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News & Articles
Criminal defense attorney, Lorraine Gauli-Rufo shares news and articles pertaining to criminal and federal law.
New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen
In the landmark Supreme Court decision New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, The Court held that in order to find a gun regulation constitutionally permissible, courts must employ a two-step test. First, the court must inquire as to whether the plain...
Pharmacy Fraud
Recently, it seems that the federal government has been closely scrutinizing the actions of several pharmacy and compound pharmacy companies and has brought federal charges against many of these owners. They have been charged with a variety of federal crimes,...
Analyzing the Impact of Ruan v. United States (2022) on Opioid Prescription Practices: A Closer Look at the Supreme Court’s Landmark Decision
In 2022, the Supreme Court decided Ruan v. United States, 597 U.S. __ (2022). From 2011 to 2015, Dr. Xiulu Ruan operated a clinic, where over 400,000 opioid prescriptions were allegedly prescribed to patients for no legitimate medical purpose. Both doctors were...
Arguing for Apportionment in Restitution in New Jersey Federal Courts
In United States v. Wynns, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40531 (2022), the District Court of New Jersey affirmed apportioned restitution. The Mandatory Victim Restitution Act (“MVRA”), 18 U.S.C. § 3663A, requires district courts to order restitution in certain cases. Section...
Habeas Update SCOTUS
Habeas Update SCOTUS In June of this year, the Supreme Court ruled on a case related to habeas corpus. More specifically, in Jones v. Hendrix, the Supreme Court discussed habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 when a subsequent (or second) motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255...
Admissibility of Social Media Evidence in Court
The Federal Rules of Evidence state that admissions by a party-opponent can be introduced in court. This may include relevant text messages, social media posts, and statements made to the media. In order for evidence derived from social media platforms to be...
Honest Services Fraud
The Supreme Court issued two opinions limiting the scope of federal fraud statutes that prohibit “honest services fraud” in Ciminelli v. United States and Percoco v. United States. 18 U.S.C. § 1346 states, “a scheme or artifice to defraud includes a scheme or artifice...
Taylor Update
In United States v. Taylor, the Supreme Court held that attempted Hobbs Act robbery does not qualify as a “crime of violence” under 18 U.S.C. §924(c). Under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3), “crime of violence” is defined as a felony offense and “has an element the use,...
Wire Fraud
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) has recently been cracking down on cases of federal wire fraud. Wire fraud is governed by 18 U.S.C. § 1342. 18 U.S.C § 1342 states that the four essential elements of the crime of wire fraud are: (1) that the defendant...