Friday, April 20, 2012

Fwd: Criminal Law Summaries Distributed April 20, 2012



Victor Cuvo, Attorney at Law
770.582.9904
(sent from new iPad)

Begin forwarded message:

From: Justia Practice Area Opinion Summaries <notifications@justia.info>
Date: April 20, 2012 9:07:15 AM EDT
To: Victor Cuvo <vacuvo@yahoo.com>
Subject: Criminal Law Summaries Distributed April 20, 2012
Reply-To: Justia Practice Area Opinion Summaries <notifications@justia.info>

If you are unable to see this message, click here to view it in a web browser.
To ensure delivery to your inbox, please add notifications@justia.info to your address book.
Justia Daily Opinion Summaries is a FREE service.

Subscribe to summaries of US appellate court opinions at Daily.Justia.com

Practice area emails with summaries from all reviewed courts are sent weekly.

You May FREELY Redistribute This E-Mail in Whole.

Today on Verdict

John Dean

Did Keith Olbermann Blow His Lawsuit Against Current TV By Saying "I Screwed Up" on Letterman? Absolutely Not!

Justia columnist and former counsel to the president John Dean comments on remark "I screwed up" that Keith Olbermann recently made on DaviD Letterman's Late Show. Read Article

Weekly Opinion Summaries

Criminal Law

Weekly Summaries Distributed April 20, 2012
Receive this and other FREE daily opinion summaries from Justia Subscribe Now to Justia Daily Opinion Summaries

United States v. George

Court: U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals

Docket: 11-1815 Opinion Date: April 17, 2012

Judge: Selya

Areas of Law: Criminal Law, Public Benefits

For 20 years, George was a clerk-magistrate. In 1995, he was charged with conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. 371, 1343, 1346 for selling blank search warrants, used to commit robberies. George entered a plea for a sentence of 20 months and a $10,000 fine. George retired before his plea and began receiving a monthly benefit of $1,424.91, plus health-care. In 2003, the state retirement board suspended benefits; his attorney had advised him that he would remain eligible if he started receiving benefits before he entered a plea. The district court denied his petition for a writ of error coram nobis. The First Circuit affirmed. The Board authorized recoupment of benefits in excess of contributions. In 2010, the Supreme Court held that "intangible right of honest services," in 18 U.S.C. 1346, would be unconstitutionally vague unless limited to schemes involving bribes or kickbacks. George's second petition was denied. The court found that, in light of Skilling, a fundamental error had occurred, but that cessation of benefits did not constitute a continuing collateral consequence sufficient to justify the remedy. The First Circuit affirmed, referring to a "Hail Mary pass." A court has discretion to withhold the remedy where the interests of justice dictate.

http://j.st/dJP View Case
View Case on: Justia  Google Scholar

United States v. Valerio

Court: U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals

Docket: 10-1994 Opinion Date: April 17, 2012

Judge: Torruella

Areas of Law: Banking, Criminal Law

Valerio, a citizen of Costa Rica, entered the U.S. illegally in 1991. Her companion paid $500 to obtain a birth certificate and Social Security card in the name of Rosa Hernandez, a person living in Puerto Rico. For about 12 years, Valerio used Hernandez's identity to hold a variety of jobs, pay taxes, open lines of credit, purchase cars, obtain a drivers' license, and take a loan to purchase a home. She obtained various welfare benefits for herself and her family under her real name, withholding information regarding income and assets she held under Hernandez's name. She used the Hernandez identity to vouch for herself as Valerio. When the real Hernandez discovered the situation, police apprehended Valerio, searched her apartment, and found numerous documents relating to her true identity and her assumed Hernandez identity. She was convicted of three counts of mail fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1341 and aggravated identity theft, 18 U.S.C. 1028A. The First Circuit affirmed, rejecting a challenge to sufficiency of the evidence and holding that Valerio was not prejudiced by the performance of her trial attorney.

http://j.st/dJq View Case
View Case on: Justia  Google Scholar

United States v. Zangari

Court: U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals

Docket: 10-4546 Opinion Date: April 18, 2012

Judge: Cabranes

Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, White Collar Crime

Defendant, a securities broker, pleaded guilty to charges related to his conduct involving a bribe greater than $70,000. On appeal, defendant contended that the district court erred in calculating restitution insofar as it ordered both restitution and forfeiture in the amount of defendant's gains from the fraudulent scheme underlying his conviction. The court held that it was error for the district court to substitute defendant's gains for the victims' losses in calculating restitution, but declined to exercise the court's discretion to notice the error, as defendant failed to object in the district court, and had failed on appeal to show that the error affected his substantial rights or undermined the fairness, integrity, and public reputation of judicial proceedings.

http://j.st/diq
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)