Durress as an Affirmative Defense: Boilerplate Rules
United States v. Terri Sawyer, 08-2236.
Terri Sawyer was convicted for participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Her appeal primarily rests on the district court's refusal to instruct the jury on the elements of a duress defense.
Sawyer presented a very different account of the...
Oily Prosecutor’s Misconduct Leads to Reversal in Salad Dressing Case
USA v. Charles Farinella, 08-1839.
The opinion of the court was delivered by: Posner, Circuit Judge.
The defendant was convicted by a jury of wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and of introducing into interstate commerce a misbranded food with intent to defraud or mislead. 21...
Anonymous Tip Arrest. Police Use of Excessive Force Not Basis For Suppression.
USA v. Calvin Watson, 08-1938. The defendant appeals from his conviction for illegal possession of guns and ammunition, for which he was sentenced to six years in prison. The only question is the legality of the seizure of the weapons, which were essential evidence of his guilt.
A police officer...
USSG Crack Cocaine Redox: Two Levels Only.
USAv DEREK CUNNINGHAM AND NORMAN THOMAS, 08-2901 & 2931. This case presents the consolidated appeals of Derek Cunningham and Norman Thomas. Their appeals arise from the same prosecution and raise the same purely legal issue: whether a district court, in reducing a defendant's sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), has authority...
USSG 3C1.1 Obstruction of Justice. Warning: Defendant’s Friend Nicely Asking a Witness Not to Testify is Obstruction.
USA v. Adonis House, 07-4043. A federal jury convicted Adonis House of two counts of distribution of crack cocaine, and the district court sentenced him to 188 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. On appeal, contends that the district court improperly made a two-point adjustment to his base offense...
Penile Plethysomograph Testing Found Not Ripe
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. BRUCE J. RHODES, 07-3953 Bruce Rhodes pled guilty to knowingly possessing a computer hard drive containing video depictions of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4). The court sentenced Rhodes to a ten-year term of imprisonment followed by a life term...
Theory of Defense Jury Instructions: Boilerplate Rules With Limitations Explained.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. CALVIN BRUCE. 07-3675.
Mr. Bruce's first basis for appeal is that he was deprived of the right to a fair trial by the district court's refusal to give his proposed jury instruction, which stated that the police violated Wisconsin law by failing to record...
Sophisticated Means and USSG 2B1.1(9)(c) – Boilerplate Analysis
USA v. Ronald E. Wayland, 08-2194. A jury found Ronald E. Wayland guilty of making false statements relating to health care matters, in violation of18 U.S.C. §§ 1035(a)(2), 24(b). At sentencing, the district court concluded that Mr. Wayland used "sophisticated means" to perpetrate the fraud and, accordingly, applied a two-level upward adjustment to...
Cooperating Defendant Gets No Substantial Assistance Motion From Government. Or, Where To Start When the Government Bleeps Your Client
USA v. Darnell C. Billings, 07-2307.
Defendant Darnell Billings received a statutory minimum sentence of life imprisonment after pleading guilty to dealing over 50 grams of crack cocaine. He claims the government should have rewarded his cooperation by filing a substantial assistance motion under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e), which...
USSG 5G1.3. Consecutive v. Concurrent Sentence Analysis
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,
v.
STANLEY F. JACKSON, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. 07-3226.
Stanley F. Jackson pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Jackson was on probation and supervised release when he committed the charged offense . At sentencing, Jackson requested...