Eastern District of California Blog

Ninth Circuit Orders Restitution Hearings In Two EDCA Cases

The Ninth Circuit granted writs of mandamus directing the EDCA Court to hold restitution hearings under the Crime Victims Rights Act in two separate cases.  

In In re Morning Star Packing Company, No. 13-71038 (9th Cir. 3/29/13), the Court remanded for a further restitution hearing in the high-profile Frederick Scott Salyer prosecution.  See Sacramento Bee, 3/30/13.

In In re Amy and Vicky, No. 13-70858 (9th Cir. 3/18/13), the Court remanded for a restitution determination in a child pornography case.

Fresno Guilty Verdict In Child Pornography Production Case

Last week, a Fresno jury returned a guilty verdict on four counts of production of child pornography in United States v. Hernandez-Velazquez, No. 11-CR-0134-LJO.

Fresno Jury Returns Guilty Verdict In Child Pornography Trial

A jury returned a guilty verdict Wednesday in a receipt of child pornography trial before Judge O'Neill in federal court in Fresno.  Modesto Bee, 10/3/12

70-Year Old Man Convicted Of Child Pornography And Other Offenses

A 70-year-old Sacramento man was convicted in federal court on Tuesday on five counts of child exploitation crimes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.

James E. Johnston was found guilty of conspiring to produce child pornography, two counts of receiving child pornography, possession of child pornography, and traveling in foreign commerce with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The guilty verdict was returned by a federal jury in Sacramento after a five-day trial before U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller.

CBS13, 5/1/12

Clovis Teacher Indicted On Child Porn Charges

A federal grand jury in Fresno has indicted a second-grade teacher accused of molesting a student and recording the abuse on four counts of producing child pornography.

Fresno Bee, 2/10/12

Recent EDCA Child Porn Sentences

A Chico man was sentenced to 65 months imprisonment by Judge Mueller for possession of child pornography.  ChicoER, 1/24/12

A Fresno man was sentenced to 97 months by Judge Ishii for receiving child pornography.  Fresno Bee, 1/23/12

Child Porn Prosecutions Soaring

While the debate over child porn sentences continues, see "Sentences for Child Porn Stir Debate," PhillyBurbs.com, 2/6/11, and "Leniency Often Granted in Child Porn Cases," HamptonRoads.com, 1/16/11, child porn prosecutions continue to be filed in large numbers in the EDCA, see Sacramento Bee, 2/6/11, and are soaring nationwide.

The FBI has made more than 10,000 arrests since 1996 and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency reports a similar number of arrests since its creation in 2003. The U.S. Department of Justice says prosecutions are up 40 percent since 2006 resulting in roughly 9,000 cases. In 2009, 2,315 suspects were indicted.

Local authorities across the country are also stepping up their child pornography investigations, which often require little more than a technically savvy agent, a high-speed Internet connection and so-called peer-to-peer software that millions of computer owners use to legally - and illegally - swap music, videos and other digital files.

The number of child pornography prosecutions is still dwarfed by drug and immigration cases that flood federal court dockets, but no other crime is growing at the 2,500 percent rate the FBI claims for child porn arrests.The FBI has made more than 10,000 arrests since 1996 and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency reports a similar number of arrests since its creation in 2003. The U.S. Department of Justice says prosecutions are up 40 percent since 2006 resulting in roughly 9,000 cases. In 2009, 2,315 suspects were indicted.

 Local authorities across the country are also stepping up their child pornography investigations, which often require little more than a technically savvy agent, a high-speed Internet connection and so-called peer-to-peer software that millions of computer owners use to legally - and illegally - swap music, videos and other digital files.

The number of child pornography prosecutions is still dwarfed by drug and immigration cases that flood federal court dockets, but no other crime is growing at the 2,500 percent rate the FBI claims for child porn arrests.

KCRA.com, 2/5/11.

EDCA Searches Target Child Pornographers

Dubbed "Operation Gigabite," the searches were conducted in support for the FBI’s Innocent Images National Initiative, a program designed to reduce the sexual exploitation and abuse of children over the Internet, according to an FBI news release.

Approximately 150 law enforcement officers from 20 federal, state and local agencies participated in the operation, which was organized and coordinated by the Sacramento FBI Cyber Task Force. A total of 14 searches were conducted, four people were arrested and 14 computers were seized for further analysis. . . . 

Most of the people targeted in the searches have no previous criminal history and were identified through use of advanced undercover techniques, officials said.

The searches were conducted in Davis, Lincoln, Carmichael, Sacramento, Elk Grove, Stockton, Tracy, Ceres, Redding, Susanville, Fresno, Bakersfield and Cypress.

Sacramento Bee, 1/21/11

"Porn Sentencing Rules Puzzle"

That's the title of a Prof. Berman Sentencing Law and Policy, 1/5/10 post that starts out like this:

Longtime Claiborne County educator Joseph Wayne Jennings faced more punishment for looking at pictures of child rape victims than he did for trying to lure a child to be raped.

His case highlights a sentencing disparity long claimed by defense attorneys and increasingly questioned by federal judges nationwide, including some in East Tennessee, as the average sentence for suspects caught with child pornography has jumped 443 percent over a 10-year period....

In recent years, judges across the nation have been balking at the punishments recommended not after careful review by the sentencing commission but as a result of Congressional decree.

U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer echoed that sentiment Tuesday as he pondered Jennings' fate.  "The guideline ranges in child pornography cases are the result of a Congressional directive, not by … sound and empirical data," Greer said.  "It is not entitled to the significant weight generally given to the guideline ranges (for other crimes)."

In the EDCA, here are U.S. Attorney press releases about sentences in child porn cases in the last 60 days:  151 Months, 11/12/10 Two 20 Year Sentences, 11/19/10;  60 Months, 12/2/10, 57 Months, 12/16/10, and 151 Months, 12/17/10.

Prof. Berman On Prison Overcrowding Oral Argument--And Child Porn Sentences

Here's Prof. Berman's Sent Blog's coverage of today's Supreme Court oral argument in the prison overcrowding appeal, which includes links to the transcript of the argument, more news articles, and early assessments of how things went. 

Earlier today, his blog had this post entitled, "Most federal judges not comfortable with tough guidelines" in child pornography cases.  The piece quotes a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story that 70% of federal judges think the sentencing guidelines are unreasonable in possession or receipt cases.

Finally, for those obsessive types out there, you can now get my posts instantaneously when I blog, by following me on twitter @balazslaw (as long as I remember to click the "twitter" box when I compose a post).