United States v. Bell

Defendant was convicted of making false, fictitious, and fraudulent claims to the United States Treasury, assisting in the filing of false tax returns, criminal contempt, and mail fraud. On appeal, defendant challenged his convictions and the district court's supervised release conditions. The court concluded that the district court did not commit reversible error under the Sixth Amendment when it did not prompt defendant to present a closing argument to the jury and where defendant simply chose to remain silent; nothing in Herring v. New York or the court's precedents gives a self-represented defendant a right to be affirmatively and individually advised that he or she has a right to present a closing argument; Herring and the court's precedent held that a court may not prevent a litigant from making a closing argument; the government provided sufficient evidence to prove that defendant assisted another in the filing of fraudulent tax returns; but the district court did abuse its discretion by requiring defendant to abstain from alcohol and drug consumption and participate in treatment as conditions of his supervised release where the record contains no evidence showing that defendant abused alcohol or other substances and the district court made no relevant findings during the sentencing hearing. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded. View "United States v. Bell" on Justia Law