United States v. Myles, No. 19-1619 (8th Cir. 2020)
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The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for making a false material declaration before a jury. The court held that the district court properly excluded evidence of defendant's duress defense where she failed to present sufficient evidence to support a finding that she faced a present, imminent, and impending threat. She also failed to present sufficient evidence to support a finding that she had no reasonable, legal alternative to giving false testimony.
The court also held that the district court did not err in applying a cross-reference under USSG 2X3.1, which resulted in a 20 base level offense for the underlying offense. Furthermore, the district court did not err by applying the four-level specific offense characteristic for the criminal offender's possessing the gun in connection with another felony offense.
Court Description: [Colloton, Author, with Shepherd and Erickson, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. The district court did not err in excluding evidence concerning Myles's defense of duress, as she failed to present sufficient evidence that she faced a present, imminent and impending threat at the time she gave the false grand jury testimony which is the basis for this prosecution; nor did she present sufficient evidence to support a finding that she had no reasonable, legal alternative to giving false testimony; the district court properly applied a cross-reference under Guidelines Sec. 2X3.1 and did not err in calculating defendant's offense level.
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