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Amicus curiae brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in support of appellant.
Argument: The Fifth Amendment’s due process clause requires a narrow interpretation of “without authorization” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The District Court’s finding that venue was proper exceeds constitutional limitations and invites prosecutorial forum-shopping.
Brief of Amicus Curiae National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Support of Appellants, Supporting Reversal.
Argument: The district court's expansive, extraterritorial interpretation of the Military Extrajudicial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) on which each of the convictions below rests, violates the presumption against extraterritoriality, is contrary to the plain language of the statute, and gave rise to precisely the sort of problems inherent in extraterritorial prosecutions. The district court's expansive interpretation of the venue statute is not supported by the plain language of the statute, permitted unrestrictive forum shopping, and exceeded constitutional venue limitations. The district court's decision to deny the appellants' motion for a new trial based on a key trial witness's new statement, which fundamentally contradicted both that witness's trial testimony and the government's theory of the case at trial, was an abuse of discretion. The prosecution of Mr. Slatten for first degree murder, only after he successfully defeated the government in this court on lesser charges, raises troubling questions of prosecutorial vindictiveness.
Brief Amici Curiae of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in Support of Appellant’s Petition for Panel Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc
Argument: The petition presents a constitutional issue of exceptional importance because the panel decision excuses “systemic negligence” in the digital age. Rehearing is warranted to ensure that extra-jurisdictional warrants comply with the laws where evidence is search or seized. Rehearing is warranted to clarify that the good-faith exception does not apply to warrants void for lack of jurisdiction where the agency obtaining the warrant was or should have been aware of the defect.
Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Governmental "Forum Shopping" - Washington, DC (June 1, 1998) -- NACDL President Gerald B. Lefcourt, New York City, issued the following statement in support of today's unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. Cabrales, No. 97-643:
