US v. Brendann: Brendann was a teacher/advisor at an all-boys prep school (middle school), who engaged in a range of inappropriate behavior with students, up to and including sexual abuse and blackmail. He was convicted, after a trial, of child exploitation, possessing child sexual abuse material, and cyberstalking. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, with an applicable Guideline “range” of life.
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Brendann’s convictions and sentence, rejecting various challenges. First, the court held there was no abuse of discretion in the district court not holding a full competency hearing after Brendann reported suicidal thoughts on the first day of trial. The court noted that such thoughts are not, standing alone, enough to trigger competency concerns and that the other factors (including counsel’s statement that there was no other basis to question Brendann’s competency). Second, the court found no error in the denial of a motion to suppress evidence obtained from Brendann’s iPhone, concluding that there was neither interrogation nor coercion involved. Third, the court found that the Government had not withheld Jenks material for a witness who could not recall whether officers took notes of a statement he made, much less approved them as an accurate record of the conversation. Finally, the court found no error in sentencing, concluding that the district court properly considered (without giving much weight to) family and victim testimony.
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