Criminal Practice

  • April 06, 2021

    3rd Circ. Orders Redo Of Ex-Candidate's Bribery Sentence

    The Third Circuit on Tuesday ordered a new sentence for a former political candidate after concluding in a precedential opinion that a New Jersey federal court committed various errors in giving him a three-month prison term over a voter bribery scheme.

  • January 27, 2021

    3rd Circ. Upholds Bulk Of Conviction For Pa. Rep.'s Aide

    The Third Circuit mostly upheld the conviction of a suspended attorney and onetime political consultant to former U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, D-Pa. on Tuesday, ruling in a precedential decision that a heightened standard of proving willfulness didn't apply to all counts in the government's case alleging he violated federal campaign finance law.

  • December 16, 2020

    Ex-PSU Boss Seeks 3rd Circ. Redo Over Conviction Revival

    Ex-Pennsylvania State University President Graham Spanier pressed for an en banc rehearing before the Third Circuit on Tuesday following a decision earlier this month that his conviction on a child endangerment charge stemming from the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal hadn't been based on unconstitutional retroactive application of state criminal law.

  • October 16, 2020

    3rd Circ. Nixes Higher Bar To End Criminal Supervision

    The Third Circuit ruled Friday in a precedential opinion that district courts don't need to find new, unforeseen, extraordinary or exceptional circumstances in granting early termination of supervised release in criminal cases, saying a New Jersey federal judge was wrong to apply that higher standard in denying such a request.

  • October 08, 2020

    3rd Circ. Orders Redo In Ex-Vanguard Worker's Prison Term

    The Third Circuit on Thursday vacated the four-year prison term handed to an ex-Vanguard Group employee convicted of stealing $2.1 million from dormant accounts, ruling in a precedential decision that the lower court misapplied a sentencing enhancement for abusing a position of trust.

  • September 29, 2020

    Ex-Informant Again Beats SEC Suit Over Stock Schemes

    A former government informant on Tuesday again defeated a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suit over his alleged role in penny stock manipulation schemes, with a New Jersey federal judge finding that the agency did not show injunctions were needed to prevent him from breaking securities laws in the future.

  • September 08, 2020

    Liberian Commander Can't Slip Sentence Over Gov't Error

    The Third Circuit on Tuesday upheld the 30-year sentence of a rebel commander in Liberia's civil war during the 1990s for lying during a 2011 immigration interview for permanent residency, saying that the government's error in the charges against him is minor.

  • August 20, 2020

    Ex-NJ Judge Can Pursue Civil Rights Claims Over Arrest

    A New Jersey federal judge has reversed course after previously finding an ex-state judge's civil rights claims against a town were filed too late and will now allow her to pursue them over her arrest for allegedly hindering the apprehension of her then-fugitive boyfriend.

  • July 24, 2020

    3rd Circ. Denies Convicted Ex-Mayor Release Over Pandemic

    A Pennsylvania federal court was correct in declining to temporarily release Allentown's former mayor from prison amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Third Circuit has ruled, holding in a precedential decision that the court would have to substantially reduce his sentence in order to release him.

  • July 06, 2020

    Feds Must Return Penalty Fees To Bridgegate Mastermind

    A New Jersey federal judge on Monday ordered the government to return nearly $25,000 in penalties to the admitted mastermind behind the notorious Bridgegate scheme after the jurist threw out his conviction in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling nixing the convictions of his alleged co-conspirators.

  • June 15, 2020

    Thomas Dissents As High Court Punts On Qualified Immunity

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday again voiced his support for the high court to reexamine the qualified immunity doctrine, which has become a focal point amid protests against police brutality across the country, as the court refused to hear several cases over the issue.

  • June 12, 2020

    'Bridgegate' Mastermind Cleared After High Court Ruling

    A New Jersey federal judge on Friday wiped away the conviction of the admitted mastermind behind the infamous "Bridgegate" scheme to realign lanes to the George Washington Bridge as an act of political revenge after the U.S. Supreme Court last month erased the convictions of his alleged conspirators.

  • June 04, 2020

    3rd Circ. Cuts Strings From Ex-Body Armor GC's Fees Bid

    Settlement objectors in class and derivative actions may receive attorney fees for improving deals in ways beyond the dollars and cents, the Third Circuit said Thursday in a precedential ruling that the former general counsel of a body armor business deserves fees with no strings attached for such an objection.

  • May 19, 2020

    3rd Circ. Nixes Immigration Atty Fee Won In 'Bad Faith' Case

    The Third Circuit upended a $73,757 fee award for a defense attorney representing an El Salvadoran national indicted for illegally reentering the United States, ruling in a precedential decision Tuesday that he didn't meet the demanding standard for proving prosecutorial misconduct.

  • May 11, 2020

    Ex-Hotel Exec Can't Get Home Confinement During Pandemic

    A New Jersey federal judge said Monday that an ex-hospitality executive's hypertension didn't justify releasing him to home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic as he serves time for stealing nearly $14 million from his previous employer and evading taxes on almost $28 million in income.

  • May 07, 2020

    US Supreme Court Throws Out Bridgegate Convictions

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously tossed the convictions of two former New Jersey public officials in the infamous "Bridgegate" scandal to realign lanes to the George Washington Bridge as a form of political revenge, saying such alleged conduct may be an abuse of power but it's not a federal crime.

  • May 06, 2020

    3rd Circ. Says Cops Can Give Personal 'Overview' At Trial

    The Third Circuit said law enforcement witnesses may address investigatory matters within their "personal knowledge" to kick off criminal trials, setting ground rules for so-called "overview" testimony in the appellate court's first precedential opinion on the subject as it upheld the convictions of three players in a timeshare consulting scheme.

  • April 16, 2020

    Inmates Seeking COVID-19 Release Face Uneven Legal Terrain

    With COVID-19 spreading through the nation's federal prisons and jails, inmates petitioning courts for early release or bail in response to the pandemic are running into an assortment of responses from the bench, leaving advocates in an uncertain legal landscape.

  • April 03, 2020

    SEC Blasts Ex-Informant's 'Absurd' Bid To Ax Stock Suit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission took aim Friday at an alleged penny stock fraudster's bid to escape its proposed injunctions because his purported misconduct was too long ago, saying his argument would lead to an "absurd implication" related to a Third Circuit ruling reviving the agency's suit.

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