Articles Posted in Court Decisions

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May 17-22, 2009.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, May 19, 2009 US v. Paret-Ruiz , No. 06-2709
Conviction for conspiracy to import cocaine with intent to distribute is reversed and remanded with instructions to enter a verdict of not guilty where the evidence was insufficient for a reasonable jury to conclude that defendant had an agreement to import or possess cocaine with anyone other than a government agent.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, May 20, 2009 US v. Pulido , No. 08-1626
Conviction and sentence on drug and firearms charges is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not commit reversible error in denying defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea without conducting an evidentiary hearing, as defendant’s allegations that his plea was not voluntary and knowing were contradicted by the record; 2) the court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant’s motion to recuse based on the court’s statement about defendant in a different case, as the evidence shows that there was no likely appearance of partiality; 3) the court did not err and fail to consider mitigating evidence related to the U.S.S.G. sec. 3553(a) factors, as the record shows the court considered all of the mitigating evidence; and 4) the court did not err in imposing the mandatory minimum sentence for the firearm count under 18 U.S.C. sec. 924(c). ..

U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, May 20, 2009 US v. Jones, No. 07-2798 Conviction for conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon under the Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Act is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in failing to restart jury selection after six co-defendants pled guilty during voir dire, and thus did not violate his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights; 2) the court properly rejected defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal on his conviction for murder conspiracy, as a rational jury could have found all elements of the murder conspiracy charge beyond a reasonable doubt; 3) the court did not abuse its discretion by admitting challenged evidence at trial as the evidence did not overwhelm the jury or prejudice its judgment; and 4) defendant’s sentence was not procedurally or substantively unreasonable.
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Update from the Lexis Alert Service,

May 21, 2009:.

1. People v. Bolar, 599, 5414/06, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 3946; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3791, May 19, 2009, Decided, May 19, 2009, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Eduardo Padro, J.), …

2. People v. Liggan, 573, 574, 297/04, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 3929; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3781, May 19, 2009, Decided, May 19, 2009, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Carol Berkman, J.), …

3. People v. McNeely, 589, 590, 531/08, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 3940; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3783, May 19, 2009, Decided, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Renee A. White, …

4. People v. Tucker, 176, 800/07, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2469; 60 A.D.3d 595; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2510, March 31, 2009, Decided, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bonnie Wittner, J. …

5. People v. Jackson, 185, 11990/91, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2475; 60 A.D.3d 599; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2488, March 31, 2009, Decided, March 31, 2009, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Jeffrey M. Atlas, …
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Update from the Lexis Alert Service,

May 20, 2009:.

1. People v. McDonald, 157, 5982/07, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2287; 60 A.D.3d 553; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2233, March 26, 2009, Decided, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Carol Berkman, J.), …

2. People v. Batista, 163, 5636/05, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2292; 60 A.D.3d 557; 874 N.Y.S.2d 808; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2229, March 26, 2009, Decided, March 26, 2009, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bonnie G. Wittner, …

3. People v. Ramirez, 168, 6600/03, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2296; 60 A.D.3d 560; 875 N.Y.S.2d 482; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2235, March 26, 2009, Decided, March 26, 2009, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Edwin Torres, J.), …

4. People v. Pequero, 143, 1348/06, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2242; 60 A.D.3d 542; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2418, March 24, 2009, Decided, March 24, 2009, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bonnie G. Wittner, …

5. People v. Cantey, 120, 2132/07, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2228; 60 A.D.3d 533; 874 N.Y.S.2d 805; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2259, March 24, 2009, Decided, March 24, 2009, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Lewis Bart Stone, …
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Update from the Lexis Alert Service,

May 18, 2009.

1. People v. Smith, 558, 2680/07, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 3839; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3674, May 14, 2009, Decided, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.

May 4 -8, 2009
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U.S. Supreme Court, May 04, 2009 Flores-Figueroa v. US, No. 08-108 Defendant’s aggravated identity theft conviction is reversed where 18 U.S.C. section 1028A(a)(1) requires the government to show that a defendant knew that the means of identification at issue belonged to another person.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, May 04, 2009 Rice v. Hall, No. 07-2660 In conviction for murder, denial of petition for habeas relief is affirmed where plaintiff failed to show: 1) counsel’s performance was unreasonable or incompetent; and 2) any error that prejudiced him such that the outcome would likely have been different but for the error.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, May 05, 2009 US v. Angulo-Hernández, No. 07-2428 Conviction and sentence for drug crimes is affirmed where: 1) the evidence presented was sufficient to support each of the defendants’ convictions; 2) any possible error in the admission of lay testimony was harmless; 3) district court’s participation in trial did not constitute prejudicial error; 4) the defendants’ jurisdictional challenge under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act was meritless; 5) the court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendants’ multiple requests for a continuance and proceeding with the trial as scheduled; and 6) defendant’s sentence was reasonable.
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