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Before LEVAL, SOTOMAYOR, and KATZMANN, Circuit Judges.
Jocelyn E. Strauber, Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York (Jacob W. Buchdahl, Diane Gujarati, Assistant United States Attorneys, of counsel; Michael J. Garcia, United States Attorney, on the brief), New York, NY, for Appellee.Diarmuid White, White & White (Brendan White, on the brief), New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellant.
Defendant Horatio Hamilton appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Chin, J.) convicting him, after a jury trial, of conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. Hamilton was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment, ten years' supervised release, and the forfeiture of $10,000,000 plus any interest in a house associated with the conspiracy. He challenges the conviction on five grounds. He contends that the court erred (1) in denying his motion to suppress evidence seized from a house in which he claimed a privacy interest on the ground that he lacked standing; (2) in receiving hearsay testimony; (3) in receiving expert opinion testimony without establishing the qualifications of the expert; (4) in instructing the jury on accomplice testimony without sufficient explanation of the witness's interest and motive to testify falsely; and (5) in placing the burden of showing withdrawal from a conspiracy on the defendant. While we reject most of the defendant's claims, we agree that the court could not properly deny the suppression motion on the grounds given without conducting a hearing. We remand for further proceedings.
continue @ UNITED STATES v. HAMILTON
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Horatio HAMILTON, Defendant-Appellant.
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