There was only one win in the federal circuits last week, but United States v. Blewett was a whopper - the Sixth Circuit held that the Fair Sentencing Act applies retroactively to people sentenced before it took effect…more
Hiring is always hard, especially in a small office.
You have work that needs to be done. You can't do it all. Maybe you're a professional, like a doctor, and some of the work isn't the best use of your time…more
Most people who are accused of a crime in federal court are unable to pay for a lawyer and have one appointed for them…more
There was only one published criminal case in the federal circuits last week where the defendant won. It's a good case on jury instructions for missing evidence, and the short write up is below…more
Six new cases from the federal circuits this week. My favorite - a subjective measure, I know - is United States v. Ramirez. Any time a court, even the Ninth Circuit, vacates a drug conspiracy conviction for insufficient…more
We have too many federal criminal laws - more than 4,000. And, as frequent readers of this blog will note, there are times when the federal government prosecutes a person that is a close call - it may or may not be a crime…more
There are a handful of resentencing remands in the federal courts last week.
Perhaps most interesting is United States v. Francois, remanding because the sentence imposed exceeded the statutory maximum. One doesn't see…more
October 29, 2007 started bad for Cortez Fisher.
He walked out of his house and the Baltimore police approached him (he lived in Baltimore). They asked to talk to him. He said no. He tried to drive away, but backed into a…more
Many white-collar cases start the same way - a person is an entrepreneur. He has a vision for a business he'd like to build. He wants to do great things and reform an industry…more
Last week was a great week for folks appealing a federal conviction.
In United States v. Garrido and again in United States v. Cone fraud convictions were reversed by the Ninth Circuit and the Fourth Circuit. Separately, in…more
Bernard Kurlemann may have done many things - he borrowed millions to build a pair of houses in Mason, Ohio, for example - but he did not make a false statement to a bank…more
United States v. Izurieta is an odd opinion. Turns out the Eleventh Circuit was a very good defense attorney in this case.
Two brothers - Yuri and Anneri Izurieta - ran an import/export business. They brought food into…more
Three opinions are in this week's "short wins" - on restitution calculation, competency in a bank robbery case, and the Fair Sentencing Act…more
Last week was an active week in the federal appeals courts.
Perhaps most interesting - especially to those who are concerned about the state of our federal public defenders - is the Second Circuit's opinion in United…more
Two wins in the Eighth Circuit - nice. Other than that, it's a whole lot of resentencing news.
In news related to last week's short wins post, though, where I lamented that Assistant Federal Public Defenders will be doing…more
