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Table of Contents Criminal Law & Procedure FindLaw's case summaries are copyrighted material and are not intended for republication without prior approval. You may, however, freely redistribute this e-mail in its entirety. To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com.
Criminal Law & Procedure United States Supreme Court, 05/31/2011
Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, No. 10-98
In a dispute arising from a Bivens action against petitioner for allegedly abusing the federal material-witness statute, 18 U. S. C. section 3144, judgment of the appeals court affirming denial of immunity is reversed because an objectively reasonable arrest and detention of a material witness pursuant to a validly obtained warrant cannot be challenged as unconstitutional on the basis of allegations that the arresting authority had an improper motive. Read more... United States First Circuit, 05/31/2011
US v. Douglas, No. 10-2341
Sentencing of defendant on a reduced mandatory minimum pursuant to the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (Statute) for drug-related offenses is affirmed where because Statute is silent on retroactive application, a federal savings statute, 1 U.S.C. section 109, applies to make defendant liable to the mandatory minimums. Read more... United States First Circuit, 06/02/2011
Mlodzinski v. Cormier, No. 10-1966, 10-1967
In a Section 1983 dispute alleging that defendants-police officers used excessive force against plaintiffs while executing search and arrest warrants, judgment of the district court denying defendants' motions for summary judgment and defense of qualified immunity is affirmed in part and reversed in part where there are material issues of disputed facts but officers, in light of Mena, are entitled to qualified immunity. Read more...
United States First Circuit, 06/02/2011
US v. Rios-Hernandez, No. 09-2545
Plea conviction and sentencing of defendant for hijacking a car in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 2119 is upheld where defendant fails to meet his burden of plain error in his appellate challenge based on: 1) the invalidity of a waiver-of-appeal provision in the plea agreement, and 2) an impermissibly enhanced sentence he received because he was designated as a career offender. Read more... United States Second Circuit, 05/31/2011
Watson v. Holder, No. 09-0657
In a petition for review of an order of the BIA affirming a determination that the petitioner was not legitimated pursuant to 8 U.S.C. section 1431(a), petition is granted and remanded with requests for: 1) clarification on precisely how the BIA interprets the concept of legitimation as it is used in section 1101(c)(1); and 2) justification for how the BIA arrived at that particular interpretation. Read more... United States Third Circuit, 06/01/2011
US v. Wright, No. 10-2970
Sentencing of defendant on an assortment of charges relating to a currency scam is reversed, where the district court's imposition of a 20-month prison sentence was procedurally unreasonable because of an erroneous application of an 8-level enhancement. Read more... United States Fourth Circuit, 06/02/2011
US v. Penniegraft, No. 09-4959
Conviction and sentencing of defendant on a multitude of drug-related offenses are affirmed where defendant's appellate challenge on the grounds of insufficiency of evidence, improper admission of Rule 404(b) evidence, and impermissible polling of jury after one juror indicated that the verdict was not unanimous are without merit. Read more... United States Fourth Circuit, 06/02/2011
Noel v. Artson, No. 09-1562
In a Section 1983 action arising from a fatal shooting following a no-knock entry into a residence by police officers, judgment of the district court in favor of the defendants is affirmed where jury charge provided a complete and accurate statement of the law and afforded plaintiffs ample latitude to argue their case. Read more... United States Fourth Circuit, 06/02/2011
US v. Broncheau, No. 10-7611
In a dispute arising from mass civil commitment proceedings under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Act), 18 U.S.C. section 4248, judgment of the district court dismissing proceedings on the grounds of due process defects is reversed where section 4248 is unambiguous with respect to the initiation of civil commitment proceedings against sexually dangerous federal prisoners, and because the court's construction of section 4248 would create a collateral problem by undermining the Act’s stay-of-release provision. Read more... United States Fourth Circuit, 06/02/2011
US v. $79,650.00 Seized from BOA, No. 10-1291
In a currency structuring dispute, 31 U.S.C. section 5317(2), post-judgment order of the district court reducing the amount of forfeiture on Eight Amendment grounds is reversed where the court misperceived the authorized penalty for purposes of its Eighth Amendment proportionality analysis. Read more... United States Fourth Circuit, 06/03/2011
DeCastro v. Branker, No. 10000-5
In a petition for habeas relief from a conviction of first degree murder, judgment of the district court denying relief is affirmed where applicaton on the grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel and state violations of Eighth Amendment and due process rights fail because state court's decisions did not constitute an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law or an unreasonable determination of the facts Read more... United States Ninth Circuit, 06/02/2011
US v. Rodriguez-Castro, No. 10-50273
