Justia Native American Law Opinion Summaries

Julian R. Bear Runner, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) and its President from December 2018 to December 2020, was convicted of wire fraud, larceny, and embezzlement and theft from an Indian Tribal Organization. He manipulated the Tribe’s travel policies to embezzle over $80,000, which he used for gambling at the Prairie Wind Casino. Bear Runner pressured travel specialists to approve fraudulent travel requests and never repaid the advance payments.The United States District Court for the District of South Dakota sentenced Bear Runner to 22 months in prison and ordered $82,484 in restitution. Bear Runner appealed, arguing that the government failed to prove the requisite criminal intents for his offenses and that the district court committed procedural and substantive errors in sentencing.The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reviewed the case. The court affirmed the jury’s verdict, stating that sufficient evidence supported the finding that Bear Runner intended to defraud, steal, and embezzle. The court noted that fraudulent intent could be inferred from the facts and circumstances surrounding Bear Runner’s actions, including his manipulation of the approval process and his failure to repay the funds.Regarding sentencing, the court found no procedural error, as Bear Runner did not accept responsibility for his actions. The court also found no substantive error, as the district court acted within its discretion in considering similarly situated defendants and determining that Bear Runner’s individual circumstances warranted a different outcome. The judgment of the district court was affirmed. View "United States v. Runner" on Justia Law

Anthony Brian Walker, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, was convicted of first-degree murder in Indian Country after an altercation with three teenagers in Ada, Oklahoma. On November 29, 2021, Walker was riding his bicycle when he encountered the teenagers in a red SUV. After a confrontation where Walker spat at the car and punched one of the teenagers, Jason Hubbard, Walker later approached the SUV with a knife and stabbed Hubbard, who subsequently died from the wound. Walker turned himself in the next day and admitted to the stabbing, claiming he acted because he believed Hubbard had a gun.The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma presided over Walker's trial. Walker's defense included claims of self-defense and heat of passion. He requested jury instructions on these defenses, as well as on second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. The district court provided instructions on self-defense and the lesser-included offenses but did not include an instruction on imperfect self-defense, as Walker did not request it. The jury found Walker guilty of first-degree murder.The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reviewed the case. Walker argued that the district court erred by not instructing the jury on imperfect self-defense and the government's burden to disprove it. The Tenth Circuit held that Walker did not preserve this argument because he never requested an imperfect self-defense instruction at trial. The court found no plain error in the district court's failure to sua sponte instruct the jury on imperfect self-defense, as it was not required to do so without a specific request. The Tenth Circuit affirmed Walker's conviction. View "United States v. Walker" on Justia Law

In 2017, Raymond Lee Goldesberry's daughter, K.G., who was almost 12 years old, entered her parents' bedroom after a nightmare and climbed into bed next to her father, who was asleep. During the night, K.G. awoke to find her father touching her inappropriately. K.G. believed her father was asleep and mistook her for her mother. About four years later, the government prosecuted Goldesberry for aggravated sexual abuse of a minor under 12 in Indian Country.In October 2021, Goldesberry was charged in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. He pleaded not guilty, and the case proceeded to a jury trial in March 2022. The jury found Goldesberry guilty, and the district court denied his motion for acquittal. Goldesberry was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment, the mandatory minimum under 18 U.S.C. § 2241(c).The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reviewed the case. Goldesberry appealed on the grounds of insufficient evidence and prosecutorial misconduct. The Tenth Circuit focused on the sufficiency of the evidence, particularly the knowledge element of the charged offense. The court concluded that the evidence presented was insufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Goldesberry knowingly engaged in the sexual act, as the evidence equally supported the theory that the touching occurred by mistake.The Tenth Circuit vacated Goldesberry's conviction and remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that the government failed to prove the knowledge element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. View "United States v. Goldesberry" on Justia Law

