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Criminal Law & Procedure

[09/08] Anjulo-Lopez v. US
An order dismissing as untimely petitioner's 28 U.S.C. section 2255 motion to vacate, set aside or correct his sentence without holding an evidentiary hearing is affirmed where a duly diligent person in petitioner's circumstances would have discovered counsel's failure to notice an appeal well over a year before he filed his motion, and thus, there was no abuse of discretion in the dismissal of the petition as time-barred without an evidentiary hearing.

[09/08] Olsen v. Mukasey
Dismissal of a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief from enforcement of the federal and Iowa Controlled Substances Acts (CSA) for plaintiff's sacramental use of marijuana is affirmed where: 1) Iowa CSA is state law, not subject to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA); 2) plaintiff's federal RFRA claim was barred by collateral estoppel; 3) plaintiff did not allege any facts indicating that he was an institutionalized person for purposes of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act; and 4) there was no error in dismissing free exercise and equal protection claims.

[09/08] US v. Hines
A deputy sheriff's conviction for accepting bribes, aiding another deputy to do the same, and conspiracy is affirmed over claims that: 1) a violation of 18 U.S.C. section 666 requires a nexus between the federal funds and the offense charged; 2) the transactions charged within each count did not reach the minimum amount required under the statute; and 3) his conspiracy conviction violated Wharton's Rule.

[09/08] US v. Boesen
In a prosecution for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud, convictions, sentence enhancements, and an order of restitution are affirmed in part over claims that: 1) his Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause rights were violated; 2) prosecutorial misconduct deprived him of a fair trial; 3) prejudicial statements by the district court deprived him of a fair trial; 4) the district court erred by failing to grant his motion for a judgment of acquittal on fifty-one counts; 5) the court erred in determining the loss amount; and 6) the court erred by applying a two-level sentence enhancement under U.S.S.G. section 3C1.1. However, the matter is reversed in part and remanded for further proceedings pursuant to the government's claim that a judgment of acquittal on a conspiracy count was improperly granted.

[09/05] US v. Bendtzen
In a case challenging an enhanced sentence under the U.S. Sentencing Guideline Manual, sentence is affirmed where use of a fake bomb during a bank robbery constitutes "a dangerous weapon. . .otherwise used" and thus a four level sentence increase under U.S.S.G. section 2B3.1(b)(2)(D) and consideration of defendant's past crimes was not unreasonable in calculating a category VI criminal history.

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