United States v. Peterson, No. 18-4269 (4th Cir. 2019)
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Defendants Peterson and Bun appealed their convictions for crimes related to their involvement in a methamphetamine distribution ring in prison. The Fourth Circuit affirmed the convictions and held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the indictment without prejudice, having carefully weighed the relevant set of non-exclusive factors set out in the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act (IADA). The court explained that, by affording district courts substantial discretion over this determination, Congress sought to ensure that violations of the IADA's anti-shuttling provision would not needlessly encumber federal prosecutions. Therefore, the court rejected defendants' claim that the district court should have dismissed their initial indictment with prejudice because they were improperly transferred from federal to state custody.
The court joined every federal court to address the question and held that a superseding indictment filed 30 days after an arrest does not violate 18 U.S.C. 3161(b) so long as the original indictment was filed within the Speedy Trial Act's 30-day window. The court found defendants' remaining claims regarding their speedy trial rights and claims of evidentiary error were without merit.
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