Joseph Harjo was tried and convicted by a jury in Oklahoma federal court for aggravated sexual abuse in Indian Country under the Major Crimes Act. The district court sentenced him to life in prison. Harjo challenged his conviction, arguing that the Major Crimes Act is unconstitutional and that the district court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of prior child abuse under Federal Rule of Evidence 414.Previously, Harjo was charged by the state of Oklahoma with child sexual abuse and was convicted by a state jury, resulting in a life sentence. However, following the Supreme Court's decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which determined that Muskogee was within the Muscogee Creek Nation, Oklahoma's jurisdiction was invalidated, and Harjo's conviction was set aside. Subsequently, a federal grand jury indicted him on one count of aggravated sexual abuse in Indian Country.The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reviewed the case. The court affirmed the constitutionality of the Major Crimes Act, citing controlling Supreme Court precedent that establishes Congress's plenary power over Indian affairs and the unique status of Indians as a separate people with their own political institutions. The court also found that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the testimony of five child witnesses under Rule 414. The district court had determined that a reasonable jury could conclude the prior acts occurred by a preponderance of the evidence and that the probative value of the testimony was not substantially outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice.The Tenth Circuit concluded that the district court carefully addressed the relevant factors and reached a permissible conclusion on the admissibility of the testimony. Therefore, the court affirmed Harjo's conviction and life sentence. View "United States v. Harjo" on Justia Law

In April 2018, Justin Little was investigated and arrested by state police in Oklahoma after his wife’s boyfriend was shot and killed on the Muscogee Creek Reservation. Following the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, it was established that the Creek Reservation had not been disestablished, meaning state police lacked jurisdiction over Little’s offense. Little was later convicted of first-degree murder in federal court.The United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma denied Little’s motion to suppress evidence collected by state officers, ruling that the officers reasonably believed they had jurisdiction at the time of the investigation. Little was subsequently convicted by a jury and sentenced to life imprisonment.The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reviewed the case. The court held that the evidence collected by state officers was admissible under the good faith exception to the Fourth Amendment’s exclusionary rule. The court reasoned that, given the historical belief that Oklahoma had jurisdiction over offenses on Creek land and the stay of the mandate in Murphy v. Royal pending Supreme Court review, state officers could reasonably believe they had jurisdiction. The court concluded that excluding the evidence would not have a significant deterrent effect and would impose substantial social costs.The Tenth Circuit affirmed Little’s conviction and sentence, rejecting his other arguments for reversal, including challenges to the admission of evidence, jury instructions, and prosecutorial statements. The court found that none of these issues warranted relief, either individually or cumulatively. View "United States v. Little" on Justia Law

The defendant was tried and convicted by a jury of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 72-year-old woman, E.F., in her home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The indictment alleged that the defendant is an Indian as defined under federal law, which was a jurisdictional predicate for the federal charges. The defendant was sentenced to life in prison, and judgment was entered on July 27, 2023. The defendant timely appealed, raising four issues: the admission of a hearsay verification letter to prove his Indian status, the exclusion of expert testimony on trauma and memory, the allowance of unnoticed expert testimony by a forensic nurse, and improper jury instructions regarding kidnapping.The United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma admitted a verification letter from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma to prove the defendant's Indian status, over the defendant's hearsay objection. The court also excluded the expert testimony of Dr. Geoffrey Loftus on trauma and memory, allowed the Government’s forensic nurse to provide unnoticed expert testimony, and used the Tenth Circuit’s pattern jury instruction for kidnapping, rejecting the defendant’s proposed language.The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reviewed the case and found merit in the first issue on appeal. The court held that the district court erred by admitting the verification letter as it was inadmissible hearsay and did not qualify as a business record. The court determined that this error was not harmless because it negated an essential element of the crimes charged, specifically the defendant's Indian status, which is required for federal jurisdiction. Consequently, the Tenth Circuit reversed the convictions and sentence and remanded the case to the district court to vacate the judgment and conduct further proceedings consistent with its decision. View "United States v. Harper" on Justia Law

In 2020, a federal grand jury indicted David DeQuattro, an architect, and Cedric Cromwell, Chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council and President of the Mashpee Wampanoag Gaming Authority. They were charged with various federal offenses, including bribery and extortion, related to Cromwell allegedly soliciting and DeQuattro allegedly providing checks and other items of value to protect a contract between DeQuattro's firm and the Gaming Authority for building a casino on tribal land.The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts held a jury trial where DeQuattro was convicted of one count of federal-program bribery, and Cromwell was convicted of two counts of federal-program bribery and multiple counts of Hobbs Act extortion. However, the District Court later entered a judgment of acquittal on the Hobbs Act-related counts, determining that the Hobbs Act did not clearly abrogate tribal immunity. Both defendants appealed their § 666 convictions, and the government cross-appealed the judgment of acquittal on the Hobbs Act counts.The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reviewed the case. The court reversed both the § 666 convictions and the judgment of acquittal. The court found that the evidence did not suffice to show that the RGB contract was "business" of the Tribe, as required under § 666, because the Gaming Authority, which entered the contract, was a separate legal entity from the Tribe and received almost all its funding from a third party. The court also reversed the District Court's judgment of acquittal on the Hobbs Act convictions, holding that tribal officials do not enjoy immunity from federal criminal prosecution and that the evidence was sufficient to show Cromwell's intent to engage in a quid pro quo arrangement. The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. View "United States v. Dequattro" on Justia Law

