Case Summaries

Criminal Law & Procedure

[09/09] Vartelas v. Holder
In a petition for review of the BIA's denial of petitioner's motion to reopen his removal proceedings, the petition is denied where petitioner was not prejudiced by his attorneys' failure to argue that he was nonremovable based on his prior offenses.

[09/09] US v. Armstrong
Defendants' convictions for engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, conspiracy, and aiding and abetting mail fraud are affirmed where: 1) the trial court's instructions dispelled any danger that the jury would give weight to the exhibit at issue as substantive evidence or to bolster credibility; 2) certain challenged statements were not offered for the truth of the matter asserted and thus were not hearsay; and 3) the district court did not abuse its discretion by allowing the use of a summary witness.

[09/09] US v. Szymuszkiewicz
In a prosecution of defendant under the Wiretap Act for intentionally intercepting his supervisor's electronic communication, district court's denial of his motion for acquittal is affirmed where: 1) the district court properly rejected defendant's attack on the sufficiency of the evidence as he had both motive and opportunity; and 2) the Wiretap Act's definitions treat the acquisition of emails as an interception.

[09/09] US v. Miller
Defendant's conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm is reversed where the prosecutor improperly vouched for an officer's credibility and there was no curative instruction and no mitigating effect of the government's comments other than restating the proper burden of proof before sending the jury to deliberate.

[09/09] Drew v. MacEachern
District court's dismissal of defendant's request for habeas relief for lack of jurisdiction is affirmed as defendant's habeas petition is time-barred under section 2244(d)(1)(A) as his initial gatekeeper petition was not pending within the meaning of section 2244(d)(2) as of April 24, 1997 and he is not entitled to equitable tolling.

[09/09] Correia v. Feeney
In plaintiff's suit against a police sergeant for violating his civil rights by means of false arrest and the use of excessive force, a denial of plaintiff's motion for a new trial following a jury verdict in favor of the defendant is affirmed where: 1) district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied the motion for a new trial as it was reasonable for the district court to conclude that the verdict was not clearly against the weight of the evidence; 2) the court's reply to the jury's question was not misleading, unduly complicating, or incorrect as a matter of law, nor did it adversely affect plaintiff's substantial rights; and 3) plaintiff cannot establish that any error in allowing a cross examination, or some portion of it, was sufficiently grave to satisfy plain error review.

[09/09] Delia v. City of Rialto
In an action by a firefighter against the City of Rialto and the Rialto Fire Department, alleging violations of his constitutional rights arising during a departmental internal affairs investigation, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed in part where plaintiff's constitutional right under the Fourth Amendment to be protected from a warrantless unreasonable compelled search of his home was violated, but this right, under these or similar facts, was not clearly established at the time of this constitutional violation. However, the order is reversed in part where one defendant was not entitled to qualified immunity as a private attorney.

[09/09] US v. Stadtmauer
Conviction of defendant for conspiracy to defraud the United States and for willfully aiding in the filing of materially false or fraudulent tax returns is affirmed where: 1) the Supreme Court's decision in Cheek v. US does not prohibit a willful blindness instruction that applies to a defendant's knowledge of relevant tax law; 2) any error in admitting a witness's testimony was harmless and thus does not require reversal; 3) defendant's claims of prosecutorial misconduct are rejected; 4) district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the expert's testimony; and 5) any error in district court's decision to exclude certain exhibits during defense counsel's cross-examination of the government's witnesses did not prejudice defendant.

[09/08] US v. Diaz-Jimenez
In a prosecution of defendant for being present in the United States illegally, district court's imposition of a sentence of 21 months' imprisonment is reversed and remanded as there was a serious breach of the plea agreement that defendant be recommended a sentence at the bottom of the guidelines range of 18 months, and the defendant is also entitled to be resentenced by a different judge.

[09/08] US v. Gunter
Defendant's conviction for drug related crimes and a 96-month sentence are affirmed where: 1) the district court meaningfully considered defendant's case and mitigation arguments; 2) defendant's sentence is substantively reasonable; and 3) the record flatly contradicts defendant's claim that he did not voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently plead guilty.

[09/08] US v. McGill
Defendant's firearm possession sentence is affirmed where, contrary to the government's contention, defendant's prior felony possession of a short-barreled shotgun was not a "violent felony" under the Armed Career Criminal Act.

[09/08] Mitts v. Bagley
Defendant's petition for habeas relief from his capital murder conviction is granted where: 1) the holding of the Supreme Court of Ohio was contrary to clearly established federal law as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States in Beck v. Alabama, because Beck compels that proper instructions must make clear that the jury does not have to complete its death deliberation before considering a life sentence, and thus, defendant's due process rights were violated; and 2) district court's conclusions as to ineffective assistance of counsel are affirmed.

[09/08] Heishman v. Ayers
In a capital habeas matter, the denial of the petition is affirmed where: 1) there is no reasonable likelihood that certain false testimony could have changed the jury's verdict or that the cumulative impact of the false testimony and undisclosed Brady material would have changed the jury's verdict; 2) although counsel's investigation regarding mitigation evidence could have been initiated earlier, petitioner did not show that counsel's timetable was per se constitutionally deficient under professional norms existing in 1980; and 3) the additional mitigation evidence that might have been uncovered was not compelling when weighed against the case in aggravation.

[09/08] Gov't of the Virgin Islands v. Martinez
Conviction of defendant for kidnapping for rape and sentence to thirty years in prison is affirmed where: 1) the evidence was sufficient to support the kidnapping for rape conviction; 2) any Doyle violation in this case was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt; and 3) defendant's remaining contentions are rejected as meritless.

[09/08] US v. Seay
Defendant's conviction for possession of a firearm while being an unlawful user of, or addicted to, a controlled substance is affirmed where: 1) defendant waived his Fed. R. Crim. P. 48 argument by pleading guilty; 2) defendant's Second Amendment challenge was jurisdictional and, therefore, survived his guilty plea; and 3) 18 U.S.C. section 922(g)(3) was the type of "longstanding prohibition[] on the possession of firearms" that Heller declared presumptively lawful.

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