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No. 10-4083
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Charlotte.
Robert J. Conrad,
Jr., Chief District Judge. (3:09-cr-00186-RJC-DSC-1)
Argued:
Decided:
May 5, 2011
Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, and KING and WYNN, Circuit Judges.
ARGUED:
Matthew Gridley Pruden, Noell Peter Tin, TIN, FULTON,
WALKER & OWEN, PLLC, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant.
Mark A. Jones, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charlotte,
North Carolina, for Appellee.
ON BRIEF: Anne M. Tompkins,
United States Attorney, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee.
PER CURIAM:
Royce
Mitchell
entered
guilty
plea
in
the
Western
The district
On October
his
supervised
release,
see
18
U.S.C.
3583(e)(3).
The
I.
A.
Fifteen-year-old Tiffany Wright was the adopted daughter of
Mitchells biological mother, Alma Wright.
died on January 25, 2009, Mitchell and his wife housed Tiffany
and applied to become her guardians.
2009,
to
the
care
of
different
3
foster
parent,
Susan
Barber.
Tiffany
confided
to
Ms.
Barber
that
she
believed
the
allegation
to
Tiffanys
therapist.
Tiffany
succumbing.
Mitchell
was
identified
as
person
of
as mentioned
25
revocation
hearing
in
federal
court.
penalty
statute
applicable
to
Mitchells
drug
fully
The
with
sentence
that
imposed
requirement,
in
and
21 U.S.C.
Mitchells
the
judgment
case
also
Upon an allegation
It
is
were
more
beyond
amply
likely
dispute
that
sufficient
than
not
to
Tiffanys
support
committed
statements,
a
the
finding
offenses
if
that
of
of
his
proceeding.
802.
conduct
at
issue
in
hearings,
proceedings,
strictly apply.
at
however,
which
the
are
rules
intended
of
be
introduced
reliable.
federal
to
evidence
be
do
more
not
formal
Revocation
informal
been
at
such
hearings
if
it
Hearsay evidence
is
demonstrably
The
abused
discretion
is
inexorably
bound
to
the
contends
that
the
statements
were
unreliable
We agree that
and
social
corroboration.
the
taboos,
would
not
be
subject
to
ready
governments
inability
to
independently
verify
Tiffanys
proper
application
of
the
residual
hearsay
exception
to
the
admission
of
such
statements
even
at
formal
trustworthiness
equivalent
to
those
embodied
in
the
Christopher Phelps & Assocs., LLC v. Galloway, 492 F.3d 532, 541
(4th
Cir.
2007)
(affirming
district
7
courts
acceptance
into
by
admitting
exception,
into
unsworn
evidence,
statements
pursuant
of
to
residual
defendants
teenage
The court
tone
and
demeanor
to
be
sincere.
She
comported
reluctance
sensitive topics.
embarrassment
when
discussing
passively
signal
corrected
Detective
other
and
agreement
with
Johnsons
opportunities
to
impressed
with
the
describing
her
sexual
questions,
misapprehensions
embellish
level
the
of
encounters
the
story.
detail
with
but
and
The
instead
resisted
court
was
Tiffany
employed
in
Mitchell,
noting
that
district
of
court
Tiffanys
recognized
questionable
8
that
evidence
character,
had
been
including
her
hot
temper,
rebellious
dishonesty.
J.A. 428.
attitude,
[and]
occasional
acts
of
concerning
frequency
of
sexual
sex
activity,
the
acts,
and,
the
number
use
importantly,
Id.
point,
given
observing
activity,
the
of
that
changing
of
sexual
condoms,
whom
she
partners,
the
the
location
thought
was
of
the
calculation
frequency
of
due
of
dates,
the
sexual
based
upon
Id. at 433.
Id. at 435.
and
not
their
admissibility.
J.A.
428.
The
See
that,
may
be
once
proper
considered
evidentiary
authentic,
foundation
questions
shows
concerning
566,
(citation
571-72
identification
physical
and
(4th
testimony
mental
omitted));
Cir.
of
Williams
1978)
elderly
condition
v.
McKenzie,
(adjudging
crime
victim
sufficiently
weak
in
reliable
576
poor
to
be
The district
appears
no
Tiffanys
sound
error.
The
statements
and
is
supported
district
to
support
court
its
by
the
record,
we
relied
on
reasonably
decision
to
revoke
II.
A.
Mitchell also contends that he is entitled to a new hearing
on
the
evidence
ground
that
that
he
the
passed
district
a
court
polygraph
refused
test
to
wherein
consider
he
denied
sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, Mitchell maintains
that the same rationale supporting the courts consideration of
Tiffanys statements applies to his polygraph evidence.
In accordance with our authorities construing the Federal
Rules
of
Evidence,
revocation
which,
hearings,
inadmissible.
as
we
have
[p]olygraph
noted,
results
do
are
not
govern
generally
1982),
there
is
no
similar
precedent
permitting
the
The
The
lack
of
Supreme
enabling
Court
has
authority
commented
that
is
hardly
there
is
observed
that
Mitchells
11
polygraph
examination
bore
J.A. 386.
demonstrated
evidence
of
reliable,
they
Mitchells
would
character
be
relevant
for
solely
truthfulness,
as
and
Council Oil Co., 947 F.2d 1128, 1134 (4th Cir. 1991) (reciting
that
circuit
precedents
preclude
bolstering
the
polygraph
test).
No
such
attack
occurred
at
the
nonetheless
maintains
that
the
Supreme
Courts
579
precedent
evidence.
(1993),
and
In
opened
develop
United
the
door
for
us
to
new
framework
to
evaluate
States
v.
reconsider
polygraph
however,
Prince-Oyibo,
our
we
did
not
err
in
faithfully
adhering
to
precedent
12
and
B.
Finally, it came to light after the revocation hearing that
the police had been issued a warrant to obtain a DNA sample from
Adrian Powell, whom police suspected in Tiffanys murder, upon
his
return
Mitchells
to
North
behalf.
Carolina
Mitchell
from
New
filed
York
to
testify
motion
to
reopen
on
the
defense
requirements
United
with
of
States
this
Brady
v.
information
v.
violated
373
Maryland,
Bagley,
473
U.S.
U.S.
667
the
83
(1985).
disclosure
(1963),
and
Mitchell
district
court
denied
the
motion,
explaining
that
discredited
information.
even
J.A.
without
564.
As
hearing
the
court
the
additional
aptly
indicated,
Id. at 565.
at
disclosure
87
(confining
prosecutions
duty
of
to
that
III.
Pursuant to the foregoing, the judgment of the district
court is affirmed.
AFFIRMED
14