Sentencing of defendant to 57 months imprisonment on a plea conviction of importing 33.46 kilograms of cocaine, 21 U.S.C. sections 952 and 960, is affirmed where district court's judgment declining to decrease the base offense level, as recommended by the plea agreement he had entered into with the government, on the grounds that the defendant was not a minor participant was not clearly erroneous nor an abuse of discretion. Read more... United States Ninth Circuit, 06/01/2011
McCollum v. CDCR, No. 09-16404
In a quasi-constitutional challenge to defendant's paid chaplaincy program by a group of Wiccan inmates involving a claim of remuneration by a volunteer chaplain, judgment of the district court dismissing action is affirmed where: 1) lead plaintiff lacked standing; and 2) the court need not exercise jurisdiction over derivative claims. Read more... United States Ninth Circuit, 06/02/2011
US v. Baptist, No. 09-50315
Sentencing of defendant to a statutorily mandated, five-year minimum sentence following his guilty plea to conspiracy to possess crack cocaine with intent to distribute, and distribution of at least five grams of crack cocaine, 21 U.S.C.sections 846 and 841(a)(1), is affirmed where the Fair Sentencing Act (Act) does not apply to ameliorate defendant's sentence because the Act does not have retroactive application. Read more... United States Ninth Circuit, 06/03/2011
Sessoms v. Runnels, No. 08-17790
In a petition for habeas relief from convictions of first degree murder, robbery, and burglary, 28 U.S.C. section 2254, on the grounds of Miranda violations, judgment of the district court denying petition is affirmed where, under AEDPA deference, it cannot conclude that the decisions of the California state courts on very close Miranda questions, were contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, established Supreme Court precendent. Read more... United States Ninth Circuit, 06/02/2011
US v. Buckles, No. 08-36031
Dismissal of defendant's section 2255 motion as untimely is reversed where: 1) an order recalling a judicial mandate did not restart the clock for purposes of petitioning for certiorari and therefore petition for certiorari and, in turn, section 2255 motion, were untimely; but 2) defendant's contention that clerk provided him with inaccurate advice, if true, entitles defendant to equitable tolling. Read more... Supreme Court of California, 06/02/2011
People v. Gonzales, No. S072316
Conviction and sentencing of defendant for first degree murder with special circumstances are upheld where there are no reversible errors. Read more... Supreme Court of California, 06/02/2011
People v. Anderson, No. S175351
Conviction and sentencing of defendant for first degree felony murder with the special circumstance of killing during the course of a robbery, Pen. Code, sections 187, 190.2(a)(17)(A)) and 211, is upheld because the intent element of robbery does not include an intent to apply force against the victim or to cause the victim to feel fear, and where a trial court has no obligation to provide a sua sponte instruction on a theory of accident where the defendant's theory is an attempt to negate the intent element of the charged crime. Read more... Supreme Court of California, 06/02/2011
People v. Zambia, No. S173490
Conviction and sentencing of defendant for pandering, Penal Code section 266i(a)(2), are upheld where section 266i(a)(2) applies even when the target is already a prostitute or an undercover police officer acting as one. Read more... California Court of Appeal, 05/31/2011
People v. Sifuentes, No. G041225
Conviction and sentencing of defendant for being a felon in possession of a firearm with a gang enhancement is vacated where the evidence does not support the conclusion that defendant had the right to control a firearm discovered near his co-defendant. Read more... California Court of Appeal, 05/31/2011
McGill v. Superior Court, No. G043778
In a petition for a writ of mandate challenging the indictment of defendant, a non-grand jury target, for perjury, petition is granted where the grand jury who indicted for perjury was itself and impermissibly, the audience to whom the alleged perjury was directed. Read more... California Court of Appeal, 06/01/2011
People v. Cordell, No. D056302
Conviction and sentencing of defendant for attempted premeditated murder, assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats, rape, rape with a foreign object, and fraudulently conveying an access card are affirmed in part as modified and reversed in part where: 1) trial court did not err in refusing to instruct on the defense of mistake of fact on rape charge because there was no substantial evidence of equivocal behavior on the victim's part; but 2) there is insufficient evidence that defendant conveyed an access card within the meaning of the statute under which he was charged. Read more... Court of Appeals of New York, 06/02/2011
People v. Fernandez, No. 100
Conviction and sentencing of defendant for first and second degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child are vacated where defendant's conviction for second degree sexual abuse was an inclusory concurrent count of the first degree sexual abuse count, and trial court's judgment precluding testimony that complainant had a bad reputation for truth and veracity on foundational grounds was an abuse of discretion. Read more... Court of Appeals of New York, 06/02/2011
People v. Hunter, No. 103
Conviction and sentencing of defendant for criminal possession and sale of a controlled substance in the third degree is reversed where for further consideration where the people must timely object to a defendant's failure to prove standing in a suppression motion in order to preserve that issue for appellate review. Read more...
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