Case Summaries

Criminal Law & Procedure

[09/28]US v. Metcalfe
District court's post-judgment order denying defendant's motion for a sentence reduction is affirmed as the appeal lacked merit and 18 U.S.C. section 3582(c)(2) is not a vehicle for convicts to raise unrelated sentencing challenges that they had previously overlooked or omitted.

[09/25]US v. Troy
District court's conviction of defendant for assaulting a federal officer in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 111(a) is affirmed as a rational factfinder could have concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer was acting within the scope of her official duties for the purposes of the statute.

[09/25]US v. Cabrera-Rivera
District court's conviction of defendant for crimes related to the robbery of an armored truck in Puerto Rico is vacated and remanded where, although the government established the required nexus to interstate commerce under the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. section 1951(a), defendant's Confrontation Clause rights were violated by the admission of hearsay evidence.

[09/24]In re M.M.
Juvenile court's conviction of a minor for resisting a public officer under Penal Code section 148(a)(1) arising from a vandalism charge is reversed where, as a matter of law, a campus security officer is not a public officer for purposes of section 148.

[09/24]People v. Benhoor
Trial court's denial of defendant's motion to dismiss the citation for driving at an unsafe speed and conviction of the infraction is affirmed where, although the trial court violated Rule 4.210(b)(7) by failing to bring defendant to trial within 45 days of receipt of his request for a new trial, the violation does not require dismissal of the citation.

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