In a recent opinion, the Ninth Circuit held that selective enforcement claims in reverse stash-house sting operations are not subject to the nearly impossible-to-surmount discovery standard set forth in United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 457 (1996). See United States v. Sellers, 16-50061 (9th Cir. 2018), opinion available here. Chief Federal Public Defender Jon Sands, who … Read more
Last week, in United States v. Washington, the Third Circuit held that selective enforcement claims against law enforcement officers are not subject to the insurmountable discovery standard that has long thwarted selective prosecution claims. This opinion is the product of a nationwide effort to challenge the racially selective use of fictitious stash house stings. These … Read more
Earlier this week, the Chicago Tribune ran a piece on the ND IL litigation challenging the disparate racial impact in stash house sting cases. We blogged here about the report by Columbia Professor Jeffrey Fagan. You can access Professor Fagan’s report, and other filings in the litigation, here. If you have a case involving a stash … Read more
United States v. Wilson, Docket No. 05-5985-cr (2d Cir. September 24, 2007) (Jacobs, Katzmann, Hall, CJJ) (per curiam) This short decision disposes of a sufficiency claim that has not yet arisen in this Circuit relating to “stash house” prosecutions under 21 U.S.C. § 856(a)(2). Wilson shared two apartments with a drug dealer – the tools … Read more