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eBook details

• Title: United States V. Weston
• Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Release Date : January 30, 1992
• Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
• Pages : * pages
• Size : 59 KB

Description

David E. Weston, the former public works officer of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, was convicted by a jury on five counts of seeking and accepting gratuities in his official position in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 201(c)(1)(B), one count of conspiring with others, named and unnamed, to seek and accept such gratuities in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, and obstruction of Justice in violation 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 1503. Weston appeals both his conviction and his sentence. He alleges that the district court improperly admitted unduly prejudicial evidence of actions not charged in the indictment and that the court's questioning of a government witness was improper and prejudicial to his case; that evidence of his business dealings was seized under a defective search warrant; and that the acts charged in the indictment cannot support a conviction of obstruction of Justice. He further alleges that the trial court improperly enhanced his sentence because the court erroneously found that Weston obstructed Justice, was a leader or organizer of the conspiracy, and committed the offense while serving as a high government official. Weston also assigns error to the court's refusal to depart downward in sentencing in recognition of his previously distinguished military record. We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's evidentiary rulings and no material defect in the search warrant. We further hold that the acts proved at trial were sufficient to support Weston's conviction of obstruction of Justice. Accordingly, we affirm his conviction. However, because the trial court improperly applied the Guidelines, we vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing. Because a trial court's refusal to grant a downward departure is not reviewable on appeal, we do not consider Weston's argument that the court erred in refusing to depart downward.

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