Criminal Law News

Case Summaries

Criminal Law & Procedure

[03/17] Miller v. Mitchell
In plaintiffs' suit to enjoin the district attorney of Wyoming County in Pennsylvania from bringing criminal charges in retaliation for their refusal to attend an education program in lieu of facing child pornography charges for "sexting," district court's grant of preliminary injunctive relief is affirmed as plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their constitutional retaliation claims, and are entitled to preliminary injunctive relief.

[03/17] US v. Ramunno
In a mail and wire fraud prosecution involving a Ponzi scheme, denial of a victim's petition to the district court to amend its preliminary order of forfeiture contending that the victim was entitled to a constructive trust in the funds he invested is affirmed where, if the movant were granted a constructive trust and recovered his entire loss, the other victims would recover less than their pro-rata share of the seized assets.

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Habeas Corpus

[03/17] Montes v. Trombley
District court's denial of defendant's petition for habeas relief, claiming that his sentence of 30 t0 60 years for kidnapping exceeded the statutory maximum in violation of the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments, is affirmed as Michigan's kidnapping statute provides a statutory range of permissible punishments for defendant which defines the statutory maximum as life imprisonment. Furthermore, because the process of judicial factfinding under the Michigan sentencing guidelines relates only to minimum sentence applicable to the defendant as part of an indeterminate sentencing scheme, it does not violate his due process or his rights to a jury trial.

[03/16] Smith v. McKee
In a petition for habeas relief from first-degree murder and attempted robbery convictions, district court's denial of relief is affirmed where: 1) defendant's ineffective assistance of trial counsel and appellate counsel claims were procedurally defaulted as he failed to show adequate cause and prejudice; 2) defendant's Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause violation claim has been procedurally defaulted as defendant has not shown cause and prejudice to warrant setting aside the forfeiture; and 3) defendant's claim that he has put forth new evidence of his actual innocence and that to deny his petition would result in miscarriage of justice is rejected as affidavits of two witnesses do not warrant the application of the miscarriage of justice exception.

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