United States v. Diaz, No. 18-60455 (5th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CaseThe Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's convictions and restitution orders for various counts of healthcare fraud, distribution of controlled substances, and obstruction of justice. The court held that the evidence was sufficient to support defendant's multiple convictions; the government did not constructively amend the indictment; in light of Rothgery v. Gillespie Cty., Tex., 554 U.S. 191, 198 (2008), the government did not violate defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel by directing a coconspirator to record conversations with defendant; there was no Fifth Circuit precedent holding that a government's use of a coconspirator to record conversations with a subject of investigation in a non-custodial, pre-indictment setting constitutes a violation of a state bar's no-contact rule; the district court correctly determined that there was no need for an evidentiary hearing prior to trial because the issue of the recordings presented legal questions, and defendant had not articulated any factual disputes; the district court instructed the jury consistently with the indictment, which charged the specific offenses and aiding and abetting in the alternative under 18 U.S.C. 2; and the record provided an adequate basis to support the restitution order.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on September 13, 2019.
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