United States v. Antuan Dunlap

MEMORANDUM

The United States appeals from the district court’s orders dismissing an indictment against Defendants Antuan Dimlap and Joseph Whitfield on the ground of outrageous government conduct. See United States v. Hudson, 3 F.Supp.3d 772 (C.D.Cal.2014); United States v. Whitfield, 2014 WL 2761408 (C.D.Cal. June 18, 2014). Both Defendants were arrested as part of the same reverse-sting operation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”), in which Defendants planned to rob an imaginary cocaine stash house invented by ATF agents. The government also moves that the case be reassigned to a different judge for any further proceedings. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We reverse and order reassignment.

1. The district court erred in concluding that the government’s conduct met the “extremely high standard” necessary to dismiss an indictment for outrageous government conduct. United States v. Black, 733 F.3d 294, 302 (9th Cir.2013) (quoting United States v. Garza-Juarez, 992 F.2d 896, 904 (9th Cir.1993)). We have previously held that similar reverse-sting operations, if properly conducted, are a permissible law enforcement tactic. See…