Federal Defenders of New York Second Circuit Blog

custody

De Novo Review of Demeanor?

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Last week, the Second Circuit reversed a decision suppressing a defendant’s incriminating, videotaped statements to a DEA agent in a case involving Fentanyl distribution resulting in death. See United States v. Haak, No. 16-3876 (Raggi, Hall, Carney) (appeal from WDNY), opinion available here. The substance of the decision is fact-specific and favors the government.  Interestingly, … Read more

Custody Battle

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United Stateds v. FNU LNU, No. 10-419-cr (2d Cir. August 9, 2011) (Jacobs, Calabresi, Lohier, CJJ) Defendant, traveling under the name Sandra Calzada, arrived at JFK on a flight from the DR. A border patrol agent noticed that Calzada had an open arrest warrant, and flagged her for secondary inspection. An “armed guard” escorted her … Read more