Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

Defendant, convicted of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and 846, was sentenced to 85 months in prison. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting a challenge to the conspiracy conviction. The court noted advantages to charging conspiracy. Although the relevant quantity for sentencing is limited to the defendant's jointly undertaken activity, U.S.S.G. 1B1.3(a)(1)(B), the conspiracy charge covers a greater quantity than the amount sold by a single defendant Evidence of prior crimes is less likely to be barred by Rule 404(b)(1) in a conspiracy case; prior crimes are likely germane. Out-of-court statements by a conspirator are freely admissible and the evidentiary burden often is lighter than for proving multiple charges of distribution. Charging conspiracy can avoid a statute of limitations defense. There must be more than a sale of drugs to support an inference of conspiracy, however, but the evidence showed that defendant had a continuing relationship with his wholesaler, involving sales on credit, which gives rise to an inference of conspiracy. The relationship involved mutual support and protection grounded in family, not a common feature of wholesaling.

Officers obtained a warrant to search defendant's home, executed it five days later, arrested and charged defendant with possessing 100 or more marijuana plants with intent to distribute, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and maintaining a place for manufacture and distribution of marijuana. The district court rejected motions to suppress that challenged statements in the affidavit: about finding a marijuana stem during a "trash pull," about the existence of PVC piping at the house, that the affiant received information from the power company about power usage, and about defendant's criminal history. The Seventh Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction, without reaching arguments about electricity usage and criminal history. Remaining elements of the affidavit supported a finding of probable cause.

Defendant pled guilty to knowingly possessing a firearm while being an unlawful user of controlled substances, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) and was sentenced to 46 months' imprisonment. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, upholding application of a 4-level increase under U.S.S.G. 2K 2.1(b)(6) for using or possessing the firearm in connection with another felony offense--discharge of the firearm in a residential neighborhood with others present, a felony under Illinois law. The court rejected defendant's claim that the shooting was self-defense.

Defendant was convicted of a drug offense and is in prison in Texas. The district court sentenced him to 262 months in prison as a career offender under USSG 4B1.1, assuming that a prior walkaway escape from a halfway house was a qualifying felony. Absent career offender status, the guidelines range would have been 120 to 150 months. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. His attorney failed to file a petition for certiorari. The Supreme Court later held, in another case, that walkaway escape is not a crime of violence. After a complicated series of motions under 28 U.S.C. 2255 and 28 U.S.C. 2241, involving a Texas district court and the Seventh Circuit, the Seventh Circuit denied pending motions. The court noted that defendant would not be sentenced as a career offender today and likely would receive a much lower sentence; taxpayers are footing the bill. There is no judicial procedure to remedy the situation; only the executive branch can grant relief. The court called the claims being "batted around" between circuits with differing views of how the merits may be heard "an untenable and unseemly waste of judicial resources."

Law enforcement authorities believed that defendant was a supplier of illegal drugs to another dealer, Cabrera, who was selling to a paid police informant. The informant, after ordering a pound of methamphetamine from Cabrera, overheard a phone conversation between Cabrera and defendant in which defendant said he would deliver the meth to a garage. Police were listening remotely and arrested Cabrera and defendant at the garage after they carried meth from a truck into the garage. Officers searched defendant and seized a cell phone, searched his truck and seized two more. Defendant denied ownership of the phones in the truck. Officers obtained the phone number, subpoenaed records, and used the call history of the phone found on defendant's person as evidence. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that officers did not "search" the phone, but were content with obtaining its number.

Defendant pleaded guilty to producing and possessing child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2251(a), 2252(a)(4)(B). After calculating an imprisonment range of life, the district court sentenced him to a total of 384 months. The Seventh Circuit upheld the sentence as reasonable. Defendant, who had no criminal history, argued that no harm came to the children he filmed because there was no sexual contact, but the court noted that he circulated his films on the Internet and caused distinct and serious harm to his victims by giving their images a permanent existence and the potential for endless replication.

While playing World of Warcraft online, defendant requested sexual pictures of CG, a minor. CG blocked him, but reinstated him in exchange for online “currency.” Defendant again sent sexual messages; CG again blocked him. Defendant, on release following arrest for possession of large-capacity firearms, paid to obtain CG’s address, told others he planned to kill CG, dug holes in his yard, and removed the release latch from his trunk. He amassed weapons, drove 20 hours to CG’s home, and impersonated an officer to lure CG out of the house and kidnap him. CG’s mother refused to allow defendant into the house. He pointed a handgun at her face, but she slammed the door and called police. He was arrested and pled guilty to brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. 924(c). The district court sentenced him to 210 months’ imprisonment. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. A district court may consider a wide range of conduct at sentencing, including acquitted conduct and dismissed offenses, and the sentencing ranges for those offenses. The court rejected arguments that the court treated defendant’s psychological conditions as an aggravating factor or impermissibly considered rehabilitation.

Plaintiff, wrongly convicted of two murders in 1986, obtained a certificate of innocence in 2009 and sought damages under 42 U.S.C. 1983 from Illinois Assistant States Attorneys, Wharrie and Kelley, alleging that they induced false testimony during his trial and retrial and suppressed the compromised nature of the testimony and its acquisition, denying him due process. Defendants filed an interlocutory appeal, challenging denial of their claim of absolute immunity. They also claimed that Illinois sovereign immunity law precludes federal jurisdiction, and only the Illinois Court of Claims may hear the state-law claims. The Seventh Circuit reversed with respect to immunity and suggested that the district court consider relinquishing jurisdiction over state claims. Wharrie is entitled to absolute immunity for alleged solicitation of false testimony from a co-defendant/fellow gang member after the original trial, as well as for alleged suppression of its falsity. Plaintiff failed to state a claim against Kelley with respect to his alleged coercing testimony from an eyewitness.

While working as office manager and executive assistant for three successive businesses, defendant embezzled more than $240,000 by making personal purchases on company credit cards, falsifying expense reimbursement claims, and depositing corporate checks in her personal account. She pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1343, reserving the right to challenge a recommendation of a two-level sentencing increase for abuse of a position of trust, U.S.S.G. 3B1.3. The district court accepted the recommendation, which resulted in a guidelines range of 27 to 33 months, and imposed a sentence of 27 months. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, acknowledging that it was a "borderline" case for abuse-of-trust enhancement, and deferring to the trial court findings.

A 12-year-old girl called police and reported that she had ridden her bike to a hotel to play video games with a teen-ager she met online. Her online friend was a 29-year-old man who gave her marijuana and alcohol and engaged in sexual activities with her, against her will. Defendant entered a guilty plea to traveling across state lines with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, 18 U.S.C. 2423(b). He was sentenced to 135 months, which the court and the parties assumed to be above the applicable Guidelines range. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the sentence as reasonable. The district court gave adequately particularized reasons for an above-Guidelines sentence, considering the girl's fear and other aggravating circumstances, but, in any case, miscalculated the range favorably to defendant. The sentence is actually within the correctly calculated range.