• United States v. Whitten

  Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 2010-10-19 · cited 2×

  The case concerned Ronell Wilson, who was convicted by a jury of murdering two undercover police officers and sentenced to death after a penalty phase in which the jury found multiple aggravating factors. A divided panel of the Second Circuit vacated the capital sentences, holding that the government's summation violated Wilson's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights by commenting on his acceptance of responsibility and right to trial. The full court denied rehearing en banc. The accompanying dissent argued that the panel decision conflicted with circuit and Supreme Court precedent on permissible prosecutorial arguments and would unduly complicate future criminal proceedings.

  criminal lawprocedure

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• Bryant v. Media Right Productions, Inc.

  Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 2010-04-27 · cited 180×

  This case involved a copyright infringement dispute in which plaintiffs Anne Bryant, Ellen Bernfeld, and Gloryvision, Ltd. created and registered two music albums that they licensed to defendant Media Right Productions for distribution but not copying. Media Right provided the albums to defendant Orchard Enterprises, which then copied and sold them without authorization. The district court found direct infringement but awarded only four statutory damage awards (one per album per defendant) totaling $2,400 rather than forty awards (one per song), after determining the infringement was not willful and that Orchard's was innocent; it also denied attorneys' fees. On appeal, the Second Circuit affirmed, holding that statutory damages are properly calculated per album rather than per song, that the district court's findings on willfulness and innocence were not clearly erroneous, and that its damage calculation and denial of fees were within its discretion.

  business & regulatoryproperty

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