United States v. Brown

• Decision Date: 11 July 2022
• Docket Number: 21-3766
• Parties: United States of America Plaintiff - Appellee v. Dennis Brown, Jr. Defendant-Appellant
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

United States of America Plaintiff - Appellee
v.
Dennis Brown, Jr. Defendant-Appellant

No. 21-3766

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit

July 11, 2022

Unpublished

Submitted: May 20, 2022

Appeal from United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Eastern

Before KELLY, ERICKSON, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM

Dennis Brown, Jr. appeals from the district court's^[1] revocation of his supervised release. Brown claims the revocation is unconstitutional because it was

1

based on acquitted conduct and that, even if acquitted conduct may be used to support a supervised release revocation, the government failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he violated his conditions of release.

Brown began his term of supervised release on October 8, 2020. The conditions of his release included conditions that he must not commit a new crime, interact with anyone that he knows is engaged in criminal activity, or possess a firearm. In March 2021, Brown was indicted in federal court on charges of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery and firearms charges. As a result, Brown's probation officer filed a petition to revoke his supervision. The district court continued the revocation proceedings until the conclusion of Brown's trial. After a four-day trial, the jury returned a verdict acquitting Brown of all the new charges.

During the revocation hearing, the district court considered the trial evidence, and Brown did not object. After hearing a summary of the government's case and argument, the district judge (who also presided over the trial) noted that the jury "did a fine job" when it found Brown to be not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. However, the district court continued: "Frankly, I have no reasonable doubt in my mind." Despite Brown's acquittal, in revoking Brown's sentence, the district court specifically credited the testimonies of two witnesses connecting Brown to the crimes and found Brown's explanation of the events to be not credible. The district court determined by a preponderance of the evidence that Brown committed new law violations, associated with individuals engaged in criminal activity, and possessed a firearm. After considering the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), the district court imposed a revocation sentence at the bottom of the advisory guidelines range, 24 months' imprisonment.

This case highlights the difficulty in using acquitted conduct to...