By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//January 28, 2014//
United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit
Criminal
Sentencing — obstruction of justice
Where the district court found that the defendant willfully committed perjury when he testified, a two-level obstruction of justice enhancement was properly imposed.
“The sole material issue in this case is whether Stenson possessed the firearm found under the vehicle. Stenson did not merely deny that he possessed the firearm; rather, Stenson repeatedly denied even seeing a firearm and testified that it was his cell phone, not a firearm, that the police officers saw in his possession when they arrived. The court found Stenson’s testimony incredible in light of the other evidence presented at trial. It also found that this testimony was material and not the result of confusion, mistake, or faulty memory and therefore applied the obstruction of justice enhancement. We find no clear error in this determination.”
Affirmed.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Kapala, J., Kanne, J.