Yesterday, Southern District Judge Valerie Caproni dismissed an indictment for lack of venue. The indictment charged a defendant with being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). Judge Caproni’s opinion, however, is valuable beyond the § 922(g) context as a concise primer on a difficult-to-parse set of venue cases. The opinion … Read more
The Circuit issued three Opinions today that are relevant to people litigating issues of criminal law. Below is a brief description, which will be followed up with more discussion later. I. In Pierotti v. Walsh, No.15-1944-pr (Circuit Judges: Pooler, Livingston, and Lohier), the Circuit ruled in favor of a State prisoner. It holds that his … Read more
No decisions or orders out of the Second Circuit today. Two interesting notes: An attorney in Albany received a public reprimand and a two-year ban from practicing as a CJA lawyer before the Second Circuit for “engaging in conduct unbecoming a member of the bar.” The attorney had failed to file documents in a timely … Read more
United States v. Ramos, No. 10-4802-cr (2d Cir. July 2, 2012) (Winter, Raggi, Chin, CJJ) This long opinion in a child pornography (“cp”) case tackles two interesting issues. Background James Ramos was on New York State parole for a sex offense; to secure his release, he agreed to a search condition, to “promptly, fully and … Read more
United States v. Celaj, No. 10-2792-cr (2d Cir. August 22, 2011)(Miner, Cabranes, Straub, CJJ) Din Celaj headed a crew that would rob – or try to rob – drug dealers. When successful, they would obtain drugs, which they would themselves sell, money and firearms. He went to trial on several Hobbs Act robbery and associated … Read more
United States v. Davis, No. 09-3636-cr (2d Cir. November 5, 2010) (Newman, Raggi, CJJ, Rakoff, DJ) Williams Davis was convicted, after a jury trial, of inter alia, producing child pornography, and was sentenced to 120 years’ imprisonment. This opinion address the novel issue of whether the defendant must know that the pornography will be transmitted … Read more
United States v. Needham, No. 06-5652-cr (2d Cir. May 14, 2010) (Cabranes, Katzmann, Parker, CJJ) The three defendants here were part of a larger group that was in the business of robbing drug dealers of drugs and drug proceeds. They were all convicted of a Hobbs Act conspiracy, which included robberies of cocaine and heroin … Read more
United States v. Iodice, No. 06-2680-cr (2d Cir. May 6, 2008) (Straub, Pooler, Sotomayor, CJJ). John Iodice appealed his arson conviction on the ground that there was insufficient evidence of the requisite nexus to interstate commerce. The circuit affirmed. The building that Iodice torched had been, at one time, a diner. Its owner had purchased … Read more
United States v. Parkes, No. 05-1486-cr (2d Cir. August 15, 2007) (Jacobs, McLaughlin, Calabresi, CJJ). In a sterling example of the alchemy of result-oriented jurisprudence, here the court finds sufficient evidence of an effect on interstate commerce, even though there was none. Otis Parkes and two others planned and carried out 2003 robbery attempt in … Read more