ABA Criminal Litigation Committee Month in Review

This article covers the following cases:

• United States v. Skoien: The Seventh Circuit issued a 10-1 en banc opinion upholding a federal law that prohibits the possession of a firearm by anyone convicted of a domestic-violence misdemeanor. The opinion concluded that the law passed constitutional muster, while raising new questions about how other federal courts will interpret such gun restrictions.
• United States v. Marzzarella: The Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of a defendant sentenced to nine months of imprisonment for possessing a handgun with an obliterated serial number. The court refused to strike down the law, which is aimed at "keep[ing] firearms away from the persons Congress classified as potentially irresponsible and dangerous."
• United States v. Graf: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals joined several circuits around the country that have adopted the test set forth in In re Bevill, Bresler & Schulman Asset Management Corp. to determine whether a corporate employee holds a joint privilege over communications with corporate counsel. The opinion reaffirms that courts will undertake probing inquiry to determine the actual role an individual plays in a corporation to determine the propriety of the attorney-client privilege in a given case.
• United States v. Kaiser: The Second Circuit Court of Appeals added personal business planners to the list of records admissible under the business-records exception to the hearsay rule illuminated at Federal Rule of Evidence 803(6), thus expanding the scope of the provision slightly beyond those records previously found to be admissible.