Revocation – Notice

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Criminal

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, FLAUM, Circuit Judge, and KENNELLY, District Judge

Revocation – Notice

No. 14-2010 United Sates of America v. Robert Lee

Where list of violations on revocation petition sufficient for notice requirement.

“In any event, Lee’s situation differs from Havier’s in several respects. Lee could not have had any doubt about the conduct underlying the accusation because the revocation notice cited the specific police report at issue. That report contained allegations that he had assaulted Pulliam with a baseball bat. The notice that Havier received was nowhere near as complete. See Havier, 155 F.3d at 1092 (“[D]efendant’s conduct during his arrest by Tucson Police constituted an offense with the element of eminent [sic] life threatening danger to law enforcement personnel.”). It is true that for both Lee and Havier, “the district court judge and counsel themselves appeared to be speculating about which … violations could have or should have been alleged in the revocation petition.” Id. at 1093. But during Havier’s hearing, the range of offenses considered was far greater. They included “felon in possession of a firearm, assault on a police officer, and reckless display of a weapon. One offense proposed, failure to obey a police officer, turned out to be a traffic violation.” Id. In Lee’s case, the government and the district judge were discussing the elements of the alleged offense and what was an aggravating factor. There is a big difference between choosing among several distinct offenses and evaluating which elements are required for one offense.”

Decision

Affirmed.

Full Text

Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.