November 11th, 2019

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

Docket: 17-11452
Opinion Date: November 5, 2019
Judge: Stuart Kyle Duncan
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for illegally possessing drugs and firearms. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting jail phone records where the government produced sufficient evidence to authenticate the records; the calls were also admissible because the district court was convinced that the recordings accurately produced the auditory experience; the district court did not plainly err by admitting testimony regarding why drug dealers routinely use guns in their crimes because, even assuming the district court violated Federal Rule of Evidence 704(b), the error did not affect defendant's substantial rights; and the district court did not plainly err by allowing the prosecutor to suggest that the detective had no reason to lie.

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