The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico improperly applied the four-level sentencing enhancement for “otherwise using” a dangerous weapon under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (“Guidelines”) § 2B3.1(a) to the defendant’s sentence for carjacking because the District Court ...

by Sagi Schwartzberg

The Supreme Court of Arkansas, in two companion cases, held that there was no designation in Appellant’s sentencing order to § 16-93-609 of the Arkansas Code Annotated (“ACA”), and thus, he was entitled to have his parole eligibility recalculated under Act 683.

Background

Perry Wright and Torry Rodgers ...

by Sagi Schwartzberg

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Eugene Allen Doerr satisfied the criteria set forth in Rhines v. Weber, 544 U.S. 269 (2005), for granting a stay and abeyance of his federal habeas petition to allow exhaustion of his claims in state ...

by Sagi Schwartzberg

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that an attorney cannot be compelled to provide a “privilege log” to the Government relating to documents protected under the Fifth Amendment’s act-of-production privilege.

Background

During an investigation of an alleged tax evasion scheme, a grand jury ...

by Sagi Schwartzberg

The Supreme Court of Nebraska interpreted the definition of “working days” in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-4001.01(6) of the Nebraska Sex Offender Registration Act (“SORA”) to refer to Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, excluding legal holidays. The Court held that the State failed to provide sufficient evidence ...

by Sagi Schwartzberg

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that, to support a conviction for failure to register as a sex offender, the Commonwealth is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person subject to Pennsylvania’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”) knew of their obligation to ...