Criminal Appeals
Hobbs Act Robbery is Never a `Crime of Violence` for Federal Sentencing Enhancement Purposes
Finding that Hobbs Act robbery is never a “crime of violence” under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (USSG), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held on August 16, 2021, that an enhanced sentence based on a prior Hobbs Act robbery conviction wasn`t harmless and remanded for resentencing. Steven Prigan was convicted of being…
Wisconsin Court Delays Criminal Appeal to Stop Federal Lawsuit Over Police Misconduct
A Wisconsin court has delayed a defendant`s criminal appeal for over four years in a seeming attempt to prevent his federal lawsuit to move forward against the cops for use of excessive force during the search of his house, and for falsifying court documents relating to that search. The federal judge said his lawsuit had…
Prosecutor`s Exhortation for Jury to Send a Message with Guilty Verdict Rendered Sexual Assault Conviction Unconstitutional
Prosecutor`s Exhortation to `Send a Message` with Guilty Verdict Rendered Sexual Assault Conviction Unconstitutional A prosecutor in West Virginia who urged the jury to “send a message to the community” with a guilty verdict in a sexual assault case crossed the line and rendered the conviction unconstitutional, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth…
SENTENCING DECISION CONTINUES MISTAKEN BELIEF THAT LONG SENTENCES DETER CRIME
Experts agree it’s the fear of being caught that deters crime, and not the severity and length of the punishment. Yet, judges continue to defy logic by imposing sentences on the faulty premise that this is what works to deter crime. Take the case of United States v. Kimble, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 237529 (S.D….
How Geofence Warrants Kill Free Speech
Hundreds of protestors marched in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after the police shooting of Jacob Blake in August 2020. Little did these protestors know that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) issued at least a dozen geofence warrants to gather data from their electronic devices they carried that day, even if they didn`t break the…