United States v. Lillybridge, No. 18-3674 (8th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this Case
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's finding of a supervised release violation and revocation of defendant's sentence. The court held that the district court carefully explained objective facts and reasonable inferences supporting its finding that the witness' recantation was not credible. The court explained that it was not an improper factor to consider that the witness' recantation was influenced by family pressures, and that defendant had assaulted another woman under similar circumstances was a relevant corroborating circumstance. The court stated that when the district court concludes that a recantation was not believable, it was almost impossible for an appellate court to hold that a district judge's rejection, on credibility grounds, of the testimony of a live witness was clearly erroneous.
The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by imposing defendant's sentence, which was not substantively reasonable, where the district court carefully weighed the 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) sentencing factors.
Court Description: Per Curiam - Before Loken, Shepherd and Stras, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. The district court did not err in revoking defendant's supervised release even though the victim in the domestic assault recanted her prior accusations; when a district court concludes that a recantation is not believable - as the court did here - it is almost impossible for an appellate court to hold the district court's rejection, on credibility grounds, is clearly erroneous; the sentence impose upon the revocation of defendant's supervised release was not substantively unreasonable.
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.