United States Tenth Circuit

Defendant's conviction and sentence for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, over 500 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, is affirmed where: 1) because neither defendant's cell phone records nor their authenticating documents were testimonial, no Confrontation Clause violation occurred; 2) defendant's mandatory life sentence pursuant to 21 U.S.C. section 841(b)(1)(A) did not violate the Eighth Amendment; and 3) admitting lay testimony about how cell phones worked did not have a substantial impact on the outcome of the case, and therefore the error was harmless and did not warrant reversal.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/20/2011
• Published 01/20/2011

Judges

• Paul J. Kelly Jr.

Court

• United States Tenth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Ronald Pretty, Randall Carnahan