Ed Sapone’s Decisions of the Week

A couple of surprising trends this week. For the second time in three weeks (Fernandez, below, and Orlando v. Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, here), the Circuit reversed the denial of a habeas conviction in a New York State murder case after petitioners’...

Last week was a busy week in the Second Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the New York Court of Appeals. Second Circuit On Friday (2/15), in United States v. Valente, the Circuit found that the sentence imposed upon defendant for various securities-fraud-related...

The Circuit issued three significant precedential decisions this week, granting relief to defendants in each of them. The decisions in Orlando and Doe, in particular, are reminders that the Circuit continues to play a significant role in correcting legal errors....

The Circuit released two precedential opinions this week, vacating a standard “risk” condition of supervised release in United States v. Boles, and quickly following up on the Supreme Court’s decision in Stokeling v. United States. In United States v. Thrower, the...

Second Circuit On Friday, in United States v. Knight, in a summary order, the Circuit affirmed the 80- month sentence imposed by EDNY Judge Roslynn Mauskopf, following the defendant’s conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The Circuit rejected...

This week’s decisions from the Second Circuit and SCOTUS reflect those courts’ focus on two areas of continuing interest: overly broad supervised-release conditions (Eaglin), and the definition of what constitutes a violent crime (Stokeling). Second Circuit On Friday...

Second Circuit On Thursday, in United States v. Schulman, the Circuit affirmed defendant’s securities fraud convictions. The Circuit rejected his claim that EDNY Judge Joan Azrack erroneously denied his Rule 29 motion to vacate his convictions on the ground that the...

Second Circuit The Circuit did not release any precedential decisions this week, or any summary orders in NYC area cases, but did release a summary order in a District of Connecticut case reinforcing its focus on review of the legality of special conditions of...