Sat 16 Feb 2008
2/07/12 Dr. Dhafir’s sentence remained the same when he was resentenced to 22 years at the district court on Friday, February 3rd, 2012.
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10/17/11 We are still awaiting a date for Dr. Dhafir’s resentencing at the district court.
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6/07/10 Dr. Dhafir’s petition for certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court.  The case will now go back to Judge Mordue for resentencing.  Please sign the petition to ask Judge Mordue to commute Dr. Dhafir’s sentence to time served.  PLEASE NOTE THERE IS NO NEED TO DONATE TO iPETITIONS WHEN YOU SIGN THE PETITION.
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5/03/10 An appeal was submitted to the Supreme Court. Â It will likely be in August before we know if the Supreme Court decides to hear the case (it hears only a very small percentage of cases that petition to be heard).
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3/24/10 An en banc hearing was denied and the case is currently being appealed to the Supreme Court. We have also started a petition asking that Dr. Dhafir’s sentence be commuted to time served, and will be collecting signatures until late summer/early fall. You can sign the petition here (there is no need to donate anything to iPetitions): http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freedrdhafir/
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8/18/09 Convictions in Dr. Dhafir’s case were affirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. However, the case was sent back to Judge Mordue for resentencing. The decision can be read here Dr. Dhafir’s lawyers will file a petition for an en banc (all the judges on the court of appeals) hearing on the sentencing issue.
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Oral arguments in Dr. Dhafir’s appeal were heard on Thursday, August 28th, 2008, at 10 a.m., at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City
The press release from the appeal hearing is available here.
Katherine’s summary of the appeal hearing is available here.
The Opening Appeal Brief, submitted 2/08/08, is available here (77 pages).
The Government Response Brief, submitted 4/08/08, is available here (105 pages).
The Reply Brief to the Government Brief, submitted 5/14/08, is available here (26 pages).
What is an appeal?:
It’s not a retrial. The appellate court does not decide a defendant’s innocence or guilt, it decides whether the court proceedings were conducted according to the law. The appeal lawyers are limited to the official record of proceedings and they can only appeal things that were initially objected to by the defense lawyers (with some exceptions, as you will see from the briefs). The briefs are very readable, not much legalize, just a couple of pages on sentencing issues that are difficult going.
Steps in the appeal process:
The appeal was filed on Friday, February 8th, 2008, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The prosecution filed it’s response on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008. Dr. Dhafir’s lawyers, Peter Goldberger and Barry Boss filed their reply brief on May 14, 2008.
Oral arguments were heard on August 28, 2008, before a panel of three judges. The arguments lasted 45 minutes and the public was able to attend, Dr. Dhafir was not.
The decision on the appeal was not taken from the bench on that day; it will likely be weeks or months before a written opinion deciding the appeal is given.
More information:
Go to: Dr. Dhafir’s Opening Appeal Brief. (Filed 2/08/08.)
Go to: The Government Response to Dr. Dhafir’s Opening Brief. (Filed 4/08/08.)
Go to: The Reply Brief to the Government Response. (Filed 5/14/08.)
Go to: A Federal Criminal Appeal Primer: A Guide for Clients and their Family and Friends.
September 5th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
I was disappointed to see the “unpublished” opinion dated August 18, 2009 disposing of the arguments on appeal was so brief. The issues are too complicated for me to know the merits of the argument, but it was interesting to see that one of the three panel members did not participate in the decision — having been appointed to the US Supreme Court. That’s the serendipity of life. What if she had been on the Court of Appeals a few weeks longer, had an opinion that differed, and then held sway over one of her two colleagues? It is an “unpublished” decision and under the court rules not appropriate to cite as precedent. “Unpublished” decisions tend to be more-to-the-point and less elaborate.