United States v. Woodard, No. 11-2828 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseDefendant pled guilty to possession of child pornography and subsequently appealed his sentence, arguing that his prior juvenile adjudication for second-degree sexual abuse did not support an enhancement under 18 U.S.C. 2252(b)(2) or U.S.S.G. 2G2.2(b)(5) because a juvenile adjudication did not constitute a prior conviction for those purposes. The court concluded that a juvenile adjudication could be considered a prior conviction under section 2252(b) and that the district court did not err in applying the five-level enhancement to defendant's sentence. The court also concluded that sufficient evidence existed to support defendant's juvenile adjudication. Defendant failed to identify any constitutional safeguards that he was deprived of at the time. Defendant did not allege that his juvenile proceeding was actually uncounseled, and his allegation that it could have been uncounseled because documentation was lacking was insufficient to satisfy his burden of proof. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Criminal case - Sentencing. District court did not err in determining defendant's prior juvenile adjudication for second-degree sexual abuse of a minor supported an enhancement under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2252(b)(2) or Guidelines Sec. 2G2.2(b)(5); claim that the adjudication was obtained without proper constitutional safeguards rejected.
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