United States v. Johnson, No. 10-1762 (7th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of distributing cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine (21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A)) and being a felon in possession of a firearm (18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1)). Conspiracy to distribute charges against his girlfriend were dropped and she was convicted of obstruction of justice (18 U.S.C. 1512(c)(1)). The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The court properly denied a motion to suppress. The affidavit accompanying the warrant application contained information from four confidential informants tying defendant's cocaine dealing at various locations over the course of two years; one of the informants conducted a controlled buy shortly before the warrant was executed. The court acted within its discretion in declining to give a special credibility instruction with respect to a witness who testified in hope of avoiding possession charges. The prosecutor's misstatement of the quantity of cocaine, in opening statements, was not prejudicial. Destruction of cocaine by the girlfriend qualified as obstruction of justice under language added by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, "record, document, or other object" the jury could reasonably believe that she foresaw that any contraband discovered in the search would be used against her and defendant in official proceedings.
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