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May 11-15, 2009.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, May 11, 2009 Pina v. Maloney , No. 07-1267
Denial of petition for habeas relief is affirmed where although plaintiff did not procedurally default his ineffective assistance of counsel claim, the claim still fails on the merits as counsel’s decision to pursue a defense of misidentification rather than an alibi defense was a reasonable, tactical decision. ..

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, May 12, 2009 US v. Del Valle , No. 08-1234
District court’s denial of defendant’s motion for a new trial is affirmed where: 1) the defendant did not meet his burden of proving that the newly discovered evidence met the requirements for warranting a new trial; and 2) the court properly rejected defendant’s claim that the government violated Brady by failing to disclose evidence, as defendant cannot show a reasonable probability that this evidence would have changed the outcome of the trial.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, May 15, 2009 US v. Melendez-Rivas, No. 07-1962 Conviction for conspiracy and aiding and abetting a motor vehicle hijacking with intent to cause death is vacated and remanded where: 1) the district court properly denied defendant’s motion for aquittal as the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction; and 2) the district court’s intervention in questioning a defense witness went beyond the appropriate limits and elicited inadmissible, prejudicial testimony that interfered with defendant’s fair trial rights
U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, May 13, 2009 Brisco v. Ercole , No. 05-4339 Grant of petition for habeas relief is reversed where: 1) plaintiff failed to establish that the state court’s decision was an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law, as the challenged showup procedure was not unnecessarily suggestive; and 2) the showup identification was independently reliable. .

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, May 14, 2009 US v. Tureseo, No. 07-2933 Conviction and sentence for reentering the U.S. after deportation, making a false claim of U.S. citizenship, and aggravated identity theft is affirmed in part and vacated in part where: 1) the district court erred when it instructed the jury in defendant’s absence, but the error did not cause prejudice and was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt; but 2) the court made a constitutional error that was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt when it omitted an essential element of the offense in its jury instruction on the aggravated identity theft charge Continue reading

To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.

May 14, 2009.

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE US v. Ness, No. 05-440 Conviction for conspiring to commit three money laundering offenses is reversed where: 1) a reasonable jury could not find beyond a reasonable doubt that the purpose of defendant’s transportation of narcotics proceeds was to conceal the nature, location, or source of the narcotics proceeds; and 2) the government failed to prove that defendant violated 18 U.S.C. sec. 1957(a), as it did not present sufficient evidence that a financial institution was involved. .

Update from the Lexis Alert Service,

May 18, 2009.

1. People v. Smith, 558, 2680/07, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 3839; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3674, May 14, 2009, Decided, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.

We are delighted to see the updated List of Law Library Blogs. It was originally compled by Bonnie Shucha, University of Wisconsin Law School, and has been updated by Michael Robak, University of Illinios College of Law. When viewing this list it is important to note that it contains only law library blogs; all others have been removed. Many thanks to Bonnie for her pioneering efforts in creating the original list and to Michael for maintaining it at a high standard.

Meghan McCain, John McCain’s daughter, writing in the Daily Beast discusses her love of guns. Here are some excerpts from her posting.

According to Meghan: “…I find it empowering, especially as a woman, to fire off a few rounds….Lets get something straight: Individual responsibility and personal liberty are inherent Republican philosophies. And nothing could be more essential in protecting those ideals than the Bill of Rights. Its no accident the second of the first 10 amendments protects the right to bear armsand has done so for more than 200 years. Obviously, I realize the Second Amendment has been heavily scrutinized. Its simplicity is sometimes mistaken for ambiguity. But it stands as a fundamental right, ensures the conditions for a ‘free state,’ and rewards responsible, trained citizens with the freedom to protect themselves. Thats what the NRA is truly about: providing Americans who choose to take advantage of their Second Amendment rights the appreciation for the serious responsibilities and safety precautions necessary to ensure gun owners safety and the safety of others.”

Although some of us don’t especially love guns or agree with her interpretation of the Second Amendment, Meghan does have a right to express her opinion. See her entire posting at http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-05-14/trigger-happy/ and don’t forget to read the comments.

The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Legal Information Services to the Public SIS has updated its publication, “How to Research a Legal Problem: A Guide for Non-Lawyers.” The text of the revised version, by LISP members Lee Warthen and Angus Nesbit, can be viewed here:

http://www.aallnet.org/sis/lisp/research.htm

In the past this Guide has been published by AALL as a pamphlet and sold through AALL’s publications program for a modest fee. AALL wishes to evaluate whether publishing and selling the Guide as a print pamphlet, while also providing free digital access, remains viable, or whether a digital-only publication is more suitable. We’ve created a quick five-question survey to find out how your library might use the Guide and how you would prefer to receive it.

Top Ten Stories of the Week ending May 8, 2009:

Law Practice Management Downturn’s Losers: BigLaw, ‘Entitled’ Associates, Top Schools May 7, 2009, 10:12 am CDT

Law Schools Blog Questions ‘Rankings Malpractice’ by Law Schools

A Report of the New York State Inspector General, Joseph Fisch, released on May 13, 2009 concluded that Herbert Titelbaum Executive Director of the New York State Council on Public Integrity and a close friend exchanged at least 165 phone calls and held regular dinners over a five month period in 2007, during which Mr. Titelbaum disclosed the progress and details of the inquiry conducted by the panel, the Commission on Public Integrity, into the handling by former governor Spitzer’s administration of the travel records of longtime Senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno. Since the Report was released there have been calls for the resignation of Mr. Titelbaum

Below are links to two news articles which discuss the Report and its implications, followed by links to the Executive Summary and Findings of the Report, ending with a link to the complete Report itself:

New York Times Article May 13, 2009 “Paterson Asks Ethics Panel to Quit by Danny Hakim.

In its preliminary statistics released on May 11, 2009 the FBI reports that 41 of our nation’s law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty in 2008. All but five were killed with firearms. The number of officers feloniously killed was 17 fewer than in 2007. A more detailed explanation of these numbers is provided in the Press Release announcing the release of these statistics:

FBI Press Release May 11, 2007

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