United States v. Ikeem Shaw ( 2019 )


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  •      Case: 18-11093      Document: 00514938041         Page: 1    Date Filed: 05/01/2019
    IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
    United States Court of Appeals
    Fifth Circuit
    No. 18-11093
    FILED
    May 1, 2019
    Summary Calendar
    Lyle W. Cayce
    Clerk
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee
    v.
    IKEEM SHAW, also known as Luke,
    Defendant-Appellant
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Northern District of Texas
    USDC No. 3:12-CR-175-26
    Before SMITH, WIENER, and WILLETT, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM: *
    Ikeem Shaw appeals the revocation of his supervised release. He argues
    that his right to confront adverse witnesses was violated when the district
    court allowed a police detective to testify about the out-of-court statements of
    three witnesses. As Shaw did not object to this evidence in the district court,
    our review is for plain error. See Puckett v. United States, 
    556 U.S. 129
    , 135
    (2009).
    * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
    be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH
    CIR. R. 47.5.4.
    Case: 18-11093     Document: 00514938041     Page: 2   Date Filed: 05/01/2019
    No. 18-11093
    A defendant in a revocation proceeding has a qualified right under the
    Due Process Clause to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses unless
    the district court finds good cause for not permitting confrontation. United
    States v. Grandlund, 
    71 F.3d 507
    , 510 (5th Cir. 1996); see also FED. R. CRIM.
    P. 32.1(b)(2)(C). When determining whether to admit hearsay evidence, the
    court “balances the releasee’s interest in confronting a particular witness
    against the government’s good cause for denying it, particularly focusing on
    the indicia of reliability of a given hearsay statement.” United States v. Alaniz-
    Alaniz, 
    38 F.3d 788
    , 791 (5th Cir. 1994) (internal quotation, alteration, and
    citation omitted).
    Even if we assumed that the district court committed clear or obvious
    error when it did not engage in the balancing test despite Shaw’s failure to
    object, Shaw has not shown that any error affected his substantial rights. See
    Molina-Martinez v. United States, 
    136 S. Ct. 1338
    , 1343 (2016). The record
    contains sufficient evidence besides the alleged hearsay to support a finding
    that Shaw violated his supervised release.          Thus, Shaw has failed to
    demonstrate reversible plain error. See Puckett, 
    556 U.S. at 135
    .
    AFFIRMED.
    2