Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

An informant bought crack from Thompson at the La Crosse apartment where Thompson was staying. The informant was equipped with two hidden audio-video recording devices that captured the transaction. Thompson moved to suppress the video recordings The district court denied the motion because Thompson had invited the informant into the apartment, forfeiting his expectation of privacy as to anything he voluntarily disclosed. The court imposed a sentence of 36 months’ imprisonment, significantly below the guidelines range of 151 to 188 months, based on Thompson’s status as a career offender because of two convictions for a controlled substance offense. The Seventh Circuit affirmed his conviction for possessing for distribution the crack found during execution of the search warrant. 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and his sentence. The court rejected arguments that the informant exceeded the scope of his license to be in the apartment as an invitee when he recorded videos of the encounter and that making the video recordings violated his reasonable expectation of privacy because the information they revealed was not voluntarily disclosed. View "United States v. Thompson" on Justia Law

In 1992 plaintiff, then age 48, was convicted of having sexually assaulted a boy repeatedly for five years beginning when the boy was eight years old. Before his probation expired he was convicted of having (in 1988) sexually assaulted a nine‐year‐old girl and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was paroled after six years. His parole was revoked a year later after he admitted that he had sexual fantasies about two girls, ages four and five. Scheduled to be released in 2005, he was, instead, civilly committed as a “sexually violent person,” Wis. Stat. ch. 980. He was released in 2010, based on the opinion of a psychologist that he was no longer more likely than not to commit further sexual assaults. A 2006 Wisconsin law required that persons released from civil commitment (after 1/1/2008) for sexual offenses wear a GPS monitoring device 24 hours a day for the rest of their lives. Wis. Stat. 301.48. The district court found the Wisconsin monitoring statute unconstitutional. The Seventh Circuit reversed, noting that a study by the National Institute of Justice found that GPS monitoring of sex criminals has a greater effect in reducing recidivism than traditional parole supervision. View "Belleau v. Wall" on Justia Law

Clayton and his associates sold drugs and laundered the proceeds for at least two years. He pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and heroin, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), 846, and conspiracy to launder money, 18 U.S.C. 1956. Using the 2013 Sentencing Guidelines, the court found Clayton responsible for at least five kilograms of cocaine and one kilogram of heroin, and calculated a base offense level of 32. The district court added four levels for Clayton’s aggravating role as an organizer or leader and subtracted three levels because Clayton accepted responsibility. Clayton’s guideline imprisonment range was 135 to 168 months. The court sentenced Clayton to 91 months in prison. Aware that proposed changes to the Guidelines would drop the low end of his range to 108 months, the court stated that even “if there was a change, this [91‐month] sentence would still be the appropriate sentence.” Amendment 782, which is retroactive, subsequently reduced the offense levels assigned to Clayton’s drug quantities. Clayton moved for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2). The Seventh Circuit affirmed denial of Clayton’s request, citing “the severity of the offense, the Court’s original below‐guideline sentence and its rationale in imposing such sentence.” View "United States v. Clayton" on Justia Law

Putnam County, Indiana police officer Smith, with others, pursued Warren, for whom an arrest warrant was outstanding. The police were able to box in Warren's truck with their cars. Warren got out of the cab, jumped onto the truck’s bed, and lay down on his back. Officers followed, picked him up, and handed him to officers on the ground. All the officers except Smith testified that they had Warren under control when Smith punched him in the face with a closed fist. Warren bled extensively and was taken in an ambulance to a hospital. Smith said “I guarantee I broke that mother fucker’s nose.” Months later Smith and others were summoned to a violent domestic dispute. Smith handcuffed the male suspect, Land, and led him toward his patrol car, then raised Land in the air, dropped him, and drove his (Smith’s) knee into Land’s back, causing him to defecate. Later, Smith bragged that he had done the same thing before. Convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. 242 by depriving two persons of their constitutional right not to be subjected to the intentional use of unreasonable and excessive force, Smith was sentenced to 14 months in prison. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the conviction, but vacated the sentence, questioning whether the judge’s review provided any basis for thinking 14 months a proper sentence for Smith, given a guidelines range of 33-41 months. View "United States v. Smith" on Justia Law

A Wisconsin jury convicted Ramirez of first‐degree intentional homicide in 2003. Ramirez discovered that his interpreter at trial has failed certification tests and has been declared ineligible for state compensation for his services; he claims that the court subsequently failed to execute a subpoena or obtain the telephonic testimony of appellate counsel and an expert witness on the translator certification process. In 2014 Ramirez filed his second petition for federal habeas relief, which the district court denied. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, holding that Ramirez did not make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right under 28 U.S.C. 2253(c), View "Flores-Ramirez v. Foster" on Justia Law

