United States v. Dennis, No. 19-4494 (4th Cir. 2021)
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Officers, investigating drug trafficking at a shopping plaza, abandoned their surveillance and followed Dennis and Guess, who had stopped to talk with their suspect. Guess ran a stop sign. Officers activated their emergency equipment, A high-speed chase ensued. Officer McAndrew saw Dennis discard a gun and a bag containing a white substance. Guess eventually stopped. Officers found a bag concealed in Guess’s anal cleft and a scale in the door pocket. Nothing was found on Dennis. A loaded gun and another bag containing apparent narcotics were found where McAndrew indicated they would be. Officers did not investigate ties the men might have had to broader criminal enterprises nor arrest the original suspect. The discarded packet contained heroin; the substance Guess concealed constituted crack cocaine. The scale had traces of cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. There was no fingerprint analysis. The men were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine base, and fentanyl; possession with intent to distribute heroin; possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking; and being felons in possession of a firearm.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Dennis’s conviction and 96-month sentence, rejecting challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence and to the court allowing the prosecutor to peremptorily strike a Hispanic juror and instructing the jury there is no legal requirement that the government use specific investigative techniques to prove its case. The court noted the “ease with which our law permits conspiracy convictions for conduct that overlaps almost entirely with underlying substantive offenses,” but stated that it was constrained by its precedent.
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