United States v. Shorty, No. 11-10530 (9th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his convictions for aiding and abetting offenses. In this case, there was evidence that defendant suffered from a low I.Q. or a learning disability and there was no written waiver. The court concluded that the jury-trial waiver was invalid because the district court failed to take necessary precautions to ensure that defendant's jury-trial waiver was made knowingly and intelligently. Although the court reversed defendant's conviction on all counts, the court held that there was sufficient evidence to support defendant's aiding and abetting convictions and, therefore, the Double Jeopardy Clause was not implicated and the government could retry defendant on all counts.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel reversed bench-trial convictions for aiding and abetting the making of a false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm, aiding and abetting the making of a false statement concerning information that must be kept by a firearms dealer, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, and remanded. The panel held that the district court failed to take the necessary precautions to ensure that the defendant’s jury-trial waiver was made knowingly and intelligently, where the court did not obtain a written waiver, the defendant informed the district court that he has a low I.Q., his attorney informed the court that the defendant is learning disabled, and the district court did not conduct an adequate colloquy. Because the panel rejected the defendant’s contention that there was insufficient evidence to support the aiding-and- abetting convictions, the panel concluded that the Double Jeopardy Clause is not implicated and that the government may retry the defendant on all counts.
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