Recent Articles

Stakeholders in the Madoff Scandal and Their Need to Act Promptly and Proactively - Indirect Stakeholders - Installment 11

Alain Leibman
June 23, 2009 16:06

This is the eleventh in a series of installments on this blog that is discussing some of the issues that face the manifold stakeholders who have been materially affected by the long and worldwide Ponzi scheme scandal of Bernard L. Madoff. All potential stakeholders should consult professional...

Impeachment of convicted witness may be limited to fact of conviction alone

Alain Leibman
June 16, 2009 23:17

The rules of evidence to which most frequent resort is made in impeaching witnesses with evidence of misconduct are FRE 608(b) and FRE 609.  Rule 608(b) provides that specific instances of the witness's conduct to show untruthfulness, other than conviction of a crime under 609, may not be...

Supreme Court makes it easier to bring RICO charges both criminally and civilly

Alain Leibman
June 16, 2009 22:13

The Supreme Court last week in Boyle v. United States, No. 07-1309 (June 8, 2009) declined to limit association in fact enterprises under RICO to those having the characteristics of "business-like" entities.  In so doing, the Court made it easier for the government to...

Trial court may cut off cooperator cross-examination on need for "truthfulness"

Alain Leibman
June 08, 2009 19:05

Typically, cross-examining a cooperator regarding the impact of the Sentencing Guidelines (e.g., its reduction of, say, a five-year exposure on each mail fraud charge in an Information to nothing more than 12-18 months in the aggregate even before a downward reduction) or the intricacies of a 5K1.1...

A Brief Revisit to the Subject of The Madoff Scandal and Charities and Foundations - Installment 10

Alain Leibman
June 02, 2009 20:35

This is the tenth in a series of installments on this blog that are discussing some of the issues that face the manifold stakeholders that have been materially affected by the long global Ponzi scheme of Bernard L. Madoff. All potential stakeholders should consult professional advisors promptly to...

Stakeholders in the Madoff Scandal and Their Need to Act Promptly and Proactively - Indirect Stakeholders - Installment 9

Alain Leibman
May 26, 2009 13:51

This is the ninth in a series of installments on this blog that is discussing some of the issues that face the manifold stakeholders that have been materially affected by the long global Ponzi scheme of Bernard L. Madoff. All potential stakeholders should consult professional advisors promptly to...

Twenty-one day delay in obtaining warrant to search container seized under exigent circumstances without a warrant causes seizure to be unconstitutional

Alain Leibman
May 22, 2009 21:44

The Supreme Court has long held that police may without a warrant seize a container for which there is probable cause to believe holds contraband or evidence of a crime, if there are exigent circumstances, and then later obtain a warrant for the search of its contents. United States v. Place, 462...

Probationer subject to warrantless search even absent a probation condition authorizing such searches

Alain Leibman
May 22, 2009 20:57

Conditions of probation or supervised release sometimes include special conditions by which the defendant consents to warrantless searches of his residence by his/her probation officer. (In the District of New Jersey, standard probation conditions provide only for consent to "visits" by a...

Attorneys sued by SEC for issuing allegedly fraudulent Rule 144 opinion letters

Alain Leibman
May 13, 2009 19:24

Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission sued two California attorneys for issuing allegedly fraudulent legal opinions which allowed the holders of restricted Rule 144 stock in a communications company to sell their holdings prematurely (news release here). As set forth in the SEC's press...

Quid pro quo not required for Hobbs Act, Section 666 prosecutions

Alain Leibman
May 07, 2009 21:20

A public official who accepts a bribe from a developer, both cash and a plot of land, but does not explicitly reach agreement with the bribor on an official act to be performed by the recipient may still be convicted of violating the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951 and 18 U.S.C. § 666,...