United States v. Fermin, No. 13-1108 (1st Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseFollowing a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of possession with intent to distribute both marijuana and cocaine. Defendant appealed, arguing, among other things, that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence seized by law enforcement personnel after observing him walking down a residential street at first empty-handed and then rolling a large black suitcase. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the district court properly denied Defendant’s motion to suppress because the stop by law enforcement was permissible, as was the subsequent search of the suitcase; and (2) the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction; (3) the district court’s jury instructions regarding the consideration of expert testimony were not plainly erroneous; and (4) the district court did not err in imposing sentence enhancements and and did not improperly penalize Defendant for failing to admit that he knew what was in the suitcase.
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