Eastern District of California Blog

New BOP Litigation Guide

Bureau of Prisons litigation guru Steve Sady and the Oregon Federal Public Defender have put out a useful, new guide to litigating BOP issues, here.  The guide includes sections on the Second Chance Act, the RDAP 500-hour drug program, custody credit issues, and halfway houses.  For future reference, I'm adding it to the list of federal criminal law resources at the right side of my blog.

Fed. R. Crim. P. 29 Motions For Acquittal: A Nuts & Bolts Guide For Defense Attorneys

I've updated here the Ninth Circuit version of my Nuts & Bolts Guide To Fed. R. Crim. P. 29 Motions for Acquittal For Defense Attorneys. 

For those outside the Ninth Circuit, here is a national edition of the same with more cites from other circuits:  Nuts & Bolts Guide To Fed. R. Crim. P. 29 Motions--National Edition.  An earlier version was published in "The Champion," the monthly magazine of the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. 

Which EDCA Attorney Followed Richard Pryor With Martin Luther King, Jr. In Closing Argument?

Which EDCA defense attorney quoted Richard Pryor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, and some guy named Terrence from 1063 B.C. (I think he just made this one up) on the meaning of "justice" in this closing argument?  See "Justice" Closing Argument.  Answer in comments to this post later this week.

In case you hadn't noticed, I made some small changes to my blog.  I moved the archives section to the left side and put in a new section entitled Federal Criminal Law Resources on the bottom right.  This new section includes links to Steve Sady's Search & Seizure Outline and the ABA's article on the collateral consequences of criminal convictions under federal law.  It also contains a link to the excellent fd.org page on training materials and other publications. 

Also check out attorney Mark Reichel's piece at his EasternDistrictBlog.com, 12/16/10 on the right to refuse to give law enforcement the password for a computer, cellphone, safe, etc. under the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

New Criminal Defense Resources Available Online

In case you missed them, Portland Chief AFD Steve Sady has posted an excellent, updated Search and Seizure Outline available at the District of Oregon's Federal Defender website: Search & Seizure Updated 10/09 Outline.

Those with a defendant facing an aggravated identity theft charge should take a look at the Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington and Idaho's post on the topic, Understanding Aggravated Identity Theft, which includes a link to a FD training seminar outline with cases through June 2008.   

And, www.fd.org has a September 2009, 84-page outline on available departures and variances: FD.Org Departures & Variances Outline.