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Case Summaries

Criminal Law & Procedure

[03/10] US v. Fisher
Defendant's firearm possession conviction is affirmed where police had probable cause to detain defendant because they were responding to a 911 call late at night, in a high crime area, with every reason to suspect gunplay, and the only vehicle at the scene looked as if it was about to depart.

[03/10] Valdovinos v. McGrath
In a murder prosecution, a denial of petitioner's habeas petition is reversed in part where a reasonable probability existed that the undisclosed Brady material, which included evidence of prior photo lineups, the drugs and gun found in a government witness's possession, and the favorable treatment the witness received for his testimony, could have altered the result of the trial.

[03/10] Clos v. Corrections Corp. of Am.
In an action by a prisoner claiming that he suffered disability discrimination related to his severe hearing loss, plaintiff's appeal from partial summary judgment for defendants is dismissed where the district court's conclusory order provided no basis for a finding that plaintiff would face hardship or injustice by waiting to appeal until his remaining claim against defendants was fully resolved.

[03/10] US v. Wilder
Defendants' drug conspiracy convictions and sentences are affirmed where: 1) the district court did not err in excluding a document as hearsay because a witness was unable to verify that the proffered document was a public record created by the police department; 2) the government established that defendant knowingly and intentionally joined an agreement to distribute controlled substances; 3) the court was not convinced that the trial record presented an obvious case of a defendant with no predisposition to distribute crack cocaine, such that the district court plainly erred by failing to instruct the jury on entrapment; and 4) the district court explained that it had considered all of the 18 U.S.C. section 3553(a) factors, including the nature and circumstances of the offense and defendant's history and characteristics.

[03/10] US v. Oglesby
In a prosecution for being a felon in possession of a firearm, district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress is affirmed as, based on the factors on the record and the totality of the circumstances, the officer clearly had articulable facts upon which he could reasonably suspect that defendant was armed or dangerous. Moreover, the pat-down search was extremely limited in scope as the officer's pat-down frisk of defendant was isolated to the right side of his waistband area.

[03/10] Cameron v. N.Y.
In an action for false arrest and malicious prosecution, judgment for defendant-officers is reversed where: 1) prosecutors' opinions as to probable cause and complaining officers' credibility are irrelevant in virtually all cases involving claims of malicious prosecution; and 2) the introduction of such evidence was not harmless because it provided strong external validation for propositions that otherwise would have come in only from the defendants' mouths.

[03/10] US v. Gardner
Defendants' drug and firearm possession convictions are affirmed where, when a defendant acquires a firearm using drugs as payment, he possesses the firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 924(c)(1)(A).

[03/10] US v. Ternus
Defendant's conviction for conspiracy to transport in foreign commerce stolen goods valued at $5,000 or more, knowing the goods to have been stolen, is affirmed where: 1) defendant's guilty plea waived all non-jurisdictional defects in the proceedings against him; and 2) the district court was not required to define "foreign commerce" in order to adequately explain the nature of the charges against him.

[03/09] US v. York
Defendant's conviction and sentence for arson and carrying a destructive device are affirmed where: 1) there was sufficient evidence that the fire at issue was intentionally set; 2) the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying defendant's motion for a mistrial, because defendant failed to show that he was prejudiced by a jury note requesting to hear again defendant's confession; and 3) evidence that defendant had harmed his girlfriend went to issues other than defendant's character because it explained that she withheld information from the police due to her fear of defendant's threats.

[03/09] US v. Banegas
Defendant's drug conspiracy conviction is reversed where the trial court failed to state particularized reasons for requiring defendant to be shackled while defending himself pro se.

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Sentencing

[03/10] US v. Almany
In a prosecution of defendant for drug and firearm related offenses, the case is remanded for resentencing where: 1) the district court committed plain error by failing to probe defendant's understanding of the appellate waiver provision of his plea agreement, and therefore, the waiver is unenforceable against the defendant; and 2) the district court erred by sentencing defendant to both a five-year mandatory minimum sentence under the firearm statute and a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence under the drug statute.

[03/09] US v. Wise
Defendant's firearm possession sentence is affirmed where: 1) defendant's prior conviction under Utah law for failure to stop at the command of a police officer was a "crime of violence" under the Sentencing Guidelines; and 2) the district court erred in not assigning criminal history points for one of defendant's prior convictions, but that error did not invalidate defendant's sentence.

