Thursday, February 10, 2011

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Omar is coming

Does it count as a win in the 11th Circuit if you get a reversal because the district judge didn't staple his findings on the defendant's objections to the PSI?

What else is going on?

Professor Ogeltree has come up with the coolest law school class ever: “Race and Justice — The Wire.” The Wire has to be a top 5 show of all time, no?

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Not a good way to start an opinion if you are a criminal defendant

This appeal involves the reasonableness of the sentence for the robber of a post office who thrust his revolver close to the face of a postal clerk, demanded money, and shouted a racial slur and obscenities and had a history of violent criminal behavior. Harold Leroy Housley Jr. challenges his sentence of 120 months of imprisonment, which is 42 months above the guidelines range of 63 to 78 months, for robbery of money belonging to the United States. 18 U.S.C. § 2114(a).

Odds on whether the next sentence in the opinion is "We affirm" or "We reverse"?

Friday, February 04, 2011

“Notice of Appeal Rule 4(a) of Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Request Permission to Appeal My 17 Years of Wrongful Conviction"

It's almost impossible for a criminal defendant to win in the 11th Circuit. But the pro se prisoner who filed the above pleading in the court of appeals did just that. From the opinion's intro:

Luis Camejo-Rodriguez seeks relief from his 1995 guilty plea to various cocaine and firearm offenses. In the instant appeal, he argues that the document he filed on September 11, 2009, entitled “Notice of Appeal Rule 4(a) of Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Request Permission to Appeal My 17 Years of Wrongful Conviction,” is an application to this Court for an order authorizing him to file a second or successive habeas petition. We conclude that Camejo-Rodriguez does not need such an order because the district court failed to properly notify him of the consequences of re-characterizing an earlier motion as his first § 2255 habeas petition, as required by Castro v. United States, 540 U.S. 375, 383, 124 S. Ct. 786,
792 (2003). Therefore, Camejo-Rodriguez is entitled to file a habeas petition that is not subject to the restrictions placed on second or successive petitions.


UPDATE--Congrats to AFPD Janice Bergman who was appointed by the 11th to represent Mr. Camejo-Rodriguez.