United States v. Blair, No. 22-3573 (8th Cir. 2024)
Annotate this CaseKenneth Blair was convicted by a jury of possessing with intent to distribute and distributing methamphetamine, and was sentenced to 292 months in prison. Blair appealed the conviction to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, arguing against the denial of two pre-trial motions, refusal to acquit him on both counts, and the calculation of drug quantities for sentencing. Blair's main argument against his conviction was that the evidence against him was insufficient. However, the court found that there was ample evidence linking him to the possession and distribution of meth, including the fact that he was found with marked buy money and drugs at an apartment linked to him. The court stated that the jury could reasonably conclude that Blair had dominion over the apartment and the drugs within it. The court also dismissed Blair's claims against the calculation of drug quantities for sentencing. Blair argued that the court should not have relied on testimony from a confidential informant and a cooperating witness due to their unreliability. However, the court held that it was within the district court's discretion to credit their testimony. The court therefore affirmed Blair's conviction and sentence.
Court Description: [Kobes, Author, with Gruender and Stras, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. The district court did not err in refusing to compel disclosure of a confidential informant's identity; nor did the district court err in denying defendant's untimely motion for a Franks hearing to challenge the validity of a warrant to search an apartment that was linked to defendant and where methamphetamine was found; the district court also did not err in denying defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal on his two drug convictions, as ample evidence proved his joint constructive possession of both the apartment and the methamphetamine, and the confidential informant testified that he had participated in a controlled buy of meth from defendant; nor did the district court clearly err by relying on testimony from the confidential informant and a cooperating witness to determine uncharged drug quantities at sentencing.
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