Rubashkin v. United States

Issue: (1) Whether Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 33 requires a criminal defendant with newly discovered evidence that goes not to guilt or innocence but to the fundamental fairness of his criminal trial – here, that the trial judge should have been recused under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a) – to show nonetheless that the new evidence would probably lead to his acquittal; and (2) whether a sentence is unreasonable when a district court fails to consider and explain on the record, as required by this Court’s precedents, its basis for rejecting a defendant’s nonfrivolous argument for a below-Guidelines sentence – resulting in, here, a twenty-seven-year sentence for a first-time, nonviolent offender that is significantly greater than sentences for similarly situated individuals.

Briefs and Documents

Certiorari-stage documents

• Opinion below (8th Cir.)
• Petition for certiorari
• Brief in opposition
• Amicus brief of Justice Fellowship et al.
• Amicus brief of Criminal Justice and Legal Ethics Professors (forthcoming)
• Amicus brief of Eighty-Six Former Attorneys General et al.
• Amicus brief of National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers et al.
• Amicus brief of Washington Legal Foundation and Criminal Law Scholars
• Amicus brief of Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL)
• Reply of petitioner