On November 15, 2017, the Second Circuit reversed by summary order the conviction of Joseph Tigano III on drug charges, determining that he had been deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial and indicating that...more
On January 9, 2018, the Second Circuit (Kearse, Cabranes, Wesley) rejected a request by ex-AOL Inc. employee Jason Smathers to junk the restitution component of his sentence, which requires him to recompense the online...more
1/16/2018
/ Advertising ,
AOL ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Breach ,
Email ,
Fraud ,
Internet ,
Misappropriation ,
Pro Se Litigants ,
Restitution ,
Spam ,
Theft ,
User Names
In a summary order on January 2, 2018 in United States v. Reyes, the Court (Winter, Lynch, Droney) vacated and remanded a life sentence as procedurally unreasonable on the ground that the district court failed to properly...more
In United States v. Scully, 16-3073-cr (Pooler, Lynch, Cogan[1]), the Second Circuit vacated the defendant’s conviction for various offenses, including mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, the sale of...more
12/28/2017
/ Advice-of-Counsel Defense ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Drug Distribution ,
Evidence ,
Evidentiary Rulings ,
Mail Fraud ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Wire Fraud
On Tuesday in Washington v. Griffin, 15-3831-pr (Katzmann, Kearse, Livingston), the Second Circuit affirmed the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on a Confrontation Clause challenge. At issue was whether it...more
In United States v. Crawford, 16-4261-cr (Kearse, Cabranes, Wesley), the Second Circuit affirmed via summary order the terrorism-related conviction and sentence of a Klansman in upstate New York. This case represented the...more
11/9/2017
/ Barack Obama ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Entrapment ,
Indictments ,
Ku Klux Klan ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Muslims ,
Pre-Trial Motions ,
Terrorist Threats ,
Vagueness
On Monday, September 11, the Second Circuit issued a published opinion in United States v. Jones, No. 15-1518 (Walker, Calabresi, Hall), a case with a complicated procedural history in which the Court affirmed a defendant’s...more
On October 5, 2017 the Circuit published an amended opinion in United States v. Jones, No. 15-1518 (Walker, Calabresi, Hall), which supplanted a decision issued on September 11 that we covered in an earlier blog post. The...more
In United States v. Rivernider, 13-4865, the Court (Livingston, J., Lynch, J. and Rakoff, D.J., sitting by designation) affirmed the judgment entered by the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut...more
In United States v. Jiamez-Dolores, et al., 14-1840(L) (August 3, 2016) (Hall, Lynch, Chin), the Court in a per curiam order affirmed above-guidelines sentences given to two defendants who each pleaded guilty to one count of...more
The Second Circuit (Winter, Raggi, Hellerstein by designation)yesterday, vacated by summary order the convictions of former New York State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son Adam Skelos. Dean and Adam Skelos were...more
On September 18, 2017, in United States v. Caltabiano, No. 16-1275-cr, the Second Circuit (Walker, Lynch, and Lohier, Js.) clarified the jurisdictional scope of a Notice of Appeal. The Court confirmed its authority to...more
On September 11, 2017, the Second Circuit (Parker, Carney, Stanceu) reversed by summary order the sentence of the defendant in United States v. Soborski (16-cr-3369). The panel remanded the case to the U.S. District Court...more
On Monday, September 11, the Second Circuit issued a published opinion in United States v. Jones, No. 15-1518 (Walker, Calabresi, Hall), a case with a complicated procedural history in which the Court affirmed a defendant’s...more
United States v. Gill, No. 15-4444-cr(L) (Livingston, Chin, Carney), a decision in a drug trafficking and murder conspiracy appeal, offers several interesting rulings on evidentiary and trial practice issues that arose out of...more
In United States v. Genao, No. 16-924 (Katzmann, Lynch, Chin), the Second Circuit examined the application of the categorical approach to a prior burglary conviction that indisputably involved threats of physical harm but...more
In United States v. Browder, the Second Circuit (Cabranes, Lohier, Forrest, sitting by designation) has vacated in part an order finding that the defendant violated two conditions of supervised release. The Court’s decision...more
Last week, in Barinas v. United States, the Second Circuit held that a defendant who is extradited to the United States to face charges, pursuant to agreement with the asylum nation, may not raise the objection that the...more
Last week, in Weingarten v. United States, the Second Circuit denied the Section 2255 petition of a convicted child sex offender, who claimed that his counsel had rendered ineffective assistance by failing to challenge the...more
The Chicklets and Runts vending machine at your local car repair shop last decade may have been one piece of a fraudulent enterprise that ensnarled roughly 7,000 victims. As CEO of Vendstar, Defendant Edward (“Ned”) Weaver...more
7/26/2017
/ Contract Terms ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Disclaimers ,
Enterprise Risks ,
Fraud ,
Intent ,
Mail Fraud ,
Materiality ,
Vending Machines ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Wire Fraud
In a decision that will provide reassurance both to prosecutors and to the institutions with whom they enter into deferred prosecution agreements (“DPAs”), the Second Circuit (Katzmann, Lynch, Pooler (concurring)) held in...more
7/18/2017
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
First Amendment ,
HSBC ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Public Access Laws ,
Separation of Powers ,
Speedy Trial Act ,
Trading with the Enemy Act
Yesterday the Second Circuit (Cabranes, Wesley, Sessions, D.J.) released an opinion vacating the conviction of Sheldon Silver and remanding the case to the district court for further proceedings including a retrial. The...more
7/14/2017
/ Bribery ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Health Care Providers ,
Honest Services Fraud ,
Jury Instructions ,
Kickbacks ,
Money Laundering ,
Motion to Vacate ,
Official Act ,
Physicians ,
Private Investment Funds
In a summary order issued on July 11, 2017, United States v. Burghardt, No. 16-949(L) (Katzmann, Pooler, Lynch), the Second Circuit remanded a 322-month Guidelines sentence for distribution and receipt of child pornography...more
On July 10, 2017, in United States v. Boyland, No. 15-3118 (Kearse, Walker, Hall), the Second Circuit affirmed the conviction of former New York State Assembly member William F. Boyland, Jr. on twenty-one counts of public...more
On May 31, 2017, the Second Circuit issued its long-awaited decision in the “Silk Road” case, United States v. Ulbricht, (15-1815-cr) (2nd Cir. May 31, 2017) (Newman, Lynch, Droney)....more
6/9/2017
/ Bitcoin ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
DEA ,
Government Investigations ,
Illegal Drugs ,
Life Sciences ,
Money Laundering ,
Reasonable Expectation of Privacy ,
Ross Ulbricht ,
Silk Road ,
Virtual Currency ,
Websites