United States v. Steiner, No. 14-4628 (3d Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseAn informant told a Pennsylvania State Trooper that Steiner, a convicted felon, was staying on the informant’s property, was “on the run,” and had a sawed-off shotgun, which Steiner called a “cop killer,” in a camper on the property. The officer obtained a search warrant for the camper, paid the informant $100, and told the informant to drive Steiner to a gas station, where officers would arrest Steiner on a warrant that had issued for Steiner’s failure to appear at a hearing on an unrelated sexual assault charge. Executing the warrant, police seized a sawed-off shotgun, .32 and .38 caliber ammunition, and shotgun ammunition. The informant stated that he had seen missing pieces of the shotgun at a home that Steiner supposedly owned; police obtained another warrant for that home, where they found those parts and various types of ammunition. Steiner was indicted as a felon-in-possession of a firearm and ammunition, 18 U.S.C. 922(g). He was convicted of felony possession of ammunition and sentenced to an 87-month prison term. The Third Circuit affirmed, upholding admission of the evidence related to the sexual assault warrant and the court’s failure to instruct the jury that it was required to reach a unanimous verdict.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on February 1, 2017.
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