Christenot

United States v. Christenot

Good Law
280 F. App'x 649
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitMay 28, 2008No. 07-30216California288 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Kenneth Romaine Christenot appeals from the 18-month sentence imposed following his jury-trial conviction for making false statements in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (a)(1), and theft of government property, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641 . We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Christenot contends that the district court erred in applying a two-level en *650 hancement for obstruction of justice under U.S.S.G. § BC1.1. He contends that the district court based the enhancement on unreliable hearsay in an affidavit from Lisa Emmett, the daughter of his co-defendant, that alleged that he had attempted to influence her testimony at trial. He contends that Emmett’s subsequent recantation of the affidavit renders it unreliable.

The district court did not abuse its discretion in determining that there were minimal indicia supporting the affidavit’s reliability. See United States v. Littlesun, 444 F.3d 1196 (9th Cir.2006). Among other things, the district court properly deferred to the credibility determination of the judge who had observed Emmett’s in-court testimony. In addition, the fact that the recantation itself appeared to have been coached…

Sign in to read the full opinion

Create a free account to read the complete opinion text, citation history, and good-law status for this case.