A Pyrrhic victory is better than no victory?
January 10, 2023
UNITED STATES v. KAREN MUNROE 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 35246*; 2022 WL 17826350 Case No. 21-13717 (filed December 21, 2022) The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.....
Criminal Defense against Hobbs Act Robbery
January 9, 2023
Hobbs Act Robbery Criminal Defense Case CARL SAMSON v. UNITED STATES 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 34474 *; 2022 WL 17660604 Case No. 19-11048 (filed December 14, 2022) In our case of the week, Carl Samson appealed from the district court’s dismissal of his authorize successive motion to vacate, correct, or set aside his sentence filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §....
Federal Judge Commits “plain error” by imposing an “upward departure” without notice prior to sentencing
January 5, 2023
UNITED STATES v. LADARIUS DE’SHAUN JONES 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 33867 *; 2022 WL 17543529 Case No. 22-10438 (filed December 9, 2022) In our case of the week, able criminal defense counsel for Ladarius De’Shaun Jones appealed a 126-month sentence for one count of possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. See21 U.S.C. §....
Federal ‘Safety Valve’ Ruling a Good One
December 16, 2022
Once upon a time, but not too long ago, President Clinton, a Yale Law School grad, famously stated during questioning, “it depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” In our case of the week, the Eleventh Circuit in United States v. Julian Garcon, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 33588*(filed December 6, 2022) sitting en banc addressed the question of whether the word “and”....
Supreme Court Sends ‘First Step’ Case Back to the Eleventh Circuit
December 15, 2022
Hard work by dedicated criminal defense lawyers paid off for Nathaniel Fields, a federal prisoner whose defenders took his appeal all the way to the highest court in the nation. In our case of the week, the Eleventh Circuit in United States v. Nathaniel Fields, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 32756 *, 2022 WL 17258435, Case No. 19-13927 (decided November 29, 2022) revised....
Hyde Amendment Case Struck Down, Yet Again
December 13, 2022
United States v. Annamalai Annamalai, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 31651 *; 2022 WL 16959207 (filed November 16, 2022) Hyde Amendment awards are rarely granted, even though federal judges hold the power to compel the government to pay legal bills in criminal prosecutions where government counsel did not file criminal charges in good faith. However, the so-called “Hyde Amendment” mechanism to....