10-cv-04059-ERK (E.D.N.Y.)

NACDL commenced a lawsuit with the ACLU challenging a U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy that authorizes searches of the contents of travelers’ laptop computers and other electronic storage devices at border crossings, notwithstanding the absence of probable cause, reasonable suspicion or any indicia of wrongdoing. Filed in the Eastern District of New York, the suit sought to enjoin future enforcement of the policy. NACDL was both a plaintiff and co-counsel in the case, which was dismissed in December 2013 and pending reconsideration as of April 2014.

Memorandum and Opinion.

Argument: Haynes had served almost 27 years of a 46.5-year sentence for various offenses, including conspiracy to commit bank robbery, four counts of robbery. “A full 40 of those years are the mandatory consecutive terms for the two additional 18 U.S.C § 924(c) counts (“stacked” under then-current law) that the government charged in a superseding indictment only when Haynes declined a plea offer and exercised his right to trial.”

The Court reduced Hayes’ sentence to time-served, citing as ECR, “the brutal impact of Haynes's original sentence, its drastic severity as compared to codefendant Rivers's ten-year term, its harshness as compared to the sentences imposed on similar and even more severe criminal conduct today, and the extent to which that brutal sentence was a penalty for Haynes's exercise of his constitutional right to trial” and “ the FSA’ elimination of the § 924(c) sentencing weaponry that prosecutors employed to require that sentence. . . ”

The trial of this case is ongoing. When the government rested, the defendants moved for judgment of acquittal on various counts. The District Court dismissed any counts brought under 18 USC § 1346 for defendants Hatfield and Brooks, but denied the motion for mistrial despite the inclusion of evidence and arguments on §1346. On September 14, 2010, the jury convicted Brooks of all 17 charges against him and Hatfield on 14 of the 16 charges against her.