United States v. Keith Lamb

MEMORANDUM

Following his arrest for bringing in an illegal alien, appellant Keith Lamb (Lamb) signed a stipulation that allowed for the release of the alien material witness, but allowed the government to introduce hearsay statements of the witness should Lamb decide to go to trial, which Lamb subsequently did. The district court rejected Lamb’s argument that he was permitted to introduce hearsay statements of the material witness. The district court also limited Lamb’s questioning of a government witness regarding the nature of the witness’s drug conviction. Lamb appeals these two rulings.

1. Because the stipulation unambiguously allowed only the government to introduce the material witness’s statements, the district court did not err in rejecting Lamb’s argument to the contrary. See United States v. Molina, 596 F.3d 1166, 1169 (9th Cir.2010) (“Stipulations freely and voluntarily entered into in criminal trials are as binding and enforceable as those entered into in civil actions ....”) (citation and alteration omitted).

2. The district court committed no plain error pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(3). See United States v. Jenkins, 633 F.3d 788, 803 (9th Cir.2011)…