Whether a defendant “brandished” a firearm, thereby triggering a seven-year rather than a five-year consecutive sentence, is an element of the crime that must be submitted to a jury, since it increases the mandatory minimum penalty, the Supreme Court held in United States v. Alleyne, 133 S.Ct. 2151 (2013). This decision has prompted a […]
As reported here and here, there are several measures afoot in Congress to free sentencing judges from having to impose mandatory minimum sentences in cases where a shorter sentence or an alternative to incarceration is more appropriate. As Brooklyn District Judge John Gleeson has explained in United States v. Vasquez, 2010 WL 1257359 (E.D.N.Y. […]
A defendant’s voice on tape – even if ambiguously incriminating – can overwhelm other evidence at trial. So it’s hardly surprising that the prosecutor fought to introduce – to the point of taking an interlocutory appeal – Christopher Condon’s taped call to his mother from jail, in which he said “[b]asically, I’m guilty, but […]
Sometimes, the best sentencing argument can be a rule of grammar or of statutory construction. In United States v. Walker, issued on July 12, 2013, the Eighth Circuit repeated its prior holding, consistent with every other circuit to address this issue, that the Armed Career Criminal Statute (18 U.S.C. 924(e)), which provides for a […]
The sanctity of the home, where an individual is free from unreasonable government intrusion, includes its “curtilage,” the area immediately surrounding and associated with the home. The definition of curtilage, despite its 14th Century origins, has considerable resonance in the technological age. We can now add to this arcane but topical jurisprudence the decision […]
The NACDL’s May 2013 issue of the Champion is now available on its website. It is dedicated to Brady v. Maryland, 50 years old this year, and includes an article by JaneAnne Murray entitled “The Brady Battle,” which draws from recent high-profile cases and published decisions to map ways in which defense lawyers can […]
The European Court of Human Rights recently ruled that a sentence of life without the possibility of parole is a human rights violation, and recent Supreme Court rulings suggest that the U.S. could be trending in this direction, Graham v. Florida (juvenile life without parole, JLWOP, for non-homicide offenses is cruel and un-usual punishment) […]
Less than 3% of federal criminal cases are tried, and the defendant testifies in only a fraction of those. So the issue raised in United States v. Musk, July 2, 2013, is a relatively obscure one: leaving aside strategic considerations, under what circumstances can a testifying defendant legally reassert his Fifth Amendment rights? Hardly […]
The Eighth Circuit affirmed Richard Allen Kay’s 200-month sentence for marijuana distribution, money laundering and conspiracy to engage in interstate transportation of stolen diamonds, in United States v. Kay, issued on June 25, 2013, rejecting along the way the argument that “the nation’s growing public acceptance of marijuana” merited a lower sentence. But the […]
As criticism of the special prosecutor in the George Zimmerman trial mounts in the wake of a not guilty verdict that was as proper as it was predictable in light of the evidence, it is worth comparing the case to another high-profile prosecution – the Manhattan D.A.’s prosecution of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. As I explain […]