United States v. Huether, No. 11-1964 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of receipt and possession of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Defendant subsequently appealed. The court held that the record supported the district court's decision declining to suppress the evidence and the record showed that defendant, without hesitation, answered the questions relating to the materials in his computer; the district court did not err in admitting to agents' testimonies; and the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting expert testimony regarding the interstate commerce element of saved images and videos on computer hard drives. The court held, however, that the district court failed to properly instruct the jury and violated defendant's Fifth Amendment rights under the Double Jeopardy Clause. Therefore, the court determined it proper to have the district court vacate one of defendant's convictions.
Court Description: Criminal Case - suppression. Record supports the district court's decision declining to suppress evidence, as defendant, without hesitation, answered questions relating to the materials in his computer before being read Miranda warnings. District court did not plainly err in admitting testimony of agents regarding testimony based on the witness' independent knowledge of the evidence. Admission of expert's testimony regarding the interstate commerce element of saved images and videos on computer hard drives was not an abuse of discretion. Because jury was not instructed that two charges - one for receiving and one or possessing child pornography --could not be based on the same set of facts, it was plain error and a violation of double jeopardy to convict of both charges. Case is remanded to vacate one of the convictions.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.