Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

Defendant appealed from his conviction on four counts of intentional murder while engaged in a trafficking crime involving five or more kilograms of cocaine. Defendant challenged his convictions on several grounds. The court held that defendant's pre-arraignment inculpatory statements were admissible under the six-hour safe harbor provided by 18 U.S.C. 3501(c), and concluded that defendant's remaining arguments were without merit. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Gonzalez" on Justia Law

Petitioner, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, was convicted of attempted arson in the third degree in violation of New York Penal Law sections 110 and 150.10. Petitioner claimed that his conviction is not an aggravated felony rendering him statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal. Applying Chevron deference, the court deferred to the BIA's reasonable determination that a state "offense described in" 18 U.S.C. 844(i) need not contain a federal jurisdictional element. Accordingly, the court denied the petition. View "Torres v. Holder" on Justia Law

Petitioner, convicted of murder and sentenced to 45 years' imprisonment, was granted a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2254 based on his Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause right. The trial court prohibited petitioner from cross-examining a lead detective to show that the police had not investigated leads provided by a witness whose tips were memorialized in a detective's notes and an investigative DD5 report. The court concluded that, taken together, the trial court's evidentiary rulings unreasonably applied clearly established Sixth Amendment law and drastically impaired petitioner's ability to present that defense. The error was not harmless because there was no forensic evidence tying petitioner to the crime. Therefore, the court affirmed the district court's judgment. View "Alvarez v. Ercole" on Justia Law

The state appealed the magistrate judge's grant of habeas corpus relief and petitioner, convicted of repeatedly raping his wife, ex-wife, and daughter, cross-appealed those portions of the decision adverse to him. The court agreed with the magistrate judge that the Fourth Department's rejection of petitioner's Miranda claim constituted an objectively unreasonable application of Supreme Court precedent. The court held that the admission of petitioner's statements had a substantial and injurious effect or influence on the jury's verdict as to the count's involving the daughter. Therefore, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court insofar as it: (1) granted petitioner habeas relief on his Miranda claim as to the counts of conviction involving the daughter; and (2) denied petitioner's ineffective assistance of counsel claims premised on counsel's failure to conduct an adequate pretrial investigation and introduce the laboratory reports and DNA tests at trial. The court affirmed in part and reversed in part. View "Jackson v. Conway" on Justia Law

Petitioner, a native and citizen of Jamaica, sought review of the BIA's affirmance of the IJ's finding of removal based on her convictions for multiple crimes involving moral turpitude and an aggravated felony as defined in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(G). Petitioner argued that, although she was convicted of a theft offense, the BIA erred in finding that the term of imprisonment for that offense was at least one year. The court held that petitioner's conviction constituted an aggravated felony theft offense for which the term of imprisonment was at least one year because it is the actual sentence imposed, including any recidivist enhancements applied, that is considered. The court extended to its interpretation of the phrase "term of imprisonment" in the INA the Supreme Court's holding in United States v. Rodriquez, that the phrase "maximum term of imprisonment" in the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924, includes any applicable recidivist sentence enhancement. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for review. View "Dawkins v. Holder" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction for crimes stemming from participating via webcam in the sexual abuse of an eight-year-old girl by her mother. The court concluded that the closure of the courtroom during the victim's testimony to all persons who were not directly involved in the trial did not violate defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a public trial. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Ledee" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit against her coworker and her employer, LIRR, and others asserting violations of the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) and 42 U.S.C. 1983; state law claims of false arrest, malicious prosecution, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress; and violations of state and city human rights laws. On appeal, the coworker challenged the district court's award of damages to plaintiff on her claim of malicious prosecution. The incident leading up to the suit concerned the coworker's accusation that plaintiff touched her breast in the workplace parking lot. The court affirmed the district court's denial of the coworker's motions for judgment as a matter of law and for a new trial on liability. The court concluded, however, that the jury's award of damages exceeded limits reasonably allowable in the district court's discretion. Therefore, the court reversed the district court's denial of the coworker's motion seeking a new trial on damages unless plaintiff accepted remittitur reducing the amount of the judgment. View "Stampf v. Trigg" on Justia Law

Claimant appealed from the district court's order of forfeiture seizing roughly $750,000 in cash, arguing that the district court erred in granting the government's motion for a default judgment against the res without first considering his motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. The court affirmed the district court's judgment of forfeiture because claimant failed to establishing standing to challenge the forfeiture. View "United States v. Vazquez-Alvarez" on Justia Law

Defendants appealed their convictions for carjacking in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2119. The court joined its fellow circuits in adopting, for the purpose of interpreting the carjacking statute, the United States v. Burns definition of "presence" as the law of the circuit; a motor vehicle is in the presence of the victim if it is so within his or her reach, inspection, observation, or control that he or she could, if not overcome by violence or prevented by fear, retain possession of it; this definition naturally implies a degree of physical proximity between the victim and the vehicle; and, in this case, the district court properly denied each defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal where the vehicle was within the proximity of the victim under the definition. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Soler" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction on three federal fraud charges. The court concluded that the challenged jury instruction, considered in its context and circumstances, did not tend to coerce jurors into reaching a verdict; the instruction did not urge jurors to reconsider their views and defendant was not entitled to a further charge counseling jurors to hold fast to their conscientiously held beliefs; defendant's remaining arguments were without merit; and, therefore, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. McDonald" on Justia Law