HELPFUL CASES APRIL 2007

    U.S. Supreme Court
    1st Circuit Court of Appeals
    2nd Circuit Court of Appeals
    3rd Circuit Court of Appeals [None this update]
    4th Circuit Court of Appeals 
    5th Circuit Court of Appeals
    6th Circuit Court of Appeals
    7th Circuit Court of Appeals [None this update]
    8th Circuit Court of Appeals 
    9th Circuit Court of Appeals
    10th Circuit Court of Appeals
    11th Circuit Court of Appeals     
    D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals [None this update] 
    New York Court of Appeals
    Texas Criminal Court of Appeals

Federal Courts (April 1, 2007- April 30, 2007)

U.S. Supreme Court

James v. U.S. (4/18/2007, No. 05-9264) ____ US ____ [127 SCt 1586; 167 LEd2d 532]: Attempted burglary, as defined by Florida law, is a "violent felony" under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) for sentencing purposes.

Abdul-Kabir v. Quarterman (4/25/2007, No. 05-11284) 2007 U.S. LEXIS 4536: Death sentence reversed where there was a reasonable likelihood that a state trial court's instructions prevented jurors from giving meaningful consideration to constitutionally relevant mitigating evidence.

Brewer v. Quarterman (4/25/2007, No. 05-11287) 2007 U.S. LEXIS 4538: Texas capital sentencing statute impermissibly prevented defendant's jury from giving meaningful consideration and effect to constitutionally relevant mitigating evidence.

US v. Luisi (4/10/2007, No. 03-1470) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 8225: Supplemental instructions, which foreclosed the jury from considering the defendant's superior's role in the asserted government entrapment of defendant, were erroneous.

Owens v. U.S. (4/12/2007, No. 05-1784, No. 05-1785) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 8388: Denial of evidentiary hearing was an abuse of discretion since: 1) defendant's allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel were not implausible; 2) closure of jury selection to the public for an entire day without meeting the strict Waller requirements would violate a defendant's right to a public trial; 3) failure to object to such a closure might constitute ineffective assistance of counsel; and 4) denial of a public trial is structural error.

U.S. v. Kaplan (4/11/2007, No. 05-5531) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 8363: Judge erred in admitting lay opinion testimony regarding defendant's and other's knowledge of the fraud.

U.S. v. Stephens (4/3/2007, No. 05-4668) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 7617: Insufficient evidence to corroborate defendant's statement and thereby establish his guilt.

U.S. v. Buchanan (4/19/2007, No. 04-41364) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 9118: Multiplicity principles violated where defendant committed one act to receive the four images that were the basis of his multiple convictions under 18 USC 2252(a)(2).

Ege v. Yukins (4/24/2007, No. 05-2078) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 9287: Admission of bite-mark evidence at trial violated her due process right to a fair trial and petitioner demonstrated both "cause" and "prejudice" for her failure to comply with Michigan's contemporaneous objection rule.

U.S. v. Kenyon (4/9/2007, No. 06-1693) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 8175: Aggravated sexual abuse of a child conviction reversed in part due to an erroneous jury instruction on one count and insufficient evidence on another.

U.S. v. Heredia (4/2/2007, No. 03-10585) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 7558: District judges are owed the usual degree of deference in deciding when a deliberate ignorance instruction [see U.S. v. Jewell (9th Cir. 1976) 532 F2d 697] is warranted.

U.S. v. Moran (4/2/2007, No. 05-30215, 05-30226) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 7560: District court erroneously excluded testimony as to defendants' good faith defense as hearsay and did not provide a reasoned basis for excluding it under Federal Rule of Evidence 403.

U.S. v. Snellenberger (4/3/2007, No. 06-50169) 480 F3d 1187: In the context of criminal sentencing, a minute order is "not a judicial record that can be relied upon" to establish the nature of a prior conviction.

Brazzel v. State of Washington (4/12/2007, No. 05-36145) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 8385: After first jury remained silent on attempted murder charge and convicted defendant of a lesser alternative offense, retrial violated double jeopardy/former jeopardy.

Fleming v. Evans (4/3/2007, No. 06-6110) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 7620: Sufficiently egregious misconduct on the part of a habeas petitioner's counsel may justify equitable tolling of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) limitations period.

Trammell v. McKune (4/12/2007, No. 06-3316) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 8394: Prosecution's failure to disclose physical evidence linking third party to the crime violated defendant’s due process rights under Brady.

U.S. v. Garey (4/11/2007, No. 05-14631) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 8273: Erroneous finding that defendant voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently waived his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

U.S. v. Orisnord (4/11/2007, No. 05-14659) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 8287: Insufficient evidence to sustain firearm conviction.

U.S. v. Ohayon (4/12/2007, No. 05-17045) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 8390: Defendant's acquittal on a charge of an attempted drug offense required dismissal of a charge of a drug conspiracy on which the jury was unable to reach a verdict, as the prosecution was collaterally estopped from retrying defendant for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute drugs.

U.S. v. Garcia-Jaimes (4/19/2007, No. 05-14475) 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 8963: Gun conviction reversed.

People v. Havrish (4/3/2007, No. 31) 2007 N.Y. LEXIS 609: Denial of motion to suppress is reversed where defendant's surrender of the handgun was privileged under the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

Jones v. State of Texas (4/4/2007, No. PD-0230-06) 2007 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 391: Refusal to permit defense counsel to ask a proper question during voir dire violated the Texas Constitution.

LaPointe v. State of Texas (4/25/2007, No. 1100-06) 2007 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 505: The"hearing" before determining whether to admit evidence of an alleged victim's past sexual history must be an adversarial proceeding.