September 15th, 2020

United States v. Kendrick

Docket: 19-30375
Opinion Date: September 14, 2020
Judge: Carl E. Stewart
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit denied the petition for panel rehearing and withdrew its prior panel opinion, substituting the following opinion. Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The court held that defendant was not entitled to an evidentiary Franks hearing and the district court correctly denied defendant's motion to suppress. In this case, even excising the alleged falsehoods and omissions, the Article III wiretap affidavit still included many other facts that incriminated defendant, giving rise to probable cause. The court also held that the evidence was sufficient to support defendant's drug conspiracy conviction. Finally, the court upheld the district court's imposition of two sentencing enhancements for possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug distribution and defining defendant as a career offender under the Armed Career Criminal Act.

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