United States v. McDowell, No. 19-50851 (5th Cir. 2020)
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After finding that defendant violated three conditions of his release by assaulting and robbing another with a firearm, the district judge revoked defendant's supervised release. Defendant argued that the district court erred in considering the victim's out-of-court statements without specifically finding good cause to contravene defendant's right to confrontation.
The Fifth Circuit held that the district court's failure to make a specific good cause finding is not plain error because it is neither clear nor obvious that a court is required to make such a finding where the defendant makes no hearsay or confrontation objection. Furthermore, because of the nature of the particular hearsay at issue, defendant cannot show that the district court's omission—were it a clear error—affected his substantial rights.
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