Rose v. Mayberg, No. 05-16881 (7-18-06). The 9th considers the degree of a mental condition required to commit petitioner as a sexual predator. The 9th affirms the district court, and the state courts (California) that the offender need not have an uncontrollable mental condition, but that it must be serious. The jury moreover need not make separate findings as to extent or degree.

US v. Ballesteros-Selinger, No. 05-50287 (7-19-06). "An oral contract," Sam Goldwyn once growled, "is not worth the paper it's written on." An oral decision, however, if it is reduced to a memorandum is of evidentiary value, and can be admitted without a Crawford problem because it is nontestimonial. The memorandum of an IJ's decision regarding deportation of the defendant was not written in anticipation of litigation but to record said fact of deportation. A difference that is perhaps without a distinction (except to avoid Crawford).

US v. Lyons, No. 04-50157 (7-19-06). The 9th finds sufficient evidence, when viewed etc., to affirm a mail fraud conviction. The defendant fraudulently signed movie posters in the names of celebrities (i.e. Yul Bryner). The argument was that the evidence didn't show that the defendant mailed the poster knowing that the buyer intended to resell. The 9th held, unsurprisingly that the evidence was there for a jury to find that reliance was foreseeable. The sentence was remanded, even though it was an upward (gulp) that was supported. The 9th reasoned that the court departed within the guideline world, but possibly, viewing other 3553 factors, the sentence might have been different, or less severe. The bases of the upward was underrepresentation of the loss (125,000) and more than 50 people were affected. It was a total of 14 levels.