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Criminal Law
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FindLaw Opinion Summaries - Criminal
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McDonald v. City of Chicago
(U.S.S.C., Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Government Law) In an action against the City of Chicago alleging that the City's handgun ban left plaintiffs vulnerable to criminals, judgment for defendants is reversed where the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment right, recognized in Heller, to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense.
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US v. King
(U.S. 9th Cir., Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Sentencing) In defendant's appeal from the district court's judgment revoking his term of supervised release and imposing additional supervised release conditions on the basis of five violations of his supervised release conditions, the order is affirmed where: 1) 18 U.S.C. section 3605's language did not limit a transferee court's power to violations that occur after transfer; 2) together, the ordinary meaning of "associate," the court's cases, and defendant's probation officer's instructions adequately notified defendant that telephone and e-mail communications with felons were prohibited; and 3) the evidence was sufficient to support the district court's finding that defendant's misrepresentation was intentional.
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US v. Williams
(U.S. 5th Cir., Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Sentencing) In a case involving a defendant's transport of 74 unlawful aliens, and the death of 19 of them after he left the aliens locked in the trailer of his tractor150trailer without activating the trailer's air conditioning unit, defendant's murder convictions are affirmed where: 1) the Government's articulated reasons for striking a veniremember were supported by the voir dire transcripts; and 2) it was not clear error for the district court to include defendant's first trip, during which he transported approximately 60 unlawful aliens, as part of the relevant conduct. However, his sentence is vacated where the district court erred in its definition of "act of violence" under the Federal Death Penalty Act and, under the correct definition, the evidence at trial cannot support a finding that the requisite threshold intent was met.
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US v. Buzo-Zepeda
(U.S. 9th Cir., Criminal Law & Procedure, Immigration Law, Sentencing) Defendant's sentence for reentry into the U.S. following deportation is affirmed where a "Johnson waiver" in California state court had no effect on the determination of whether a defendant qualifies for a point increase under United States Sentencing Guidelines Manual section 4A1.1, Criminal History Category.
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Bailey v. Cain
(U.S. 5th Cir., Criminal Law & Procedure, Habeas Corpus) In a murder prosecution, petitioner's appeal of the denial of his habeas petition is dismissed and the denial of petitioner's Fed. R. Crim. P. 60 motion is affirmed where: 1) omitted from petitioner's motion for a certificate of appealability was a specific reference to the judgment or order from which appeal was taken; and 2) petitioner made no attempt to show that he could not have obtained a transcription sooner if it were necessary to make his case before the district court.
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Kimbrough v. State of Cal.
(U.S. 9th Cir., Attorney's Fees, Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure) In an action claiming that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's (CDCR) grooming regulations concerning hair length interfered with plaintiff's First Amendment right to free exercise of religion, the district court's award of attorney's fees to plaintiff is reversed where, because the district court did not actually adjudicate plaintiff's claims, the Ninth Circuit's decision in Siripongs foreclosed an award of attorneys' fees in this case.
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US v. Huff
(U.S. 11th Cir., Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Sentencing) Defendant's convictions and sentences for bribery and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bribery are affirmed in part where: 1) the evidence was sufficient to establish a single conspiracy in this case, and there was no material variance between the indictment and the evidence presented at trial; and 2) the district court did not err in basing the loss amount on defendant's substantive counts of conviction only. However, a restitution order is vacated in part where the circuit court was unable to determine whether the amount of restitution imposed by the district court exceeded the victims' actual losses.
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Lal v. State of Cal.
(U.S. 9th Cir., Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Criminal Law & Procedure, Ethics & Professional Responsibility, Injury And Tort Law) In an action against the California Highway Patrol and certain officers for the shooting death of plaintiff's husband, dismissal of the action with prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute when her attorney failed to meet deadlines and attend hearings is reversed where an attorney's gross negligence constituted an extraordinary circumstance warranting relief from a judgment dismissing the case for failure to prosecute under Rule 41(b).
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Dale v. Holder
(U.S. 5th Cir., Administrative Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Immigration Law) In a petition for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) upholding petitioner's order of removal under 8 U.S.C. section 1101(a)(43)(F) for being convicted of an aggravated felony, the petition is granted where: 1) although the argument petitioner presented to the BIA was not identical to that which he raised in his petition for review, the arguments were sufficiently related to establish that he presented his ground for relief to the administrative agency in the first instance; and 2) the BIA erred as a matter of law in concluding that petitioner could not legally plead guilty to an attempted violation of N.Y. Penal Law 120.10(3) or (4).
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US v. Womack
(U.S. 7th Cir., Criminal Law & Procedure, Sentencing) In a prosecution of defendant for distributing cocaine base, district court's application of a career offender enhancement when imposing a sentence of 360 months is vacated and remanded as, although the district court did not err by applying the career offender enhancement in defendant's guidelines calculation and the sentence imposed was within a correctly calculated guidelines range, the district court erred in stating that it could not consider the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses under the guidelines because district courts may disagree with the career offender enhancement on policy grounds related to the crack/powder disparity and impose sentences accordingly.
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Woodfox v. Cain
(U.S. 5th Cir., Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Habeas Corpus) In the state's appeal from a grant of petitioner's habeas petition in a murder prosecution, the order is reversed where: 1) petitioner failed to exhaust his Confrontation Clause claim in state court; 2) there was no indication in the state court adjudication that suggested a reliance on any procedural vehicle rather than the merits to deny relief; 3) it was not unreasonable to conclude that defense counsel did not render constitutionally deficient performance by failing to pursue a confrontation objection; and 4) the absence of a fingerprint expert did not cause petitioner prejudice that warrants habeas relief.
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US v. Robinson
(U.S. 6th Cir., Criminal Law & Procedure, Sentencing) District court's grant of pro se defendant's motion to reduce his sentence under 18 U.S.C. section 3582(c)(2) for crack cocaine and firearm related offenses is affirmed and his motion for appointment of counsel denied as, pursuant to section 3582(c)(2), a district court is not authorized to reduce a defendant's sentence below the amended Guidelines range.
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US v. Alexander
(U.S. 11th Cir., Criminal Law & Procedure, Sentencing) Defendant's sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm is affirmed where: 1) a conviction under Fla. Stat. section 790.15(2) involved conduct that was "similar in kind and degree of risk posed" to burglary, arson, extortion, and crimes involving the use of explosives -- the crimes enumerated in the Guidelines' definition of crime of violence; and 2) the district court did not have authority to award credit for time served in state custody.
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Davis v. Lafler
(U.S. 6th Cir., Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Habeas Corpus) District court's denial of defendant's petition for habeas relief from convictions for carjacking and receiving and concealing stolen property is reversed as there was insufficient evidence on which to base defendant's conviction for aiding and abetting the carjacking.
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People v. Bloom
(Cal. App., Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence) Conviction of defendant for resisting arrest and other related charges, arising from making more than 40 harassing calls to 911 in a single evening, is affirmed over a challenge to a denial of a motion to suppress as a dispatcher lawfully arrested defendant for making the calls and she was not required to physically restrain him or to be present at the time of the arrest.
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