Inevitable Discovery Rule Car Stop Inventory Search: Boilerplate Search and Seizure Analysis
United States of America v. Dewayne Cartwright, No. 10-1879.
Police pulled Dewayne Cartwright over for a traffic violation, arrested him when he failed to produce a driver’s license and gave a false name, then searched the car incident to his arrest, locating a gun in the back seat.
Motion to Suppress Identification: Boilerplate Rules for Finding an Independent Basis for an In-Court Identification
United States of America v. Edward W. West, 10-1292
Edward W. West was charged with two counts of armed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2113(a) and (d), and two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).
Warning!!! Pre-Trial Motions for Severence Must Be Renewed at Close of Evidence or They Are Waived on Appeal
USA v. Clarence E. Plato and Bishop C. Graham. 09-2099 and 2716.
Clarence Plato and Bishop Graham were jointly tried and convicted by a jury of distributing crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Law enforcement officers caught the pair on videotape selling crack cocaine to a...
Supervised Release Violations May Be Sentenced Concurrent To New Conviction
USA v. Lawrence Taylor, 10-1304. Appellant Lawrence Taylor appeals from his sentences for bank robbery and for violating the terms of his supervised release relating to an earlier bank robbery conviction.
Because the district court erred by failing to appreciate its discretion to impose the sentences either consecutively or concurrently,...
Sentence Based on Clearly Erroneous Facts Is Procedural Plain Error
USA v. Juan Corona-Gonzalez. 09-3993.
Juan Corona-Gonzalez seeks review of a sentence imposed by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. A jury found Mr. Corona-Gonzalez guilty of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine and possession of...
FRE 901 (b)(5) and Lay Opinion Voice Identification Testimony: Boilerplate Rules
Law enforcement authorities launched an investigation in the summer of 2007 into the shipment of cocaine from California and Utah to Indianapolis, Indiana. During the course of this investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) obtained...
Missing Witness Instruction and Missing Confidential Informant: Boilerplate Rules
USA v. Lorenzo Tavarez, 09-3879.
Based on information provided by a confidential informant, appellant Lorenzo Tavarez was arrested and charged with two counts of distributing methamphetamine. Despite the informant's unexplained absence at trial, a jury convicted Tavarez on all charges.
Tavarez now argues that the district...
Search and Seizure and the Collective Knowledge Doctrine: Boilerplate Rules
USA v. Aaron Williams. No. 10-1608.
(Editor's Note: The district court judge in this case was the Honorable David H. Coar in Chicago. Judge Coar is retiring next month. His integrity and skill will be greatly missed.)
In July 2008, Chicago police officers pulled over a Suburban...
Crack Cocaine Mandatory Minimum Reductions Under Fair Sentencing Act Do Not Apply Retroactively
USA v. Christopher C. Bell, 09-3908 & 09-3914.
A jury convicted Christopher Bell of distributing more than five grams of cocaine base. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). The district court sentenced him to 292 months in prison, revoked his previous term of supervised release, and sentenced him to an...
USSG 5K3.1. District Court’s Can Consider Absense of Fast Track Programs at Sentencing
USA v. JAIME REYES-HERNANDEZ, 091249. USA v. PEDRO SANCHEZ-GONZALEZ, 09-1551.
The Supreme Court's decision in Kimbrough v. United States, 552 U.S. 85 (2007), taken together with other recent cases, has rekindled debate about whether sentencing disparities created by fast-track programs can be considered by district court judges in non-fast-track districts when...