July 01st, 2019

US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
United States v. Fulton

Docket: 17-41251
Opinion Date: June 27, 2019
Judge: Leslie H. Southwick
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit denied a petition for rehearing, withdrew its prior opinion, and substituted the following opinion. The court affirmed defendant's convictions for four counts of sex trafficking and one count of conspiracy. The court held that the seizure of the cellphone was "close enough to the line of validity" to permit the officer to prepare the second warrant that led to the search of the cellphone; the district court did not violate defendant's Confrontation Clause rights by prohibiting defendant from questioning one of the minor victims about a purported aggravated assault charge; even if the special findings made by the jury were supported by insufficient evidence, defendant's convictions would be unaffected; and the court refused to vacate his convictions based on a grand jury clause violation because there was substantial evidence against him.

Read Opinion