All defendants in a court case are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. In your case, there may be certain facts that could unfairly prejudice you in front of a jury if they were to be revealed at trial. For this reason, the law and its procedures has given you a...
Protecting Your Rights And Your Future
Month: February 2021
DECISIONS OF THE WEEK ENDED FEBRUARY 6, 2021
Another quiet week in the Circuit. The summary order in United States v. Rosario is a good example of how a criminal defendant can win a case on appeal and still get no relief. CA2 had previously vacated defendant’s § 924(c) brandishing conviction after the Supreme...
DECISIONS OF THE WEEK ENDED JANUARY 29, 2021
In a highly unusual set of circumstances, in United States v. Stillwell, et al., CA2 remanded for further inquiry defendants’ claims that the DOJ had withheld Brady material under grant of an ex parte protective order. Because that evidence remains sealed to the...
DECISIONS OF THE WEEK ENDED JANUARY 22, 2021
The Circuit released no precedential opinions in criminal cases this past week, but its decision in Minaya, presents an interesting snapshot of where the law stands on 924(c) predicate offenses in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v....
DECISIONS OF THE WEEK ENDED JANUARY 15, 2021
A lengthy but interesting decision in Gatto this week, in which, over a dissent from Judge Lynch, CA2 affirmed the wire-fraud convictions of defendants who had been involved in payments to college athletes’ families to induce those athletes to enroll at universities...
DECISIONS OF THE WEEK ENDED JANUARY 8, 2021
Despite the wild events in the Capitol this week, the machinery of the Federal and State appellate courts continued on. The Second Circuit’s sentencing remand in Brogdon for the district court’s failure to consider, or at least articulate how it had considered,...
DECISIONS OF THE WEEK ENDED JANUARY 1, 2021
In this last week of the year, the Circuit released only a single opinion in a criminal case, United States v. Ho, which dealt with complicated Foreign Corrupt Practices Act questions. In the state courts, AD2’s decision in Harris is worth a read. There, AD2 took the...
DECISIONS OF THE WEEK ENDED DECEMBER 25, 2020
Another quiet holiday week in the Circuit. But New York’s appellate divisions were relatively busy, with reversals in the Second, Third, and Fourth Departments. The Second Department’s decision in Antoine is a particularly interesting one, where the trial court...
DECISIONS OF THE WEEK ENDED DECEMBER 18, 2020
A quiet pre-holiday week in the Federal and State appellate courts. While CA2 released a number of summary orders, there was no relief for defendants, with the exception of a stricken supervised-release condition in Olmeda. In the NY courts, the only decisions of note...
DECISIONS OF THE WEEK ENDED DECEMBER 11, 2020
In a relatively quiet week, CA2’s decision in Gadsden is a reminder that the Federal judiciary continues to approve absurdly long sentences for drug offenses, notwithstanding repeated reforms with the stated purpose of reducing them. In the state courts, AD2 reversed...