DEFENSE LINK

“NOTE: The Defense Link featured article does not appear this month. The featured article will resume next month.”

Recent Third Circuit and Supreme Court Cases

Christofer Bates, RWA, EDPA

Supreme Court Terry Stops / Traffic Stops / Dog Sniffs / Prolonged Detention Rodriguez v. United States, --- S. Ct. ---, 2015 U.S. LEXIS 2807 (Apr.21, 2015). A police stop exceeding the time necessary to handle the matter for which the stop was made violates the Fourth Amendment. This means that a seizure justified only by a police-observed traffic violation becomes unlawful if the stop is prolonged beyond the time reasonably required to complete the mission of issuing a traffic citation for the violation. The only way the stop can be prolonged beyond the time reasonably necessary to issue a traffic citation is where the officers develop a reasonable suspicion of additional criminality. Police may still order everyone out of the car and exercise command of the scene. They may also run license, registration, and warrant checks, because they are tied to the traffic justification for the stop. Tasks unrelated to the justification for the stop, such as dog

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FOR CJA PANEL ATTORNEYS

LEIGH M. SKIPPER, CHIEF FEDERAL DEFENDER

MAY 2015

If you have been notified by the Federal Community Defender Office that your term on the CJA Panel will expire on August 31, 2015, remember that the deadline to submit your Reappointment Application is Monday, June 1, 2015. June 1st is also the deadline for those attorneys applying for membership on the CJA Panel for the EDPA. All applications will be reviewed by the CJA Selection Committee and recommendations will be sent to the Court.

Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of PA

Helen Marino, First Assistant Federal Defender Nina Carpiniello Spizer, Chief, Trial Unit

Elizabeth Toplin, Assistant Chief, Trial Unit Brett Sweitzer, Chief of Appeals

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Editors

Jennifer Nimmons Herman Attorney Advisor

▬ Kimberly Campoli

Paralegal/Panel Administrator

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Recent Third Circuit and Supreme Court Cases Page 1 Fall Training Seminar -- Save the Date! Page 3

CJA News: Deadline Approaching to Submit

Reappointment and New Applications

sniffs or questions designed to investigate suspected criminality, may also be conducted, but only to the extent they are done concurrently with the traffic tasks. However, officers may not prolong the overall length of the stop to conduct these “unrelated” tasks. The Supreme Court remanded Rodriguez’s case for the lower courts to determine whether the officers developed a reasonable suspicion to justify detaining him beyond completion of the traffic violation investigation. Cert. Granted - Controlled Substance Analogue / Sufficiency / Knowledge McFadden v. United States, No. 14-378 (Cert. Granted Jan. 16, 2015, argued Apr. 21, 2015). ISSUE: Whether, to convict a defendant of distribution of a controlled substance analogue – a

substance with a chemical structure that is “substantially similar” to a Schedule I or Schedule II drug and has a “substantially similar” effect on the user – the government must prove that the defendant knew the substance constituted a controlled substance analogue.

Third Circuit

Supervised Release Revocation / Jurisdiction / Warrant or Summons United States v. Merlino, --- F.3d ---, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 7404 (3d Cir. May 5, 2015). 18 U.S.C. § 3583(i) is a jurisdictional statute, requiring that a warrant or summons must issue before the expiration of supervised release in order for a District Court to conduct revocation proceedings. Neither the probation officer’s timely submission of the revocation petition to the judge, nor the judge’s execution of the petition, is sufficient. A proper summons or warrant must issue from the Clerk’s office before expiration, or the District Court lacks jurisdiction to revoke the defendant’s supervised release. Section 3583(i) is NOT subject to equitable tolling. Merlino’s term of supervised release was set to expire on September 6, 2014. On September 2, 2014, the District Court ordered the issuance of a summons directing him to appear for a revocation hearing. Due to scheduling conflicts with defense counsel, a date for a hearing was not agreed upon until at least September 11, 2014. On September 16, the District Court issued a “notice of hearing” summoning Merlino to appear for a revocation hearing on October 10, 2014. On these facts, the Third Circuit held that

MAY 2015

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MAY 2015

Jeffrey M. Lindy, Esquire CJA Panel Representative

Eastern District of PA

Please contact Jeff Lindy with any CJA issues,

comments, or concerns: Lindy & Tauber

1221 Locust Street Third Floor

Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 575-0702

jlindy@LindyLawFirm.com

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the District Court lacked jurisdiction to revoke Merlino’s supervised release because the summons or warrant did not issue until ten days after the supervised release term.

Fall Training Seminar for CJA Panel Attorneys

SAVE THE DATE! On Thursday, October 15, 2015, the Federal Community Defender Office and the United States District Court for the EDPA will host a Fall Training Seminar for CJA Panel Attorneys, Federal Defenders, and other federal criminal defense practitioners. The program will be held at the William J. Green Federal Building, 600 Arch Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA. Information about registration, speakers, and topics will be available on our website at http://pae.fd.org/CJA.html as the event approaches.

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DEFENSE LINK

Leigh M. Skipper, Chief Federal Defender

Helen Marino, First Assistant Federal Defender Nina Carpiniello Spizer, Chief, Trial Unit

Elizabeth Toplin, Assistant Chief, Trial Unit Brett Sweitzer, Chief of Appeals

Federal Community Defender Office

For the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Suite 540 West – The Curtis Center

601 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19106 Phone (215) 928-1100

WANT MORE?

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT HTTP://PAE.FD.ORG AND THE THIRD CIRCUIT BLOG AT WWW.CIRCUIT3.BLOGSPOT.COM

Contact Kimberly Campoli if you have a new email address, office address, or telephone number, for any CJA Panel related questions, or if you wish to withdraw from the CJA Panel for the EDPA. Kimberly_Campoli@fd.org

MAY 2015

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