United States v. Scott, No. 12-3131 (8th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of two counts of bank robbery, two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The court concluded that the district court properly denied defendant's motion to sever the charges where joinder did not violate Rule 8(a) and did not cause prejudice to defendant; in regards to defendant's motion to suppress evidence found in his car, the district court did not err in concluding that the woman driving defendant's car had common authority over the car and the woman voluntarily consented to the search; and in regards to the district court's imposition of life sentences, the district court committed no significant procedural error and the sentence was substantively reasonable. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.
Court Description: Criminal Case - conviction. District court did not err in denying motion to sever three bank robbery charges, as they were of the same or similar character and occurred over a relatively short period of time, and did not result in prejudice; acquittal of one of the bank robberies shows the jury considered each count separately. District court did not err in denying motions to suppress, as finding that the person with common authority over the car freely gave consent to search is justified by the evidence. District court did not commit significant procedural error in sentencing Scott to life sentences, as the court did not base the sentence on clearly erroneous facts and adequately explained its reasons for varying upward. Sentence was substantively reasonable. Judge Bright dissents as to the sentencing issue.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.