The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decided United States v. Walter Holmes, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 24-1140.
Walter Dushun Holmes, Jr. was indicted for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. His father, Walter Holmes, Sr., and Monetessa Packineau, among others, were also indicted. While Holmes Sr. and Packineau entered plea agreements, Holmes Jr. went to trial. During the trial, Holmes Jr. requested a sequestration order for witnesses, which was granted. The Government presented multiple witnesses, including Packineau and A.P., who testified about their drug transactions with Holmes Jr. Holmes Jr. attempted to call his father as a witness, but the court excluded Holmes Sr. due to a violation of the sequestration order, based on recorded jail phone calls. Holmes Jr. moved for a mistrial and later for a new trial, both of which were denied by the district court.
The United States District Court for the District of North Dakota sentenced Holmes Jr. to 188 months’ imprisonment. Holmes Jr. appealed, challenging the exclusion of his father’s testimony, the jury deliberation instructions, the denial of a new trial based on an alleged Brady violation, and the reasonableness of his sentence.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reviewed the case. The court found no abuse of discretion in the district court’s exclusion of Holmes Sr. as a witness, as Holmes Jr. had violated the sequestration order. The court also determined that the district court’s scheduling communications with the jury were not coercive and did not constitute supplemental jury instructions. Regarding the alleged Brady violation, the court held that the undisclosed evidence was cumulative of information already available to Holmes Jr., and thus, there was no violation. Finally, the court found that the district court did not commit procedural error in sentencing and that the sentence was substantively reasonable.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court.
Justia Summary Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca8/24-1140/24-1140-2025-05-15.html
