Federal Defenders of New York Second Circuit Blog

Edward S. Zas

Second Circuit rejects claims that District Court erred in limiting cross-examination of prosecution witness and committed various procedural errors at sentencing.

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United States v. Rodriguez, No. 14-4267 (2d Cir. Apr. 27, 2016) (Leval, Droney, and Engelmayer). Rodriguez was convicted by a jury of charges of racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute narcotics. He argued on appeal that the district court erred by disallowing certain cross-examination of a key prosecution witness, and that the district court committed … Read more

In Summary Order, Second Circuit rejects claims that bank records and tax returns erroneously were admitted into evidence, that the government improperly interfered with defense access to witnesses, and that the government made improper statements during summation.

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United States v. Tavarez, No. 15-1395 (2d Cir. Apr. 27, 2016) (Katzmann, Cabranes, and Kaplan). Tavarez was convicted after a jury trial of one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. He argued on appeal that: (1) the district court abused its discretion by admitting Tavarez’s bank records and tax … Read more

Circuit Affirms Convictions of Madoff Co-Conspirators

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The Circuit issued no published criminal decisions today. But it did issue three summary orders, including a 30-page decision (does that still qualify as a “summary” order?) affirming the fraud-related convictions of five former employees of Bernie Madoff’s investment company. United States v. Bonventre, No. 14-4714-cr(L) (2d Cir. Apr. 20, 2016) (Walker, Raggi, and Droney) … Read more

Second Circuit Overturns Sentence Based on “Reasonable Probability” that Factual Misunderstanding Affected Sentence, Affirms Three Other Sentences

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The Court did not release any published criminal decisions today, but did issue four summary orders in criminal cases: United States v. Peña, No. 14-3837(L) (Katzmann, Lohier, and Droney) The Peña brothers (Hector and Jose) were convicted after a jury trial of various counts relating to the murders of a drug dealer and others. The … Read more

Good Faith Reliance on Search Warrant Required Reversal of Suppression Order

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United States v. Raymonda, No. 13-4899-cr (2d Cir. Mar. 2, 2013) (Walker, Lynch, and Chin), available here Someone using defendant’s IP address accessed thumbnail images of child pornography on the Internet. More than nine months later, government agents obtained a search warrant for defendant’s  home and discovered over 1,000 files of child pornography. The district court … Read more

Appeal from Supervised Release Revocation Not Rendered Moot By Completion of Prison Sentence

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United States v. Wiltshire, No. 13-3590-cr (2d Cir. Dec. 1, 2014) (Kearse, Straub, and Wesley), available here The district court found that defendant violated her supervised release by making false statements to her probation officer and by leaving the district of her supervision without permission. She was sentenced to 90 days in custody, to be … Read more

Acceptance of Guilty Plea to Gun Charge Based on Different Weapon From the One Specified in the Indictment Was Not Plain Error

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United States v. Bastian, No. 13-1156-cr (2d Cir. Oct. 29, 2014) (Katzmann, Sack, and Lynch), available here Defendant pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and to possessing a firearm in connection with that drug-trafficking offense (18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)). But the plea to the gun charge was based on the possession of a different weapon … Read more

District Court Properly Admitted Evidence of Witnesses’ Beliefs That Defendants Were Connected To Organized Crime

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United States v. Fazio, Nos. 12-3786-cr, 12-3799-cr, 12-3874-cr (2d Cir. Oct. 22, 2014) (Walker, Leval, and Wesley), available here Anthony Fazio, Sr., Anthony Fazio, Jr., and John Fazio, Jr., were officers in Local 348 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. They allegedly demanded that business owners employing Local 348 members make payments to the Fazios … Read more

District Court Did Not Abuse Discretion by Admitting Documents as “Self-Authenticating,” Despite Government’s Failure to Comply With Rule 902

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United States v. Komasa, No. 13-1534-cr(L) (2d Cir. Aug. 28, 2014) (Pooler, Hall, and Lohier), available here Rule 902 of the Federal Rules of Evidence provides that certain items of evidence are self-authenticating; “they require no extrinsic evidence of authenticity in order to be admitted.” Fed. R. Evid. 902. These items include certified domestic records. But … Read more