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Reversible Errors 2003 REVERSIBLE ERRORS 2003 The following is a project of the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Districts of Northern New York & Vermont. The cases listed are those in which a criminal defendant received relief from an United States Court of Appeals or the United States Supreme Court. The precedents were reviewed shortly before this publication was released to assure they had not be overruled. The purpose of this project is to try to give CJA Panel Attorneys a shortcut to case law that favor their clients. The editor does not promise that cases are precedent in all jurisdictions. If a case is preceded by an asterisk (*), that means the case may have been distinguished by another panel of that circuit or by another circuit. It should be researched to see if it is authority in your jurisdiction. These materials may be duplicated for any lawyer providing legal services to indigent defendants. The editor encourages duplication. It saves us time and money. These materials may be reprinted by other free publications or free on-line providers serving the criminal defense bar. Attribution to this office is requested. THE DEFENDER is a newsletter published by this same office. In addition, to updating REVERSIBLE ERRORS, the newsletter contains articles that are intended to be helpful to CJA Panel Lawyers. Although it is primarily focused at lawyers in Northern New York and Vermont, most features have relevance to federal criminal practice generally. Lawyers wishing to receive future publications should forward an e-mail address, name and phone number to the location below. The publications will be distributed by e-mail in Acrobat 5.0. Those who need an Acrobat reader can download one free at www.adobe.com . Otherwise, request Word or WordPerfect versions by replying to [email protected]. Alexander Bunin, Editor, Federal Public Defender, 39 North Pearl Street, 5th Floor, Albany, NY 12207, [email protected] . TABLE OF CONTENTS Release ...........................................................................1 Counsel ...........................................................................1 Discovery .........................................................................2 Arrests ............................................................................3 Search of Persons ................................................................. 3 Search of Private Vehicles .............................................................3 Search of Commercial Vehicles ......................................................... 4 Search of Packages ................................................................. 5 Search of Private Property ............................................................ 5 Warrants ......................................................................... 6 Knock and Announce ................................................................6 Statements .........................................................................6 Recusal ...........................................................................7 Indictments ........................................................................7 Limitation of Actions .................................................................8 Venue ............................................................................8 Pretrial Procedure ...................................................................8 Severance .........................................................................8 Conflicts ..........................................................................8 Competency / Sanity .................................................................9 Privilege ...........................................................................9 Jeopardy / Estoppel ..................................................................9 Plea Agreements ...................................................................10 Guilty Pleas .......................................................................11 Timely Prosecution ..................................................................12 Jury Selection ......................................................................13 Closure ..........................................................................13 Impeachment ......................................................................13 Jury Trial .........................................................................14 Confrontation ......................................................................14 Co-Defendant’s Statements ...........................................................14 Misconduct .......................................................................16 Extraneous Evidence ................................................................16 Identification ......................................................................17 Expert Testimony ...................................................................18 Entrapment ...................................................................... 18 Defenses .........................................................................19 Jury Instructions ....................................................................19 Deliberations ......................................................................19 Variance ..........................................................................20 Speech / Assembly ..................................................................20 Interstate Commerce ................................................................20 Conspiracy .......................................................................21 Firearms .........................................................................22 Extortion .........................................................................23 Drugs ............................................................................23 CCE / RICO ......................................................................25 Fraud / Theft ......................................................................25 Money Laundering ..................................................................27 Aiding and Abetting .................................................................27 Perjury ...........................................................................28 False Statements ...................................................................28 Contempt .........................................................................28 Immigration .......................................................................29 Pornography ..................................................................... 29 Violent Crimes .................................................................... 29 Assimilative Crimes .................................................................30 Miscellaneous Crimes ................................................................30 Juveniles .........................................................................31 Sentencing - General ................................................................31 Grouping .........................................................................32 Consecutive/Concurrent ..............................................................33 Retroactivity .......................................................................33 Sentencing - Marijuana ...............................................................33 Sentencing - Meth. ..................................................................34 Sentencing - Heroin .................................................................34 Sentencing - Cocaine ................................................................34 Sentencing - Crack .................................................................35 Sentencing - Firearms ................................................................35 Sentencing - Money Laundering ........................................................35 Sentencing - Pornography ............................................................35 Sentencing - Fraud / Theft ............................................................36 Enhancements - General ..............................................................37 Enhancements - Drug Crimes ..........................................................37 Enhancements - Violence .............................................................39 Enhancements - Immigration ...........................................................40 Career Enhancements ................................................................40 Cross References ...................................................................41 Abuse of Trust .................................................................... 42 Obstruction of Justice ................................................................42 Vulnerable Victim ...................................................................43 Aggravating Role ...................................................................43 Mitigating Role .....................................................................44 Acceptance of Responsibility ..........................................................44 Safety Valve .......................................................................45 Criminal History ....................................................................45 Upward Departures .................................................................46 Downward Departures ...............................................................47
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