United States v. Kelley, No. 16-2696 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for child pornography offenses. The court held that sufficient evidence supported the jury's verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; the district court did not err, much less plainly err, by admitting testimony regarding his use of adult pornography; and the district court did not clearly err by imposing a special assessment according to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.
Court Description: Smith, Author, with Gruender and Benton, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. Evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction for possession of child pornography; the district court did not abuse its discretion in permitting a law enforcement officer to testify that defendant admitted to looking for and viewing adult pornography, where the testimony was relevant to the crimes charged, was non-explicit and did not unfairly prejudice defendant; the district court did not err in imposing a $5,000 special assessment pursuant to the provisions of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act despite defendant's IFP status, as a determination of indigency in this context should include both the defendant's current financial situation and his ability to earn in the future, and the district court did not err, in light of defendant's education and skills, in determining he would, at some point, be able to pay the special assessment.
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