United States v. Teague

Summarized by:

  • Court: 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Archives
  • Area(s) of Law: Criminal Law
  • Date Filed: 07-18-2013
  • Case #: 10-10276
  • Judge(s)/Court Below: Circuit Judge Fisher for the Court; Circuit Judges Tashima and Graber
  • Full Text Opinion

Separate convictions of receipt and possession of child pornography must be based on some assurance that the convictions were based on separate conduct.

Danny Teague was convicted by a jury of both receipt and possession of child pornography. The files that supported the receipt conviction were a subset of the files that supported the possession conviction. On appeal, Teague argued that the convictions violated the Fifth Amendment’s Double Jeopardy Clause since they were based on the same conduct and possession is a lesser included offense of receipt. The Ninth Circuit agreed that the district court erred by entering judgment on both counts absent a jury instruction or other assurance that the convictions were based on separate conduct. However, the panel affirmed, holding that the district court’s error did not affect Teague’s substantial rights due to the overwhelming evidence of the separate conduct. AFFIRMED.

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