FRCP 32: U. S. Probation Officer’s Confidential Recommendation to the District Court Passes Constitutional Scrutiny
Defendant Ollie Peterson pled guilty to one count of bank robbery in violation of
18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) after robbing a bank to pay off a debt with a drug dealer. During Peterson’s sentencing hearing, the district court read from a portion...
4th Amendment Terry Stop and Frisk Explained. Boilerplate Analysis
After a Ruger nine-millimeter pistol was discovered in the waistband of his pants in the course of a stop and frisk, Robert W. Patton was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Patton moved to...
Judge Posner Weighs In on the Costs and Benefits of Long Prison Sentences
PER CURIAM
The defendant pleaded guilty to four counts of producing child pornography. 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a). Because his total offense level was 43, his guidelines sentence for each count was life. U.S.S.G. ch. 5, pt. A (Sentencing Table)....
FRCP 8 and 14 Joinder of Offenses: Boilerplate Rules
KANNE, Circuit Judge. As Darrick and Geraldine Anderson were returning home from a birthday party, two men—Jeffery Carter and Kentrell Willis—appeared and robbed the couple at gunpoint. Carter and Willis made off with the couple’s vehicle and their belongings, but,...
Illinois Eavesdropping Statute Explained
On Thanksgiving Day at about 9:00 PM, Mary Carroll telephoned one of her co-workers, Jim Kelliher. Hearing Ms. Carroll loudly yelling at her husband over the phone, Jim Kelliher’s wife Pat Kelliher began listening in on the call and decided...
18 USC 3501(c) and the Six Hour Rule: Boilerplate Rules
Sykes, Circuit Judge.
Dhawndric McDowell occasionally worked for the Chicago Police Department (“CPD”) as a confidential informant, but his primary job was selling cocaine for a Mexican drug cartel. One of his suppliers, known to him...
Who Can Give Consent to Search an Apartment?: Boilerplate Rules
POSNER, Circuit Judge. The defendant pleaded guilty to attempting to possess cocaine, intending to distribute it, and was sentenced to 120 months in prison. He had given a person who, unbeknownst to him, was working with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration $477,020...
USSG 3B1.1 Supervisory Role Enhancement: Boilerplate Rules
In her sworn statement to the court, however, Grigsby minimized her role in the offense, trying to pin most of the blame on her coconspirators. So at sentencing the district court applied …….. a three-level enhancement to account for her supervisory role in...
Mandatory Minimum Sentences Do NOT Violate Separation of Powers Doctrine
Under the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), any person convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm who has “three previous convictions… for a violent felony … committed on occasions different from one another” is subject to a mandatory minimum...
Gun Charge Reversal: Mere Proximity to Gun Not Enough for Constructive Possession
A jury convicted Cory Griffin of intentional possession of a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). On appeal, Griffin’s principal argument is that the evidence presented at his trial was not sufficient to support his conviction because there...