[03/09] In re Victor L.
In a conviction of a minor for possession of specified illegal weapons, juvenile court's order placing the defendant on probation with various conditions is affirmed for the most part with the exception of: 1) the restrictions on defendant's right to associate with individuals disapproved of by his probation officer or his parents is unconstitutionally vague and will be modified to include a personal knowledge requirement; 2) restrictions on defendant's presence "where dangerous or deadly weapons or firearms or ammunitions exist" is unconstitutional as due process requires that the probationer be informed in advance whether his conduct comports with or violates a condition of probation; and 3) to the extent the second Internet condition prohibits any "use of" or "access to" an Internet-enabled computer, it conflicts with the other two conditions, thereby making the combination of conditions unconstitutionally vague.

[03/09] US v. Salem
In a prosecution of defendants for wire fraud and receiving stolen funds, district court's sentences based on relevant conduct findings are remanded as the district court made findings as to the reasonableness of the co-schemers' acts only, but it made no finding as to the scope of the jointly undertaken criminal activity under U.S.S.G. section 1B1.3(a)(1)(B).

[03/08] US v. Miller
Dismissal of defendant's petition for a writ of audita querela challenging a restitution order, arising from his conviction for conducting a monetary transaction with criminally-derived funds and evading income tax, is affirmed where: 1) if it still exists, the writ of audita querela can only be applied to rectify a judgment which, though correct when rendered, has since become infirm; and 2) since all parties to this case agree that the district court's restitution order was initially correct, and because the statute does not require the order to be modified every time a subsequent payment is made on a restitution obligation, there is no infirmity in defendant's judgment for a writ of audita querela to rectify.

[03/08] US v. Chavez-Suarez
Defendant's sentence for reentering the country following deportation after a conviction for a drug trafficking offense is affirmed where, in light of all of the evidence in the record, including defendant's past illegal reentries and certain aggravating factors in his underlying drug-trafficking conviction, the imposition of a guidelines-range sentence did not manifest a clear error of judgment by the district court.

[03/08] US v. Granados
Defendant's drug conspiracy conviction and sentence are affirmed where: 1) the police were justified in entering defendant's room without a warrant because of their reasonable belief that it was necessary to protect the general public, hotel guests and employees; 2) the mere fact some of the men in a police lineup had facial hair like defendant did not, standing alone, indicate that the lineup was suggestive; and 3) the government gave racially neutral reasons for exercising its peremptory challenges to all three of the potential jurors defendant claimed the government struck in violation of Batson.

[03/08] US v. Bolden
Defendants' drug conspiracy convictions and sentences are affirmed where: 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in erring on the side of caution by dismissing a juror when the juror had contact with an interested third party whose identity was known to the juror; 2) evidence that a defendant acted as a source and facilitated a transaction was sufficient for a conviction under the distribution statute; 3) given that defendant did not object to the drug quantity findings at sentencing, and that the evidence at trial supported amounts close to those in the presentence investigation report upon which the district court relied, the findings were adequate under the circumstances; and 4) the evidence at trial showed that defendant recruited members of the conspiracy and directed those members to distribute drugs.

[03/08] People v. Cobb
Following defendant's completion of sentence for assault with a deadly weapon and commitment to a state hospital for treatment as a mentally disordered offender (MDO), judgment of the court of appeals finding that defendant was not denied due process in extension of his commitment is affirmed as, without a time waiver or good cause, section 2972 does not permit continued confinement when an extension trial does not begin before the scheduled release date.

[03/08] People v. Lara
Following defendant's prosecution for false imprisonment of a child, a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity, and commitment to a state hospital, judgment of the court of appeal directing that the trial court grant defendant's motion to dismiss the petition for an extension of his commitment is reversed where: 1) the statutory deadline for filing an extension petition is directory, not mandatory, as long as the petition is filed before the expiration of the current commitment; 2) defendant was not entitled to a dismissal of the petition on due process grounds; and 3) upon motion, defendant would have been entitled under due process to release pending trial, subject to possible proceedings under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act. However, defendant is not now eligible for release because the court retained jurisdiction to try him and he received a fair trial.

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