Federal Defenders of New York Second Circuit Blog

Glitter and Begay

United States v. Gray, No. 07-3636-cr (2d Cir. July 25, 2008) (Wesley, Hall, CJJ, Koeltl, DJ) In New York, reckless endangerment in the first degree involves conduct “evincing a depraved indifference to human life” that “creates a grave risk of death to another person.” Nevertheless, under Begay v. United States, 128 S.Ct. 1581 (2008), the … Read more

Car Trouble

United States v. Delossantos, No. 06-4713-cr (2d Cir. July 25, 2008) (Feinberg, Miner, Parker, CJJ) Marino Delossantos was a drug dealer, who was negotiating a deal with an undercover officer. While Delossantos was under surveillance, defendant Rodriguez was seen at the building where Delossantos lived ,and also drove him to and from various locations related … Read more

Remand Performance

United States v. Ogman, No. 06-0203-cr (2d Cir. July 24, 2008) (Sotomayor, Livingson, CJJ, Preska, DJ) (per curiam) This published opinion replaces a summary order filed in this case back in April. [It was blogged in that month’s Summary Summary.] The case holds that, in a crack cocaine prosecution, a Regalado remand is not warranted … Read more

Warrant Peace

Untied States v. Waker, No. 07-4160-cr (2d Cir. July 22, 2008) (Hall, Livinston, CJJ, McMajon, DJ) (per curiam) Here, the defendant unsuccessfully argued that various defects invalidated a search warrant. He first cited two typographic errors – the magistrate accidentally set the execution deadline as April 30, 2004, instead of April 30, 2005, and the … Read more

RePetition

Nnebe v. United States, No. 05-5713-pr (2d Cir. July 21, 2008)Pena v. United States, No. 06-0218-pr (2d Cir. July 21, 2008) This month, the court re-issued decisions in two cases decided in June – one of which the court subsequently withdrew [see prior posts “Role of Certs” and “Withdrawal Symptoms”] – dealing with counsel’s obligation … Read more

Deceptively Simple

United States v. Finnerty, No. 07-1104-cr (2d Cir. July 18, 2008) (Jacobs, Pooler, CJJ, Restani, J) The New York Stock Exchange functions, essentially, as an auction market. Specialist firms are designated to facilitate the auction of a particular stock by processing the bids to buy and offers to sell it. Specialists also trade for their … Read more

Luggage Wreck

United States v. Leerdam, No. 07-1435-cr (2d Cir. July 18, 2008) (Jacobs, Straub, CJJ, Jones, DJ). Here, the circuit reversed the convictions of two defendants, Andrea and Julio Lorenzo, who had been convicted in a drug importation and distribution conspiracy, finding that the evidence was legally insufficient. Background In July 2005, Francisca Leerdam was recruited … Read more

The Amazing Trace

United States v. Crawford, NO. 06-5059-cr (2d Cir. July 17, 2008) (Sotomayor, Wesley, Wallace, CJJ) This gun possession case arose when defendant Crawford was arrested by parole officers for violating his curfew and smoking marijuana. The officers claimed that they found a gun and ammunition in his bag. At trial, the government called an interstate … Read more

Summary Summary

So far, a bunch of interesting summary orders this month. Here’s the roundup: In United States v. Pryce, No. 07-2210-cr (July 25, 2008), a marijuana trafficking case, the court vacated the sentence and remanded for findings on the scope of the defendant’s participation in the conspiracy. United States v. Gumbs, No. 06-4708-cr (July 24, 2008), … Read more

Bank Failure

United States v. Carlton, No. 07-2344-cr (2d Cir. July 16, 2008) (Winter, Miner, Cabranes, CJJ) In June of 2004, after a hearing, Judge Robinson found that Carlton, who was on supervised release for a bank robbery, had committed another one. He sentenced Carlton to 30 months’ imprisonment. About a year later, the government indicted Carlton … Read more