In United States v. Oneal, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit examined whether a defendant who pled guilty to conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery was property sentenced under the federal guidelines. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1951, the Hobbs Act prohibits obstructing commerce by means of robbery…
In this case the Court of Appeals considered whether the lower court rightly relied on the decision in People v Williams, 4 NY3d 535 [2005] as the basis for granting the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence recovered in the vehicle search. In People v. Williams, two officers of the Buffalo…
In this case the Appellate Division considered whether it the Supreme Court appropriately granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss drug and traffic charges based on an arrest by Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority officers. Two officers of the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority were on patrol in one of that city’s housing…
When it comes to sentencing in a criminal case, a court is not allowed to consider a proceeding in which the defendant was ultimately acquitted or that was otherwise resolved in favor of the defendant. In this case the Court of Appeals considered whether the Appellate Division properly concluded that…
It may seem odd that a defendant would challenge a sentence in a criminal case on the ground that it was too lenient. However, that is exactly what happened in People v Francis. What makes this case even more odd is that the defendant moved to set aside a sentence…
In this case the Court of Appeals considered whether the defendant in a murder case was entitled to a new trial due to the prosecution failing to disclose potentially exculpatory evidence. The events that eventually lead to the defendant being arrested began in March 2008. The victim was shot and…
In this case, the Court of Appeals overturned the decisions of the Appellate Division and trial court and determined that in an attempted murder case the defendant was entitled to challenge the credibility of the law enforcement witnesses. The incident that resulted in the arrest of the defendant started in…
In People v. Tucker, the Appellate Division considered whether there had been sufficient evidence to prove that the defendant had assaulted a police officer in order to prevent him from performing his lawful duty. In the early morning hours, three police officers responded to a 911 call, but the caller…
In a criminal trial, a harmless error occurs when the trial court judge makes a mistake, but the mistake was not such that it impacted the outcome of the case. When there is a finding of harmless error, the appeals court will not reverse the decision based on that mistake. …
In a drug possession case where the court had to decide whether the defendant’s right to a speedy trial had been violated, the court also examined the distinction between a criminal complaint and an information. On October 23, 2012, the defendant was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance…