BLOG BULLETS:   A recent Supreme Court case holds that the comparison of state and federal offenses required by the categorical approach isn’t limited to the just the technical “elements.” This opens the door to reconsideration of Ninth Circuit cases holding courts don’t need to compare affirmative defenses. So look into and compare the state […]

BLOG BULLETS:   The Sixth Circuit just created a split in the circuits on the issue of whether the new crack mandatory minimums apply retroactively in sentence reduction proceedings under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). The Department of Justice has agreed that the old crack law was unjust, had a disturbing disparate racial impact, and undermined […]

BLOG BULLETS:   Notes of a witness interview may be Jencks material, either as a statement of a witness if they’re a substantially verbatim recording or as a statement of the agent notetaker if he or she testifies about the witness’s statement. Notes may be Brady material, either when they contain something the later report […]

BLOG BULLETS: Don’t forget e-mails and other electronic material in your discovery requests. DOJ has warned agents and prosecutors — and may warn witnesses — about such discovery. Let their loose lips sink their ships. NOW THE BLOG: Some time back, the DOJ memo on “Guidance on the Use, Preservation, and Disclosure of Electronic Communications […]