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Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Third Circuit reaffirms that sentencing courts must only give deference to Sentencing Commission's interpretation of genuinely ambiguous Guidelines' provisions

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In United States v. Malik Nasir , Appeal No. 18-2888 , the Third Circuit finally resolved defendant Malik Nasir's appeal after review be...
Friday, December 17, 2021

When evaluating a motion for early termination of supervised release, a district court may not impute a probation officer's improper actions to the defendant

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 In United States v. Sheppard , Appeal No. 20-3088 (Nov. 3, 2021), defendant moved for early termination of supervised release based on all...
Sunday, November 28, 2021

Court Grants Judgment of Acquittal for Failure to Prove Materiality of Defendant's Fraudulently Filing Document in Cosby Civil Suit

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 In  United States v. Joseph R. Johnson , No. 20-1449 , 2021 WL 5492600 (Nov. 23, 2021), Judge Matey writes for a panel that also includes J...

Court Affirms in Hard-Fought Appeal of Conviction in School Fraud Case

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 In United States v. Shulick , Nos. 18-3305 & 19-1011 (Nov. 15, 2021), the Court affirmed Shulick’s convictions and sentences for consp...
Thursday, October 28, 2021

A defendant cannot directly petition a court for compassionate release based on substantial assistance to bypass Rule 35(b)’s requirement that the government file a motion for sentence reduction exclusively on this ground

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18 U.S.C. § 3582(c) provides various routes for a District Court to reduce a defendant’s sentence after sentencing. Subsection (c)(1)(A) per...

Assault by a prisoner by “caus[ing] another to come into contact with [bodily] fluid” when the prisoner knew or should have known the fluid came from someone with a communicable disease," as prohibited by 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 2703, is not a crime of violence under the career offender guidelines

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 Under the career offender guidelines, a crime of violence is defined as the “use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force.” U.S....
Friday, October 01, 2021

Spatial proximity of firearm to drugs is not necessary for enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1)

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               Section 2D1.1(b)(1) provides for a Guidelines enhancement when “a dangerous weapon (including a firearm) was possessed.” Appl...
Monday, September 27, 2021

Hobbs Act robbery is not a “crime of violence” under the Sentencing Guidelines

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Hobbs Act robbery is not a “crime of violence” under the Sentencing Guidelines. So holds the Third Circuit in United States v. Scott , No. ...
Wednesday, August 25, 2021

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Limited waiver of Miranda rights invalidated when a defendant raised the subject he initially stated he did not want to discuss during his i...
Saturday, August 21, 2021

Miller does not preclude sentencing juvenile offender to de facto life in prison without parole, even if he is not "incorrigible."

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The en banc decision in United States v. Grant , No. 3820,  https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/163820pen.pdf , -- F.4th ----2021 WL 361...
Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Rebuttable presumption that firearm is used or possessed “in connection with” a drug-trafficking offense if the firearm is found in close proximity to drugs or related items, justifying a four-level sentencing enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(6)(B)

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In United States v. Lesandro Perez,   https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/191469p.pdf , Appeal No. 19-1469, --- F.4th ---, 2021 WL 308767...
Monday, August 16, 2021

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    Sixty-five-year sentence for a juvenile convicted under RICO predicated on murder upheld/ Upon resentencing, the “sentence-package doctr...
Tuesday, June 29, 2021

70,000 images of child pornography will not be suppressed.

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The government prevailed last week in the Third Circuit on an interlocutory appeal of a suppression grant. In United States v. Caesar , ...
Thursday, June 24, 2021

Conviction and sentence for embezzlement upheld over challenges for speedy trial violation, and to evidentiary rulings, jury instructions, and loss calculation.

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In United States v. David T. Shulick , 994 F.3d 123 (3d Cir., April 13, 2021), the Third Circuit affirmed convictions and sentence for embez...