Ninth Circuit Criminal Defense Newsletter
Keith Hilzendeger, Dan KaplanA newsletter by and for criminal defense practitioners in the Ninth Circuit.
| Platform |  | Pricing | Only free issues | Publishes | Daily |
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| Issues | 157 | Founded | 3 years ago | Last Issue | 3 months ago |
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Ninth Circuit finds evidence insufficient to support aggravated identity theft conviction
United States v. Motley, filed February 24, 2026
Panel: Clifton, Bybee (authored), Lee
Tamara Motley oversaw a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing it for unnecessary, and sometimes fictional, devices and services. In addition to convict...
Ninth Circuit issues opinions addressing prior conviction evidence, mens rea in attempted drug possession cases, and expert testimony
United States v. Ruiz, filed January 7, 2026; amended February 20, 2026
Panel: Ryan D. Nelson, VanDyke, Douglas Russell Cole (S.D. Ohio) (authored)
Holding: Admission of prior similar conviction in transportation of illegal aliens trial d...
Ninth Circuit addresses application of Guidelines enhancements for substantial disruption of government functions and attempted obstruction of justice in threats cases
United States v. Brandenburg, decided February 17, 2026
Panel: McKeown (authored), Friedland, Sung
Holding: Non-public-facing security measures in response to threat may qualify as “substantial disruption” of governmental functions under...
Ninth Circuit approves retroactive application of Supreme Court opinion tightening requirements for "safety valve" relief
United States v. Engstrom, decided February 5, 2026
Panel: David F. Hamilton (7th Circuit), Ryan D. Nelson (authored), Bumatay
Holdings: Government did not waive objection to sua sponte Rule 35 resentencing; defendant’s completion of pris...
En banc court gets rid of the "pure question of law" exception to plain-error review.
United States v. Gomez, No. 23-435, en banc opinion decided January 13, 2026.
Panel: Chief Judge Murguia (Obama), Gould (Clinton), M. Smith (GW Bush), Nguyen (Obama), R. Nelson, Miller, Collins (all Trump 1.0), Koh, Sung. H. Thomas, and de...
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Authors
The writers behind this newsletter.
Assistant Federal Public Defender in Phoenix since 2008
Dan Kaplan is an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Phoenix, Arizona. He can be reached at [email protected].
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