Factually inconsistent verdicts are almost never a successful basis for challenging a conviction on appeal. In United States v. Kendrick, the Circuit reminded us why the “almost” qualifier is necessary, finding that inconsistent indications on a verdict sheet relating...
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Ed Sapone’s DECISIONS OF THE WEEK -October 11, 2019
An uneventful week in the Circuit, with no precedential decisions, and only two summary orders in criminal cases, with neither offering defendants any relief or breaking new ground. In the state courts, the Court of Appeals released its first decision from its Fall...
Ed Sapone’s DECISIONS OF THE WEEK -October 4, 2019
A few of the Second Circuit's decisions this week returned to the frequent topic of what constitutes a crime of violence in its many incarnations in federal criminal law, including its opinion in Watkins, which dealt with the issue in the context of the Bail Reform...
Ed Sapone’s DECISIONS OF THE WEEK -September 19, 2019
In a week of routine summary affirmances, the Second Circuit showed surprising empathy for a WDNY defendant in Feldman. The Circuit went out of its way to fault the district court for summarily dismissing defendant’s challenges to the unfairness of the government’s...
Ed Sapone’s DECISIONS OF THE WEEK -September 12, 2019
The Second Circuit returned to its mid-season pace, but this week’s opinions and summary orders offered no relief for criminal defendants, minus one exception. The Doe decision, an interesting one, recognizes and explains the right of a defendant to appeal the denial...
Ed Sapone’s DECISIONS OF THE WEEK -September 5, 2019
This week the Second Circuit was constrained to vacate the convictions it had affirmed in Barrett. It also affirmed a suppression ruling despite a prolonged traffic stop in Wallace. Judge Pooler authored a rare dissent. The New York State appellate courts released...
Ed Sapone’s DECISIONS OF THE WEEK -August 29, 2019
There were two interesting sentencing remands in the Second Circuit this week, and four reversals in the Second Department, including two from Queens Supreme Court for Miranda violations. Clearly, there are a lot more reversals by the NY State appellate courts than by...
Ed Sapone’s DECISIONS OF THE WEEK -August 23, 2019
This was an unexpectedly busy summer week. The Second Circuit remanded two cases for resentencing (Brown and Parkins), and, for the third time this year, the Circuit granted a habeas petition challenging a New York State murder conviction (Scrimo; the other two were...
Ed Sapone’s DECISIONS OF THE WEEK -August 16, 2019
There are only two decisions to report this lazy mid-August week: (1) a Second Circuit decision in United States v. Seng that addresses the recurring question of how far SCOTUS’s definition of “official act” set forth in McDonnell v. United States applies beyond its...
Ed Sapone’s DECISIONS OF THE WEEK – August-8-2019
The Second Circuit released three interesting precedential opinions this week, though only one was a reversal. The reversal in United States v. Prado was probably more legally important on the procedural question of what defects survive a guilty plea and can be raised...