United States v. Craig, No. 23-2211 (8th Cir. 2024)
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In the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Defendant Ledra Craig appealed his conviction for various counts related to the distribution of fentanyl. On August 2, 2020, Craig sold fentanyl to two men, R.P. and N.B., at a casino in Missouri. R.P. and N.B. were later found unconscious and R.P. ultimately died. Craig was then arrested and made a statement to officers after waiving his Miranda rights, which was later used as evidence during his trial.
Craig raised three main points of contention in his appeal. First, he argued that text messages between him and an unidentified co-conspirator, "Glenn," were wrongly admitted under Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2)(E). The court disagreed, stating that the texts, which discussed drug deals, were made during and in furtherance of a conspiracy. Second, Craig claimed that the court improperly denied him the right to present a complete defense by restricting his ability to question an officer about the circumstances surrounding his inculpatory statement. The court also rejected this argument, noting that Craig had been able to conduct a thorough cross-examination of the officer. Finally, Craig contended that evidence of his prior drug conviction was erroneously admitted under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) as it was irrelevant to the current case and served as improper propensity evidence. The court disagreed, stating that the prior conviction was relevant to his intent to engage in the charged conspiracy to distribute drugs. Based on these reasons, the court affirmed Craig's conviction.
Court Description: [Shepherd, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Gruender, Circuit Judge] Criminal case - Criminal law. The district court properly admitted text messages between defendant and an unidentified coconspirator in which defendant sought to procure drugs, where overwhelming evidence of the conspiracy existed and the texts were made in furtherance of the conspiracy; coconspirator statements are nontestimonial, and their admission did not violate defendant's Confrontation Clause rights; the district court's decision not to allow defendant to ask a DA agent whether he violated agency policy by making a cellphone recording of a statement did not prejudice defendant as he was allowed to ask the witness numerous questions about the circumstances of the recording; the district court did not err in admitting 404(b) evidence of defendant's 2015 conviction for distribution of a controlled substance as the evidence was relevant to his intent, and any possible prejudice was lessened by the district court's cautionary instruction.
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