Supervised Release — revocation

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U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Criminal

Supervised Release — revocation

A witness may testify at a supervised release revocation hearing via video conference.

“There is no similar default rule for witnesses in supervised release revocation hearings. In fact, Rule 32.1(b)(2)(C) expressly allows the court to excuse a witness’s appearance altogether, whether physical or virtual, in the interests of justice, despite the otherwise strong preference for live, in-person testimony. Thompson therefore does not conflict with the interest-of-justice provision or extend to require an in-person appearance of all witnesses in revocation hearings. The district court in this case did exactly what we suggested in Jordan I when it allowed Wilson to testify via video conference. The court committed no error in doing so. The video conference option is permissible for witnesses under Rule 32.1(b)(2) and worked well in this case, as the district court noted on the record.”

Affirmed.

14-2004 U.S. v. Jordan

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Myerscough, J., Hamilton, J.