United States v. George Christian Carr

OVERVIEW

Appellant, George Christian Carr, was convicted of one count of armed bank robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a) & (d), and one count of using a firearm in committing a violent crime under 18 U.S.C. § 924 (c)(1). He received á total sentence of 106 months. The primary issue on appeal is whether, over a defendant’s objection, a federal magistrate judge has jurisdiction to preside over a court reporter’s read-back to a jury of trial testimony in a felony trial. Appellant raises three additional issues, all of which lack merit: (1) whether the district court’s decision to limit cross-examination of a key prosecution witness deprived appellant of his rights under the Confrontation Clause of the United States Constitution; (2) whether appellant was deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel; and (3) whether the district court erred in its decision to deny a Rule 29 motion to dismiss the remaining deadlocked counts for insufficient evidence.

BACKGROUND

Three bank robberies occurred from December 1991 through February 1992 in Orange County, California. Following the third robbery, Ernest Barragan, a bank employee, witnessed the robber enter a tan,…