News
Crime
Case Summaries
Criminal Law & Procedure
[02/08] US v. Kimsey
On appeal of a nonlawyer's conviction for criminal contempt of court under 18 USC section 402 stemming from his "ghostwriting" of eight pleadings for a pro se litigant in a civil lawsuit, the conviction is reversed, where: 1) the defendant was not given the jury trial to which he was entitled under 18 USC sections 402 and 3691; and 2) local court rules, including the two district court rules on which the district court premised the defendant's conviction, do not constitute "rules" within the meaning of section 402, and thus violation of them cannot serve as a predicate for conviction under that statute.
[02/07] Farmer v. McDaniel
On petition for a writ of habeas corpus to challenge a death sentence that Nevada sought to reimpose on the basis of statutory aggravating circumstances different from those used in imposing an earlier invalid death sentence, the district court's denial of the petition is affirmed, as the state’s renewed attempt to seek a death sentence on grounds present in the defendant's first sentencing is not barred by the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
[02/07] People v. Latham
In a prosecution of parents for second-degree murder of their daughter by failing to obtain medical treatment for her in the days preceding her death, the judgment of conviction is affirmed, where there was sufficient evidence in the record to support the jury's implied findings that the parents were aware that their failure to obtain medical treatment for their daughter endangered her life, and that they failed to obtain such medical treatment in conscious disregard of that risk.
[02/07] People v. Louie
In a sentencing appeal brought by defendants who were convicted of crimes including street terrorism, the trial court is directed to modify the judgment, where: 1) no unanimity instruction was necessary on a count of dissuading a witness by force or threat; 2) there was sufficient evidence of dissuading a witness; 3) there was no reasonable likelihood the jury misconstrued or misapplied a jury instruction in a way that denied fundamental fairness; 4) the trial court erred when it imposed both a life sentence on the dissuading count and a stayed five year enhancement on the same count; 5) punishment for street terrorism counts was duplicative and should have been stayed; 6) the court properly sentenced the defendants for the crimes of arson and dissuading a witness; and 7) convictions for dissuading a witness and making a criminal threat arose from a single criminal act for which a defendant can be punished only once.
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. Users may not download or reproduce a substantial portion of the AP material found on this web site. AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.
