Case Summaries

Criminal Law & Procedure

[05/12] People v. Ross
When an arrestee lies to the booking officer by denying possession of a weapon and enters jail, the arrestee has violated Penal Code section 4574 and voluntarily chose to enter jail with a weapon.

[05/12] US v. Marcano
Sentence for aiding and abetting the receipt and possession of an illegally modified firearm is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not impose a period of incarceration and supervised release involving home confinement in excess of the statutory maximum; 2) defendant's argument that a district court may not impose "any" period of home detention following incarceration was tenuous at best, and he failed to cite any applicable precedent; and 3) in any event, any error was not plain.

[05/12] US v. Curran
Sentence and restitution ordered against defendant following a conviction for wire fraud and money laundering is affirmed over claims that: 1) the district court's calculation of the amount of loss for determining defendant's Guideline sentence was excessive; 2) the district court erred in concluding that the scheme involved more than 250 victims for purposes of a six-level sentencing enhancement; and 3) the restitution order amount was erroneous due to an absence of a causal link between the criminal offense and the loss amount.

[05/12] US v. Wilder
Conviction for possession, transmission, and receipt of child pornography is affirmed over defendant's claims that: 1) the warrant permitting seizure of materials from his home was issued without probable cause; 2) the evidence at trial was insufficient to establish his knowingly receipt or knowingly possession of child pornography; and 3) the evidence was insufficient to support a finding that the photographs on which the convictions were based depicted real children, or that the images listed in his indictment depicted a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

[05/12] U.S. v. Lentz
A conviction for interstate kidnapping resulting in the death of defendant's ex-wife is affirmed over claims of error regarding: 1) whether a jury instruction given by the district court constructively amended the indictment; 2) denial of pre-trial motions to suppress testimony from a jail informant about a murder-for-hire plot; 3) denial of a motion to suppress a recorded telephone conversation between defendant and his counsel in which the murder-for-hire plot was discussed; 4) whether admission of recorded conversations as redacted were in violation of the rule of completeness as set in Fed R. Evid. 106; 5) admission of hearsay statements made by the victim; 6) admission of a missing person poster as unduly prejudicial; 7) a denial of a motion for recusal based on the court's alleged prejudgment on the ultimate issue of guilt; and 8) the sufficiency of the evidence to prove various elements of the kidnapping charge.

More...