The case involves a criminal prosecution for a murder in Indian country. Francisco Villanueva and Adan Corona were convicted of first-degree murder and other offenses related to the killing of Vincent Von Brewer III, who owed money to members of the Eastside Oldies gang. Villanueva organized a group, including Corona and Estevan Baquera, to collect the debt. They confronted Brewer at a community center in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, where Villanueva and Corona fatally shot him. Baquera, who acted as an accessory after the fact, helped disguise a getaway car.The United States District Court for the District of South Dakota convicted Villanueva and Corona on all counts, sentencing them to life imprisonment. Baquera pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and received the statutory maximum sentence of 180 months, which was an upward variance from the advisory guideline range of 78 to 97 months. The district court found that Baquera pointed a firearm at the crowd to protect the gang members during the attack.The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reviewed the case. Villanueva challenged the admissibility of an eyewitness identification and the exclusion of a defense expert's testimony. The court found no reversible error, ruling that the identification was not arranged by law enforcement and that the exclusion of the expert's testimony was consistent with precedent. Corona contested the denial of his motion to suppress statements made during a traffic stop, but the court held that the Miranda warnings were not required during the initial detention. Baquera appealed his sentence, arguing it was based on erroneous facts and was unreasonable. The court found no clear error in the district court's findings and upheld the sentence as reasonable.The Eighth Circuit affirmed the judgments of the district court for all three defendants. View "United States v. Villanueva" on Justia Law

Colton Bagola was convicted of first-degree murder and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence after shooting Sloane Bull Bear in the back of the head at a gathering in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Witnesses testified that Bagola shot Bull Bear from approximately one inch away. Following the incident, Bagola and others fled the scene, and Bull Bear's body was found in the exterior doorway. Bagola was indicted on multiple charges, including first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. The district court severed the conspiracy count and granted a motion for acquittal on the tampering charge. The jury convicted Bagola of first-degree murder and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.The United States District Court for the District of South Dakota handled the initial trial. After the jury's guilty verdict, Bagola filed a motion for judgment of acquittal, which the district court denied. Bagola then appealed his conviction, raising several challenges, including the admission of expert testimony, the adequacy of jury instructions regarding his "Indian" status, the sufficiency of evidence for premeditated first-degree murder, and whether premeditated first-degree murder qualifies as a crime of violence.The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reviewed the case. The court found that any error in admitting expert testimony was harmless due to the overwhelming evidence against Bagola. The court also determined that the district court's failure to properly instruct the jury on the "Indian" status element did not affect Bagola's substantial rights, given the uncontroverted evidence of his tribal membership. Additionally, the court held that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's finding of premeditation. Finally, the court ruled that premeditated first-degree murder is categorically a "crime of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). The Eighth Circuit affirmed Bagola's convictions. View "United States v. Bagola" on Justia Law

The case revolves around a mobile home fire that resulted in two deaths. The government accused Mr. Joseph Allen Hernandez of intentionally setting the fire, supported by expert testimony from a fire investigator. Mr. Hernandez claimed that he had accidentally started the fire. The trial resulted in convictions on two counts of second-degree murder in Indian Country and one count of arson in Indian Country.The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma had allowed the fire investigator to give expert testimony, despite objections from the defense. The court also permitted the investigator to testify that he did not believe Mr. Hernandez's explanation of the fire's cause.On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit considered whether the district court had erred in allowing the fire investigator's expert testimony and whether the investigator's disbelief of Mr. Hernandez's explanation had intruded on a reasonable expectation of privacy. The appellate court found no error in the district court's decisions. The court held that the district court had not abused its discretion in allowing the fire investigator's expert testimony. It also found that the investigator's disbelief of Mr. Hernandez's explanation did not intrude on a reasonable expectation of privacy. The court affirmed the district court's rulings and Mr. Hernandez's convictions. View "United States v. Hernandez" on Justia Law