Latest Case: United States v. Benjamin (Criminal Law)

Department of Justice Once Again Proves Its Loyalty to the President, Not the Rule of Law

AUSTIN SARAT

Austin Sarat—Associate Provost, Associate Dean of the Faculty, and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College—comments on the recent news that the Justice Department will seek dismissal of charges against Michael Flynn. Sarat suggests that because the decision does not seem to advance the fair administration of justice in this case, the court should take the unusual step of refusing to grant the prosecutor’s motion to dismiss.

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United States v. Benjamin

Docket: 18-13091

Opinion Date: May 8, 2020

Judge: Marcus

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed defendant's convictions for distributing furanyl fentanyl, a controlled substance analogue, in counterfeit oxycodone pills that caused the death of a 34-year-old woman. The court held that the government introduced sufficient evidence to permit a reasonable jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the furanyl fentanyl defendant distributed caused the woman's death; the district court had subject matter jurisdiction over the first two drug counts of the indictment; the district court did not err, much less plainly err, in instructing the jury on scienter; the district court did not clearly err in finding that defendant voluntarily consented to the search of his bags at the airport and in denying the motion to suppress; the district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to further investigate any juror misconduct; and there was no cumulative error requiring reversal.