orders of interest: In United States v. Howard, No. 08-0944-cr (2d Cir. October 26, 2009), the court, when considering the denial of a motion to suppress wiretap evidence, questioned whether the district court correctly rejected without a hearing the defendant’s claim that the government illegally began tapping his phone before it obtained … Read more
United States v. Wright, No 08-0322-cr (2d Cir. October 19, 2009) (Jacobs, McLaughlin, Parker, CJJ) Here, the circuit held that the admission of defendant McCallum’s two prior drug convictions – which it termed “propensity evidence in sheep’s clothing” – during his federal crack trafficking trial was an abuse of discretion. It also found the error … Read more