United States Fourth Circuit
US v. Hurwitz, 05-4474
Conviction of multiple counts of drug trafficking for prescribing narcotic pain medicine is vacated as the district court did not properly instruct when it failed to include a good-faith instruction in connection with the 21 U.S.C. section 841 charges and by specifically instructing the jury that it could not consider defendant's good faith as to any of the drug-trafficking charges.
Appellate Information
- Decided 08/22/2006
- Published 08/22/2006
Judges
- Before WIDENER and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges, and CAMERON McGOWAN CURRIE, United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, sitting by designation.
Court
- United States Fourth Circuit
Counsel
- For Appellees:
- ARGUED: Lawrence S. Robbins, Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck & Untereiner, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Richard Daniel Cooke, Special Assistant United States Attorney, Office of the United States Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Donald J. Russell, Damon W. Taaffe, Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck & Untereiner, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for Appellant. Paul J. McNulty, United States Attorney, Gene Rossi, Assistant United States Attorney, Mark D. Lytle, Assistant United States Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee. Jack R. Bierig, Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, L.L.P., Chicago, Illinois; Eamon P. Joyce, Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for Amicus Curiae, American Academy of Pain Medicine, Supporting Appellant. Andrew L. Schlafly, Far Hills, New Jersey, for Amicus Curiae, The Association of American Physicians & Surgeons, Supporting Appellant. Samuel Rosenthal, Curtis, Malletprevost, Colt & Mosle, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae, The American Pain Foundation, The National Pain Foundation, and The National Foundation for the Treatment of Pain, Supporting Appellant. Joshua L. Dratel, Co-Chair, NACDL, Amicus Committee, New York, New York; Robert P. Marcovitch, Atlanta, Georgia, for Amicus Curiae, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Supporting Appellant. David T. Goldberg, New York, New York; Sean H. Donahue, Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae, Russell K. Portenoy, Richard Payne, Peggy Compton, Celeste Johnston, Robert Twillman, and William L. Marcus, Supporting Appellant.