United States v. Craig Lee Childs

Defendant Craig Lee Childs appeals his conviction on four counts of possession of a stolen vehicle in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2313 and his sentence of one year incarceration and five years probation. Childs argues that (A) venue was improper in the District of Arizona, (B) documents were admitted as business records without proper foundation, (C) duplicate copies of documents were erroneously admitted in lieu of the original documents, (D) the government relied on foreign law at trial without giving reasonable notice, (E) the prosecutor engaged in misconduct during the course of plea negotiations, and (F) the government improperly used a peremptory challenge to remove a Native American prospective juror. We find these arguments without merit and we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Five vehicles were reported 'stolen in Arizona between May and July of 1987. During this same period of time, Craig Lee Childs registered these cars in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, using the name Craig Lee Connors. Childs, along with another man, was identified as having test-driven one of the ears in Arizona shortly before it was stolen.

On April 19, 1989, Childs was indicted in Arizona on five counts of…