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		<title>District Court’s Refusal to Consider 5k Letter or 3553 Factors at Sentencing Renders Appellate Waiver Unenforceable and Results in Remand to a New Judge</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In United States v. Woltman, 10-413-cr (2d Cir. July 6, 2010), the Second Circuit found an appellate waiver contained in a plea agreement unenforceable, vacated the sentence, and remanded the case to a new judge.
Woltman pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement which included a provision whereby he waived his right to appeal any sentence [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mintzlaw.com/2010/07/district-court%e2%80%99s-refusal-to-consider-5k-letter-or-3553-factors-at-sentencing-renders-appellate-waiver-unenforceable-and-results-in-remand-to-a-new-judge/</link>
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		<title>§ 2254 Petition Addressing Resentencing Is Not Second or Successive, Even If Prior Petition Was Filed</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In Magwood v. Patterson, the United States Supreme Court held that a when a defendant files a § 2254 Petition which is granted, a subsequent § 2254 Petition challenging the new sentence is not &#8220;second or successive,&#8221; and therefore not subject to the constraints of § 2244(b) &#8212; which requires, among other things, leave from [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mintzlaw.com/2010/06/%c2%a7-2254-petition-addressing-resentencing-is-not-second-or-successive-even-if-prior-petition-was-filed/</link>
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		<title>Conspiracy Conviction Vacated Where Evidence Did Not Show Defendant Knew the Precise Nature of Contraband He Received</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In United States v. Torres, 09-17710-cr (2d Cir. May 5, 2010), the defendant had been convicted after trial of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. sec. 846.
In reversing that conviction, the Court found that the evidence was sufficient to permit the jury to find beyond a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mintzlaw.com/2010/05/conspiracy-conviction-vacated-where-evidence-did-not-show-defendant-knew-the-precise-nature-of-contraband-he-received/</link>
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		<title>New Trial Ordered Where District Court Forced Defendant to Represent Himself</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In United States v. Venable, 2010 WL 1474348 (4th Cir. April 14, 2010), the Fourth Circuit ordered a new trial because the district court forced the defendant to proceed pro se, even though the defendant did not waive his right to counsel – or wish to do so.
After being indicted, Venable had counsel appointed under [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mintzlaw.com/2010/04/new-trial-ordered-where-district-court-forced-defendant-to-represent-himself/</link>
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		<title>Appellate Counsel’s Failure to Raise a Meritorious Claim Leads to Habeas Relief</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In Ramchair v. Conway, 08-2004-pr (2d Cir. April 2, 2010), the Second Circuit found that appellate counsel&#8217;s failure to raise a claim that the trial court erred in denying a motion for a mistrial rose to the level of constitutional ineffectiveness, and that the New York Court of Appeals&#8217; decision to the contrary was an [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mintzlaw.com/2010/04/appellate-counsel%e2%80%99s-failure-to-raise-a-meritorious-claim-leads-to-habeas-relief/</link>
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		<title>New York Court of Appeals Invalidates Warrant Which Authorized Search of All Persons Present at the Time of its Execution</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In People v. Mothersell, the Court of Appeals addressed the legality of a warrant which authorized the search of all persons present at the time of its execution.  In reversing the lower courts and ordering the indictment dismissed, the Court reiterated that an all-persons-present warrant should only issue after a showing of significant justification.
While The [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mintzlaw.com/2010/04/new-york-court-of-appeals-invalidates-warrant-which-authorized-search-of-all-persons-present-at-the-time-of-its-execution/</link>
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		<title>Second Circuit Finds NY Persistent Felon Sentencing Scheme Unconstitutional</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In a long-awaited decision today (in a case in which I wrote the Amicus brief on behalf of the New York State and National Associations of Criminal Defense Lawyers), the Second Circuit found that New York State&#8217;s Persistent Felony Offender Statute (PFO)  is unconstitutional and an unreasonable application of clearly established law.  That decision involves [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mintzlaw.com/2010/03/second-circuit-finds-nys-persistent-felony-sentencing-scheme-unconstitutional/</link>
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		<title>Revoking Supervised Release After It&#8217;s Over</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In United States v. Janiver, 08-5978-cr (2d Cir. March 25, 2010), the Court reversed a revocation of supervised release, holding that the district court lacked jurisdiction because no warrant or summons was issued before the end of the supervised release term.
18 U.S.C. § 3583(i) provides that “The power of the court to revoke a term [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mintzlaw.com/2010/03/revoking-supervised-release-after-its-over/</link>
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		<title>Prosecutorial Misconduct With No Consequences</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In United States v. Spivak, 08-6091-cr (2d Cir. March 18, 2010), the defendant was convicted of two counts of distribution and five counts of possession of child pornography.  On appeal, Spivak argued that the government allowed one of its witnesses to testify falsely and made improper comments during summation.
With respect to the witnesses testimony, the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mintzlaw.com/2010/03/prosecutorial-misconduct-with-no-consequences/</link>
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		<title>Second Circuit Rejects Government&#8217;s Attempt to Avoid Briefing</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In United States v. Davis, 2010 WL 890709 (2d Cir. March 15, 2010), the Second Circuit did not take kindly to the government&#8217;s attempt to avoid briefing an appeal by claiming that the appellant &#8220;failed to raise any non-frivolous issues  on appeal.&#8221;  The case is addressed by my friend JaneAnne Murray in her New [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mintzlaw.com/2010/03/second-circuit-rejects-governments-attmept-to-avoid-briefing/</link>
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