US v. James Allen

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 1:01-cr-00263-JAB-4 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998624798].. [10-5004]

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Document: 25

Date Filed: 07/05/2011

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 10-5004

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
JAMES TYLER ALLEN,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Durham.
James A. Beaty, Jr.,
Chief District Judge. (1:01-cr-00263-JAB-4)

Submitted:

June 30, 2011

Decided:

July 5, 2011

Before WILKINSON, DUNCAN, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Michael E. Archenbronn, LAW OFFICE OF MICHAEL E. ARCHENBRONN,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellant.
Ripley Rand,
United States Attorney, Sandra J. Hairston, Assistant United
States Attorney, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
James

Tyler

Allen

was

convicted

of

conspiracy

to

distribute cocaine base and cocaine hydrochloride, in violation
of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a), 846 (2006).

Allen was sentenced to

seventy-eight months in prison, followed by a five-year term of
supervised release.

While on supervised release, Allen violated

two conditions of his supervised release.

The district court

revoked Allen’s supervised release term and sentenced him to
thirty-six months in prison.

On appeal, Allen contends that the

district court erred in revoking his term of supervised release
because the only evidence supporting the revocation was a law
enforcement

officer’s

hearsay

testimony

identifying

Allen

as

having sold on several occasions a controlled substance to a
confidential informant.

We affirm.

We review the district court's decision to revoke a
defendant's

supervised

release

for

an

abuse

of

discretion.

United States v. Pregent, 190 F.3d 279, 282 (4th Cir. 1999).
The district court need only find a violation of a condition of
supervised

release

by

a

preponderance

of

the

evidence.

18

U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3) (2006); Johnson v. United States, 529 U.S.
694,

700

district

(2000).
court’s

The

conclusion

reviewed for clear error.
1017,

1019

(8th

factual

Cir.

determinations

that

a

violation

informing

the

occurred

are

United States v. Carothers, 337 F.3d

2003).

A
2

district

court’s

evidentiary

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rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion and harmless error.
United States v. Johnson, 587 F.3d 625, 637 (4th Cir.), cert.
denied, 130 S. Ct. 2128 (2010).
A defendant at a supervised release hearing is afforded a
limited right “to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses.”
Morissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 489 (1972).

The defendant

must, pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.1(b),
have the opportunity at a revocation hearing “to question any
adverse witness, unless the court determines that the interest
of justice does not require the witness to appear.”
Crim.

P.

32.1(b)(2)(C).

Under

this

rule,

“the

Fed. R.

court

should

apply a balancing test at the hearing itself when considering
the releasee’s asserted right to cross-examine witnesses” and
should “balance the person’s interest in the constitutionally
guaranteed right to confrontation against the government’s good
cause

for

denying

it.”

Fed.

R.

Crim.

P.

32.1

advisory

committee’s note (2002).
Here,

the

district

court

admitted

over

Allen’s

objection hearsay evidence concerning a confidential informant’s
and a law enforcement official’s observations during controlled
purchases of narcotics, and their identification of Allen as the
person who sold the drugs.
failed

to

admission

assess,
of

the

under

evidence

In doing so, the district court
Rule
was
3

32.1(b)(2)(C),
in

the

interest

whether
of

the

justice.

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However, our review of the record convinces us that admission of
the hearsay evidence for purposes of assessing whether Allen
committed the charged violations was harmless.

The district

court had ample grounds for revoking Allen’s supervised release,
including Allen’s admissions during the execution of a search
warrant at his residence, which substantially corroborated the
hearsay

testimony

dealing efforts.

concerning

Allen’s

identification

and

drug

Thus, we find no reversible error.

Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment.
We

dispense

with

oral

argument

because

the

facts

and

legal

contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the
court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

4