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Thursday, December 04, 2014

Passenger has no expectation of privacy in a car that isn’t his and in which he is not present when car is seized and searched. For a 924(c) count, indictment does not necessarily have to allege that a gun was possessed “in furtherance of” a crime of violence. Even after Alleyne, prior convictions that trigger mandatory minimums do not have to be proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Within guideline sentence did not violate 8th Amendment.

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United States v.Burnett, 14-1288, 2014 WL 6463173 (3d Cir. Dec. 2, 2014). After an unsuccessful motion to suppress, Burnett went to tr...
Thursday, November 20, 2014

Delay in presentment in pursuit of cooperation was unreasonable. Defendant's motion to suppress confession should have been granted.

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In United States v. Thompson, 13-1874 , the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's denial of Mr. Thompson's mo...
Monday, November 10, 2014

Exclusionary rule does not apply when agents executing an otherwise valid search warrant fail to provide to the homeowner a list of items sought

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U.S. v. Franz, No. 13-2406, 2014 WL 5565457 (3dCir. Nov. 4, 2014) A police officer executing an otherwise valid search warrant failed...
Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Circuit Court grants habeas petition, finding trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel regarding the availability of safety valve reduction and noting that the District Court’s statements during the plea colloquy did not alleviate counsel’s error.

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United States v. Bui , No. 11-3795, 2014 WL 5315061 (October 20, 2014) Dung Bui was indicted on the following four drug counts: (1) conspi...
Friday, October 24, 2014

Good Faith Exception to Fourth Amendment Exclusionary Rule Applies to Pre-Jones GPS Surveillance

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In United States v. Katzin, No. 12-2548, 2014 WL4851779 (3d Cir., Oct. 1, 2014) , Defendants challenged the warrantless tracking by FBI ag...
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

PROOF OF AN OVERT ACT AND RECEIPT OF A BENEFIT ARE NOT REQUIRED TO PROVE CONSPIRACY UNDER THE HOBBS ACT. A DEFENDANT CAN BE GUILTY OF CONSPIRACY TO EXTORT, BUT NOT GUILTY OF ATTEMPT TO EXTORT.

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Appellants Ronald Salahuddin, a former deputy mayor of Newark, and Sonnie Cooper, a demolition contractor, appealed their convictions u...
Thursday, September 25, 2014

Once A Suspect is Arrested and the Scene Has Been Secured, The Exigent Circumstances Have Passed and The Fourth Amendment Requirement for a Search Warrant Reattaches.

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            The existence of exigent circumstances is one of the few exceptions to the Fourth Amendment requirement for a search warrant...
Friday, September 19, 2014

Convictions Under Pennsylvania’s Terroristic Threat Statute Are not Crimes of Violence.

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Applying the holding in Descamps v. United States , 133 S.Ct. 2276 (2013), the Third Circuit held in United States v. Brown (13-4442) ...

Rare case where Court, on direct appeal, remands for evidentiary hearing on IAC claim

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(Rendell, Fuentes, Greenaway , C.J.s) In Gov’t of V.I. v Vanterpool, No. 13-4400, 2014 WL 4473960, Vanterpool raised First Amendme...

For a Conviction of Distribution of Child Pornography Under 18 U.S.C. §2252, the Government Must Prove Images Were Downloaded or Obtained by Another Person.

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The Third Circuit held in United States v. Husmann , (No. 13-2688), that in a prosecution for distribution of child pornography, the Gov...
Tuesday, September 16, 2014

District Court’s failure to rule on a motion constitutes an implicit denial of that motion. Significant pre-arrest delay does not always lead to a speedy trial violation. Delays attributable to co-defendants’ motions can be considered against defendant in speedy trial claims.

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United States v. Craig Claxton , Appeal No. 12-3933 (3d Cir. August 18, 2014)   Claxton and others were charged with a conspiracy invo...

Determining the “most appropriate” Sentencing Guideline for convictions

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In United States v. Boney, Nos. 13-3087, 3199 (3d Cir. 9/15/14) , the Third Circuit heard cross-appeals from following a sentence impos...