Articles Posted in Criminal Law and Justice

To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.

March 30 – April 3, 2009:

U.S. Supreme Court, March 31, 2009 Rivera v. Illinois, No. 07-9995 Provided that all jurors seated in a criminal case are qualified and unbiased, the Due Process Clause does not require automatic reversal of a conviction because of the trial court’s good-faith error in denying the defendant’s peremptory challenge to a juror. Defendant’s murder conviction is therefore affirmed.

U.S. Supreme Court, April 01, 2009 Harbison v. Bell, No. 07-8521 In a capital habeas proceeding, the denial of federal appointed counsel’s motion to expand the scope of her representation to include state clemency proceedings is reversed, where: 1) a certificate of appealability is not required to appeal an order denying a request for federally appointed counsel, because 28 U.S.C. section 2253(c)(1)(A) governs only final orders that dispose of a habeas corpus proceeding’s merits; and 2) because state clemency proceedings are “available” to state petitioners who obtain representation under 28 U.S.C. section 3599(a)(2), the statute’s plain language indicates that appointed counsel’s authorized representation includes such proceedings.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 30, 2009 US v. Gonzalez-Ramirez , No. 07-1880 Conviction and sentence for drug crimes is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant’s motion for a competency hearing and request for a continuance; 2) the court did abuse its discretion in admitting the cocaine and packaging as evidence, or the officer’s testimony related to the evidence; and 3) the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 30, 2009 US v. Rivera , No. 07-2675
District court judgment is affirmed where the “did assault and beat” charging language in the criminal complaint sufficed to identify the offense as a violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act or a “crime of violence” under the career offender provision of the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Read more…

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, April 01, 2009 US v. Marsh , No. 07-1698
Sentence for drug crimes is affirmed where the court was not unreasonable in applying a twelve-month upward departure from defendant’s mandatory minimum sentence, as the court made an informed decision and also stated it would have reached the same result under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines as it would have in a non-Guideline setting.
Continue reading

Update from the Lexis Alert Service,

April 6, 2009.

1. People v. Nunez, 212, 4936/06, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2535; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2442, April 2, 2009, Decided, April 2, 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 (James A. Yates, …

2. People v. Pearson, 225, 225A, 225B, 4340/06, 4464/06, 4478/06, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2543; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2428, April 2, 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 …
Judgments, Supreme Court, New York County (Charles Solomon, J. …

3. People v. Smith, 217, 5584/05, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2538; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2431, April 2, 2009, Decided, April 2, 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, …

4. People v. McClain, 222, 1200/06, 223, 224, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2542; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2441, April 2, 2009, Decided, April 2, 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 …
… Defendant-Appellant. The People of the State …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Rena K. Uviller, …

5. People v. Tucker, 176, 800/07, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2469; 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. …

6. People v. Bush, 193, 5516/04, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 2477; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2504, 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 (Charles H. Solomon,
Continue reading