ADVERTISEMENTS

Crater v. Galaza, No. 05-17027 (12-6-07). The 9th denies rehearing en banc in this case, but there is a spirited dissent by Reinhardt, joined by Pregerson, Gould, Paez, and Berzon, arguing that AEDPA violates the separation of powers doctrine. It does so by prohibiting the ordinary principles of stare decisis in habeas cases, thereby interfering with the federal judiciary's judicial process. It also violates the separation of powers by the required deference in federal habeas to wrongly decided state decisions.

U.S. v. Corona-Verbera, No. 06-10538 (12-7-07). This is an appeal from a conviction for a tunnelling case. The tunnel ran from Agua Prieta, Mexico, about 200 yards under the border to a warehouse in Douglas, Arizona. It was a sophisticated tunnel (Bond-like, turning an outside spigot caused a hydrolic lift to raise and the door to open). The defendant was an architect, and Mexican national. He was indicted in 1988, but only arrested in 2003 and subsequently extradicted. Defendant argues on appeal that the pre-indictment delay prejudiced him, and also speedy trial violations. The 9th held that there was no preindictment delay because the indictment was within the statute of limitations. Further, the prejudice was not enough. As for speedy trial, the 9th found that the justification offered by the government, of good faith attempts to extradicte, was sufficient. The Mexican government was not extradicting defendants in the 1990's, and the US made efforts to locate and extradite and seize him.

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.