Federal Defenders of New York Second Circuit Blog

Admission of Lineup Identification of Defendant Was, At Most, Harmless Error

United States v. Reed, No. 13-0359(L) (2d Cir. June 25, 2014) (Jacobs, Calabresi, and Pooler), available here Reed was convicted after trial of various federal charges arising from the shooting and attempted robbery of a rival drug dealer. Reed argued on appeal that the district court should have suppressed a state court lineup identification of him … Read more

Supreme Court’s Peugh Decision Not Retroactive To Cases on Collateral Review

Herrera-Gomez v. United States, No. 14-1166 (2d Cir. June 17, 2014) (Winter, Walker, and Cabranes) (per curiam), available here Petitioner, a federal prisoner convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin, moved in the Circuit for leave to file a successive 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion in the district court based on the Supreme Court’s decision in Peugh … Read more

Evidentiary Error and Government Misconduct Required New Trial

United States v. Certified Environmental Services, Inc., No. 11-4872(L)-cr (2d Cir. May 28, 2014) (Raggi, Carney, and Rakoff), available here Defendants, consisting of an asbestos air monitoring company, five of its employees, and an employee of an asbestos abatement contractor, were convicted collectively of 15 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, and false statements. The charges related … Read more

Evidence of Domestic Transactions Was Sufficient To Sustain Securities Fraud Convictions

United States v. Mandell, No. 12-1967-cr(L) (2d Cir. May 16, 2014) (Wesley,  Carney, and Wallace) (per curiam), available here  Ross Mandell and Adam Harrington were convicted, after a jury trial, of various substantive and conspiratorial counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud. Mandell was sentenced principally to 144 months in prison; Harrington got 60 … Read more

Circuit Issues Important New Fourth Amendment Decision

United States v. Ganias, No. 12-240-cr (2d Cir. June 17, 2014) (Hall, Chin, and Restani), available here Yesterday, the Circuit handed down what Professor Orin Kerr has already called “a very important new Fourth Amendment case.” In an opinion by Judge Chin, the Court held that the government violates the Fourth Amendment when it indefinitely retains computer files that were seized … Read more

Court Denies En Banc Review — By One Vote

United States v. Taylor, No. 11-2201-cr(L) (2d Cir. May 23, 2014), available here The saga of this Hobbs Act prosecution continues. In December 2013, a panel of the Court (Judges Kearse, Jacobs, and Carney) issued an opinion, available here, vacating the three defendants’ convictions relating to a conspiracy to rob a pharmacy in Manhattan. The panel … Read more

Circuit Affirms Terrorism Conviction for Plan To Bomb New York City Subways

United States v. Medunjanin, No. 12-4724-cr (2d Cir. May 20, 2014) (Kearse, Wesley, and Droney), available here Adis Medunjanin was convicted, following a jury trial, of nine terrorism-related crimes involving a plan to carry out coordinated suicide bombings in the New York City subway system.  He was sentenced to life plus 95 years of imprisonment. The … Read more

Erratic Behavior Following Guilty Plea Did Not Mandate New Competency Hearing or Reversal of Conviction

United States v. Kerr, No. 11-5462-cr(L) (2d Cir. May 16, 2014) (Kearse, Parker, and Hall), available here After being charged with possessing MDMA with intent to distribute, Kerr ceased communicating with  — and then fired — his two appointed attorneys, insisted on pressing several “ill-advised theories of defense,” and underwent a competency examination that ultimately … Read more

Circuit Upholds Ten-Year Mandatory Minimum Sentence for Child Pornography Offender

United States v. Lockhart, No. 13-0602-cr (2d Cir. May 15, 2014) (Katzmann, Straub, and Lohier), available here This appeal required the Court to decide the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(2), which mandates a ten-year minimum term of imprisonment for a defendant who possesses child pornography and was previously convicted “under the laws of any State relating to aggravated … Read more

Circuit Issues Important New Decision on Availability of Relief from Deportation

United States v. Gill, No. 12-2207-cr (2d Cir. May 7, 2014) (Katzmann, Winter, and Calabresi), available here Section 1326(a) of title 8, U.S.C, makes it a felony for an alien who was previously deported from the United States to reenter this country without the consent of the Attorney General to reapply for admission. But, assuming certain procedural requirements are … Read more