After pleading guilty to federal drug crimes in 2001, Neal was sentenced to prison and supervised release. He was released from prison in 2010 but was sent back in 2013 for another 18 months after violating several conditions of his supervised release. When Neal completed the new term in 2014, he asked the court to rescind a special condition of supervised release authorizing warrantless searches of his person and residence, as inappropriate for drug offenders. The district court denied the motion. The Seventh Circuit first held that 18 U.S.C. 3583(e)(2) permits a defendant to request relief from a condition of supervised release on substantive grounds, but not for procedural errors from the time of the original sentencing, then found that Neal had waived challenges to the other conditions. The court upheld the search condition. View "United States v. Neal" on Justia Law

Segal, a lawyer, CPA, and insurance broker, and his company, were indicted for racketeering, mail and wire fraud, making false statements, embezzlement, and conspiring to interfere with operations of the IRS. Convicted in 2004, Segal was sentenced to 121 months in prison. After further proceedings, in 2011, he was resentenced to time served and ordered to pay $842,000 in restitution and to forfeit to the government his interest in the company and $15 million. In 2013, the parties entered a binding settlement that specified the final disposition of Segal’s assets. After the district judge approved the settlement the parties disagreed and returned to court. The agreement gave Segal two of eight insurance policies on his life outright and an option to purchase the others, but required that he exercise the option within six months of approval of the settlement. He opted to purchase one policy before the deadline and asked for an extension, claiming that the government had not promptly released money owed to him and had delayed his efforts to obtain information from the insurance companies. The Seventh Circuit affirmed refusal to extend the deadline, but reversed with respect to claims relating to Segal’s right to repurchase his shares of the Chicago Bulls basketball team. View "United States v. Segal" on Justia Law

Two men entered a Fort Wayne, Indiana Post Office, put masks over their faces, and walked through the second set of glass doors. Postal worker Weigold spotted them, ran into the office, and called the police. One man approached patron Hunter, pointed an object at her stomach, and said, “I have a gun.” The other rummaged through Hunter's purse, taking nothing. Nothing was taken from the unattended counter. The men left. Video surveillance captured the entire incident. Police arrived. Hunter reported that there was a cell phone on the counter that was not there before the robbery attempt. Video footage confirmed that it fell from the first man when he hopped over the counter. It was registered to Lawson; it received calls from the mother of Lawson’s son. Seven latent prints and a palm print found on the counter belonged to Lawson. Weigold identified Lawson's photograph. The other man was not identified. The Seventh Circuit affirmed Lawson’s convictions for aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during the attempted robbery, 18 U.S.C. 2114(a), 18 U.S.C. 924(c), and 18 U.S.C. 111, rejecting arguments that there was insufficient evidence to find that a “firearm” was used; that the jury was improperly instructed on aiding and abetting firearm use; and that the government withheld evidence of an investigator offering a “bribe” to a witness and a police officer’s disciplinary record. View "United States v. Lawson" on Justia Law

Rico Speed sold 30 grams of crack to a confidential informant and sold firearms and ammunition to the same informant four times. Indicted on four counts, he pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a firearm as a felon and one count of knowingly distributing crack. Jermaine Speed was indicted on four counts for selling cocaine, and pled guilty to selling 29.6 grams of cocaine to a confidential informant. In separate sentencing hearings, the judge varied downward and imposed 216 months in prison on each defendant, plus the mandatory eight years of supervised release. Defense attorneys objected to the presentence reports (PSRs), but neither objected to recommended conditions of release. The judge adopted those conditions, requiring that each defendant: not knowingly interact with any person whom he knows to be a convicted felon or to be engaged in, or planning to engage in, criminal activity; at the direction of the Probation Office, participate in an alcohol treatment program, including testing, abide by program rules, and refrain from any use of alcohol; and, although the PSR contained no such recommendation, "not possess a firearm, ammunition, destructive device, or any other dangerous weapon.” The judge did not provide reasons for this condition. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding no abuse of discretion. View "United States v. Speed" on Justia Law

Sanchez, age 70, pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute heroin and cocaine, 21 U.S.C. 846, 841(a)(1), and was sentenced below-guidelines range to 40 months’ imprisonment. Sanchez has multiple health problems. The Seventh Circuit upheld the application a two-level enhancement for “maintain[ing] a premise for the purposes of manufacturing or distributing a controlled substance.” U.S.S.G. 2D1.1(b)(12). Sanchez’s residence was used as the drop-off, pick-up, and storage site for the drugs for a year and he received $1,500 per month for making the residence available. In addition, the court explained that it would have imposed the same sentence regardless, so any error would have been harmless. View "United States v. Sanchez" on Justia Law