Circuit Snippets
A variety of decisions from other circuits:
US v. Vinton, 2010 WL 392347 (C.A. D.C. 2/5/10): The D.C. Circuit held that, under Arizona v. Gant, 129 S.Ct. 1710 (2009), a US Park Police officer who had stopped the defendant for traffic violations and then saw an unlawfully possessed knife in the car could search the vehicle and pry open a locked briefcase to search for additional weapons even though the driver was handcuffed.
US v. Jules, 2010 WL 348044 (11th Cir. 2/2/10): Principles of fundamental fairness require that a district court intending to rely on new information when considering a § 3582(c)(2) motion to reduce sentence must give the parties notice and an opportunity to contest the information. In this case, the court received a report from the probation office indicating that, while in prison, the defendant had been disciplined for drug and other violations. The court relied on the report when denying the motion. It should have allowed the defendant to respond to the new information. The case was remanded.
US v. Self, 2010 WL 364359 (5th Cir. 2/3/10): When the defendant and the government reach a plea agreement to a stipulated sentence pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c)(1)(C), the district court cannot accept or reject the agreement “piecemeal.” In this case, the PSR indicated that the defendant was a career offender and faced a much higher sentence than the agreed-upon sentence. The court made some muddled statements about not following that part of the agreement. On appeal, the Court of Appeals agreed with the government that the court rejected all of the agreement, but it found plain error in that the Rule 11(c)(5) warnings were confused and inadequate. The case was remanded for resentencing before a different judge.
US v. Reagan, 2010 WL 377313 (5th Cir. 2/4/10): The theft of federal funds statute, 18 USC § 641, was violated each time the defendant cashed an improperly obtained rent subsidy check from HUD. In this case, the defendant unlawfully rented a residence to his mother-in-law and received subsidies even though the program does not cover leases between family members. He was charged with one count for each of the five years for which he received checks. This was not multiplicitous, the Court held.
US v. Bowers, 2010 WL 424911 (6th Cir. 2/8/10): Applying Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005), the Sixth Circuit held that the Commerce Clause does not prohibit application of federal child pornography laws to homemade pornography that is not distributed in any way. The court also rejected the defendant’s claim that his roommate and her boyfriend were acting as government agents when they discovered the incriminating photo album.
Hayden v. Patterson, 2010 WL 308897 (2d Cir. 1/28/10): The Second Circuit rejected the argument that New York’s felon disenfranchisement law violated Equal Protection because it disproportionately affects blacks and Latinos.
US v. Martinez-Rios, 2010 WL 323553 (5th Cir. 2/28/10): The Fifth Circuit held that, following Melendez-Diaz v. Mass., 129 S.Ct. 2527 (2009), an official certificate of nonexistence of a record (CNR) is testimonial and thus admission of a CNR indicating that a defendant charged with illegal reentry had not received consent for readmission into the US violated the defendant’s 6th Amendment rights. However, there was ample other evidence so the error was harmless.
Singer v. Raemisch, 2010 WL 252290 (2/25/10): BOP can ban playing and all information about Dungeons and Dragons and similar games because they are a threat to institutional security. BOP officials’ beliefs that such games can promote competitive hostility, violence, addictive escape behaviors, and gambling, and that the leadership hierarchy in the fantasy world could translate into real world gang activity were not shown to be irrational. The defendant would just have to find other entertainment.
US v. Christiansen, 2010 WL 346245 (7th Cir. 2/2/10): A defendant who was convicted of wire fraud after she bilked several people out of money and property by posing as an expectant mother who wanted to give her child up for adoption properly had her sentence enhanced for using mass marketing and for targeting vulnerable victims (adults desperate to adopt).
US v. Carr, 592 F.3d 636 (4th Cir. 2/26/10): The defendant’s prior convictions for breaking and entering separate storage units in the same complex and on the same day qualified as separate predicate felonies for ACCA purposes.
US v. Vinton, 2010 WL 392347 (C.A. D.C. 2/5/10): The D.C. Circuit held that, under Arizona v. Gant, 129 S.Ct. 1710 (2009), a US Park Police officer who had stopped the defendant for traffic violations and then saw an unlawfully possessed knife in the car could search the vehicle and pry open a locked briefcase to search for additional weapons even though the driver was handcuffed.
US v. Jules, 2010 WL 348044 (11th Cir. 2/2/10): Principles of fundamental fairness require that a district court intending to rely on new information when considering a § 3582(c)(2) motion to reduce sentence must give the parties notice and an opportunity to contest the information. In this case, the court received a report from the probation office indicating that, while in prison, the defendant had been disciplined for drug and other violations. The court relied on the report when denying the motion. It should have allowed the defendant to respond to the new information. The case was remanded.
US v. Self, 2010 WL 364359 (5th Cir. 2/3/10): When the defendant and the government reach a plea agreement to a stipulated sentence pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c)(1)(C), the district court cannot accept or reject the agreement “piecemeal.” In this case, the PSR indicated that the defendant was a career offender and faced a much higher sentence than the agreed-upon sentence. The court made some muddled statements about not following that part of the agreement. On appeal, the Court of Appeals agreed with the government that the court rejected all of the agreement, but it found plain error in that the Rule 11(c)(5) warnings were confused and inadequate. The case was remanded for resentencing before a different judge.
US v. Reagan, 2010 WL 377313 (5th Cir. 2/4/10): The theft of federal funds statute, 18 USC § 641, was violated each time the defendant cashed an improperly obtained rent subsidy check from HUD. In this case, the defendant unlawfully rented a residence to his mother-in-law and received subsidies even though the program does not cover leases between family members. He was charged with one count for each of the five years for which he received checks. This was not multiplicitous, the Court held.
US v. Bowers, 2010 WL 424911 (6th Cir. 2/8/10): Applying Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005), the Sixth Circuit held that the Commerce Clause does not prohibit application of federal child pornography laws to homemade pornography that is not distributed in any way. The court also rejected the defendant’s claim that his roommate and her boyfriend were acting as government agents when they discovered the incriminating photo album.
Hayden v. Patterson, 2010 WL 308897 (2d Cir. 1/28/10): The Second Circuit rejected the argument that New York’s felon disenfranchisement law violated Equal Protection because it disproportionately affects blacks and Latinos.
US v. Martinez-Rios, 2010 WL 323553 (5th Cir. 2/28/10): The Fifth Circuit held that, following Melendez-Diaz v. Mass., 129 S.Ct. 2527 (2009), an official certificate of nonexistence of a record (CNR) is testimonial and thus admission of a CNR indicating that a defendant charged with illegal reentry had not received consent for readmission into the US violated the defendant’s 6th Amendment rights. However, there was ample other evidence so the error was harmless.
Singer v. Raemisch, 2010 WL 252290 (2/25/10): BOP can ban playing and all information about Dungeons and Dragons and similar games because they are a threat to institutional security. BOP officials’ beliefs that such games can promote competitive hostility, violence, addictive escape behaviors, and gambling, and that the leadership hierarchy in the fantasy world could translate into real world gang activity were not shown to be irrational. The defendant would just have to find other entertainment.
US v. Christiansen, 2010 WL 346245 (7th Cir. 2/2/10): A defendant who was convicted of wire fraud after she bilked several people out of money and property by posing as an expectant mother who wanted to give her child up for adoption properly had her sentence enhanced for using mass marketing and for targeting vulnerable victims (adults desperate to adopt).
US v. Carr, 592 F.3d 636 (4th Cir. 2/26/10): The defendant’s prior convictions for breaking and entering separate storage units in the same complex and on the same day qualified as separate predicate felonies for ACCA purposes.
posted by Anonymous at 10:31 AM
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