Motions

Last Friday, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro filed a Motion to Dismiss without prejudice an indictment filed against former U.S. Olympian David Hearn. Hearn was indicted in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on a single count of destruction of property worth $1,000 or more, a felony charge that carries up to 10 years in prison, for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

In November 2025, Middle District of Florida prosecutors indicted Neda Joudeh, a 35-year old woman, for making an interstate threat to injure or kill another person, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), based on an online comment that included the statement, "I wish someone would in alive him." At the time of the Indictment, Court Watch commented this "ay be the most elastic application of 18 U.S.C. 875 we've ever seen."

Oklahoma trooper stops a rental car for going a whopping 4 mph over the speed limit, begins preparing a warning, but calls in a canine unit after the driver and passenger give allegedly inconsistent travel plans. Yikes! Dog alerts and officers find 100 pounds of meth. Tenth Circuit: Arguable inconsistencies do not alone amount to reasonable suspicion, so officers had no basis for extending the stop with a dog sniff.

A judge disqualified John Sarcone, the “acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York,” from overseeing investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling Thursday that he is not lawfully serving in his position. See PBS news article.

The Florida Supreme Court upheld Florida’s law allowing non-unanimous juries to sentence people to death upon a vote of 8-4.

Alina Habba, who was formerly the president's personal attorney, was one of several acting US attorneys around the country to have their appointments challenged on the basis that they stayed in the temporary jobs longer than the law allows. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court disqualified her from serving in the role.

Luigi Mangione's attorneys filed a motion on September 20, 2025, to dismiss the SDNY federal charges against him and block the government from seeking the death penalty in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. See Magione's Motion to Dismiss. They argue that the death penalty is unconstitutional because it is applied arbitrarily and that the government's decision to seek capital punishment was politically motivated.

More American Indian legal drama out of Oklahoma! In a vehicular-manslaughter prosecution, gov't had to prove defendant was an Indian to have federal jurisdiction. Defendant testified he was a tribal citizen, and he had also asserted that in state court to get out of related civil lawsuit. Tenth Circuit: Be that as it may, the gov't had to prove he was an Indian at the time of the crime, and the only evidence specifically bearing on timing was inadmissible hearsay. Conviction vacated.

Police obtain a warrant to search the residence of a man in Lake Worth, Fla. who was suspected of committing drug and firearms offenses. They believe it's a single-family home, but when they get there turns out the man lives in one of a few efficiency apartments in the back. They enter and find the evidence. Man: The warrant only identified the property address, not my individual unit, and thus did not "particularly describe[] the place to be searched." Eleventh Circuit: Good enough for government work.

A group of law enforcement officers executed a search warrant in Charlotte, NC at a suspected meth trafficker's home. Chaos ensues. One cop shoots another at least ten times, severely injuring him. Shot cop sues shooting cop for excessive force and several tort claims. As they litigate, the district court seals bodycam footage, refuses local TV station access. Fourth Circuit: Unseal it.