BLOG BULLETS: The Supreme Court has rejected arguments that the obstruction of justice guideline is an unconstitutional infringement on a defendant’s constitutional right to testify in his own defense. But the Court has required specific findings of all the elements of perjury, including a willful intent to provide false testimony, and recognized that testimony may […]

BLOG BULLETS: A recent Fifth Circuit case held that a Georgia possession of marijuana with intent to distribute conviction didn’t qualify as a “drug trafficking offense” for purposes of the illegal reentry guideline enhancement because it included possession with intent to distribute small amounts of marijuana for no remuneration. The case is based on the […]

BLOG BULLETS: The Sentencing Commission has published new proposed guidelines amendments which will apply to any defendant sentenced after November 1 if the amendments are adopted. One amendment adjusts the loss tables to reflect inflation, which has the effect of increasing the loss ranges by 25 to 40 percent. Other potentially favorable amendments modify the […]

BLOG BULLETS: There’s an argument that Riley applies to probation searches, so the usual looser standards for probation searches don’t extend to the search of a cell phone. Even the Cotterman case as it presently stands can be used to support this argument. Riley may not just bar suspicionless probation searches of cell phones; it […]

BLOG BULLETS: A recent NACDL report provides a good case law resource and some good arguments for various limitations on computer searches. Remember to think about arguing for both the enforcement of any search protocols or other limitations included in the warrant and the use of reasonable search protocols in execution of the warrant even […]

BLOG BULLETS: The Ninth Circuit recently applied Riley v. California’s limits on cell phone searches in United States v. Camou – to (1) reject a claim that the possibility of losing data on a cell phone creates exigent circumstances justifying a warrantless search and (2) hold that cell phones are not “containers” for purposes of […]

BLOG BULLETS: A wiretap application may be made only by certain high prosecutorial officials, not a mere law enforcement officer or even an ordinary line prosecutor. Two Ninth Circuit opinions in the last two years have established that the only state officials who can apply for a wiretap are the state attorney general, an actual […]

BLOG BULLETS: Recall the prior post a few months ago suggesting a possible challenge to jail officials’ claim to a right to read e-mails sent between clients and attorneys over the Corrlinks or Trulincs systems. A recent Ninth Circuit case has some good language acknowledging the importance of a jail or prison inmate’s ability to […]

BLOG BULLETS: Language in United States v. Heredia suggesting some breaches may be cured should be read narrowly; it might apply to a prosecutor’s failure to do something the prosecutor is supposed to do, but can’t apply to the prosecutor having done something the prosecutor isn’t supposed to do. Language suggesting a “mere slip of […]

BLOG BULLETS: A recent Ninth Circuit opinion reaffirms prior cases recognizing that the government can breach plea agreements implicitly as well as explicitly. There’s a breach whenever the government makes a required recommendation but accompanies it with inflammatory arguments that effectively undercut the recommendation. So long as you object to the breach, there’s an automatic […]