May 19th, 2019

US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

United States v. Jones

Dockets: 18-50086, 18-50088
Opinion Date: May 16, 2019
Judge: Stephen Andrew Higginson
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit vacated defendant's conviction for possessing and conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The court held that defendant's rights under the Confrontation Clause were violated when a law enforcement officer testified that he knew defendant received a large amount of methamphetamine because of what the officer was told by a confidential informant. Furthermore, the error was not invited by the defense and was not harmless. The court also vacated the related revocation of supervised release and remanded for further proceedings.

Read Opinion