Recent Articles

Defenders Make Short List for Green Bag's 2008 Exemplary Legal Writing Honorees

December 19, 2008 23:27

Things have been slow lately opinion-wise, but here's something to whet your legal reading appetite in the meantime (courtesy of How Appealing): the Green Bag's list of "Exemplary Legal Writing 2008" honorees. The press release also includes a list of recommended reading, which just happens to...

Cert Tips

December 05, 2008 17:57

Got a good cert candidate? Afraid of botching the petition? Then check out "Petitions for Certiorari: Understanding the Hidden Process", a brief article featuring the advice of the SCOTUS Chief Deputy Clerk, two experienced SCOTUS advocates, and a former SCOTUS clerk. One interesting thing the...

Claim That Jury Instructed On Multiple Theories May Have Found Guilt On Invalid One Is Subject to Harmless Error Review

December 03, 2008 00:21

Hedgpeth v. Pulido, No. 07-544 (U.S. Dec. 2, 2008) (per curiam) The opening paragraph of today's opinion from the Supreme Court sums up the decision tidily: A conviction based on a general verdict is subject to challenge if the jury was instructed on alternative theories of guilt and may have...

Fives Grant En Banc Review in Seale

December 01, 2008 22:53

United States v. Seale, No. 07-60732 (5th Cir. Sept. 9, 2008) (Davis, Smith, DeMoss), reh'g en banc granted (Nov. 14, 2008) We (meaning I) neglected to cover this decision when it came out nearly three months ago, but you likely saw some of the news coverage of the case. Seale was indicted and...

Amendments to Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Effective Today: Victims, Warrants, and Housekeeping

December 01, 2008 22:21

It's December 1st, and you know what that means: a new batch of amendments to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure take effect. Most of the changes implement the dictates of 18 U.S.C. § 3771, otherwise known as the Crime Victims' Rights Act, including a new Rule 60 enumerating various rights of ...

Whether To Deduct Value of Collateral From Loan Amount, and Whether to Use Actual or Intended Loss Calculation, Depends on Specific Facts of Case

November 21, 2008 23:42

United States v. Goss, No. 07-60699 (5th Cir. Nov. 21, 2008) (Barksdale, Benavides, Dennis) It's loss-amount time again. This time, the question is how to determine the loss amount in a mortgage-fraud scheme. The answer: it depends. Here's the ripped-from-the-headlines conduct: From about 1999...

Guilty Plea to Information Waives Argument That Defendant Did Not Knowingly and Voluntarily Waive Right to Indictment

November 20, 2008 23:23

United States v. Daughenbaugh, No. 08-30254 (5th Cir. Nov. 19, 2008) (Benavides, Southwick, Haynes) Daughenbaugh agreed to plead guilty to an information charging him with one count of possessing child pornography. "Prior to entering the guilty plea, Daughenbaugh and his counsel signed an...

UUV Circuit Split On Its Way To the Supreme Court?

November 18, 2008 21:25

As discussed here, here, and here, there's a post-Leocal circuit split over whether unauthorized use of a vehicle is a "crime of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 16(b). And the odds of the Supreme Court resolving that split just got better. A couple of weeks ago the Fifth Circuit declined to reconsider ...

Circuit Split Over Whether Recidivist Possession Is Necessarily an Aggravated Felony Deepens; Second Circuit Says No

November 17, 2008 17:26

Okay, referring to it as "recidivist possession" begs the question somewhat, but the post title can only accommodate so many characters. The issue, more precisely, is whether a second or subsequent state conviction for simple possession of a controlled substance is an aggravated felony simply...

Will They Call It an EA-File?

November 12, 2008 16:11

Via Bender's Immigration Daily, we learn that the Washington Post is reporting that A-Files are going electronic: The Bush administration has launched a major overhaul of the nation's immigration services agency, selecting an industry consortium led by IBM to reinvent how the government handles...