United States v. Long, No. 12-1959 (8th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his sentence and conviction of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child. The court concluded that, even if it was error for the government to admit defendant's pre-arrest, pre-Miranda "incriminate myself" statement as part of the government's case-in-chief, it was certainly not an error that was clear or obvious under current law; the district court did not plainly err when it failed to sua sponte strike the testimony of a law enforcement agent or the closing argument reference to the statement by the government; the district court did not plainly err in failing to sua sponte strike the government's closing argument comment about defendant's election not to testify; and the court declined to consider defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel claim in this direct appeal. Accordingly, the court affirmed the conviction and sentence.
Court Description: Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. Applying a plain error analysis and prior precedents, even if it was error for the government to admit defendant's pre-arrest, pre-Miranda "incriminate myself" statement as part of its case in chief, a point the court does not reach, it was not an error that was "clear or obvious under current law," and the district court did not plainly err when it failed to sua sponte strike the questioning agent's testimony or the prosecutor's reference to the statement in her closing argument; nor did the district court plainly err in failing to sua sponte strike the government's closing argument comment about defendant's decision not to testify; claims of ineffective assistance of counsel with regard to these issues should be brought in habeas and would not be considered on direct appeal.
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