United States v. Bell

Case: 20-10254 Document: 00515807613 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/05/2021
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
No. 20-10254 April 5, 2021
Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
United States of America,
Plaintiff—Appellee,
versus
Jordan Lee Bell,
Defendant—Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
USDC No. 4:17-CR-58-1
Before Jones, Clement, and Graves, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
Jordan Lee Bell appeals the sentence imposed by the district court
following the revocation of his lifetime term of supervised release for
possession of child pornography. The district court revoked Bell’s
supervised release for violations of the truthfulness condition, the
pornography condition and the social networking condition. Bell pleaded
*
Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 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opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited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 Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
Case: 20-10254 Document: 00515807613 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/05/2021
No. 20-10254
true to the allegations that he possessed “pornographic matter,” later lied
about it, and created user accounts on various social networking sites.
However, Bell objected that the pornography condition was
unconstitutionally vague, in violation of his due process rights, and
overbroad, in violation of his First Amendment rights. The district court
overruled Bell’s objections, revoked his supervised release, and sentenced
him to the statutory maximum of twenty-four months imprisonment
followed, again, by a life term of supervised release. Bell now challenges the
re-imposition of two conditions of supervised release: (1) the condition
prohibiting Bell from possessing, in relevant part, “any pornographic
matter” (pornography condition); and (2) the condition prohibiting him
from using or possessing “any gaming consoles . . . or devices without prior
permission from the probation officer” (gaming console condition).
We review Bell’s preserved due process and First Amendment
challenges to the pornography condition for an abuse of discretion. See
United States v. Abbate, 970 F.3d 601, 603 (5th Cir. 2020) petition for cert. filed,
(U.S. Jan. 25, 2021)(No. 20-6923). As Bell correctly concedes, his arguments
are foreclosed by Abbate. See id. at 603-06.
Because Bell did not raise it in the district court, we review for plain
error his assertion that the gaming console condition is overbroad and should
be modified to prohibit him only from possessing gaming consoles with
internet connectivity. See id. at 606. Bell’s child pornography conviction and
the revocation at issue were primarily based upon his repeated usage of the
internet to access sexually explicit material, and the district court clearly
intended the condition at issue to prevent Bell from using a gaming console’s
internet-access features. See id. at 607. Although the Government stresses
that the probation officer could more easily enforce the condition if it were
left unmodified, we have authority to address it expeditiously here.
Accordingly, we modify the condition as follows: Bell is prohibited from
2
Case: 20-10254 Document: 00515807613 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/05/2021
No. 20-10254
using or possessing any gaming console or device that allows for internet
access without prior permission from the probation officer.
The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED as MODIFIED.
3