United States v. Walker

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for transferring obscene materials to a minor, receipt of child pornography, and sexual exploitation of a minor. The court held that the district court did not violate defendant's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights by excluding the evidence of the victim's sexual communications with other men; any error in excluding "fantasy source material" was harmless because the exhibit was cumulative; the district court did not abuse its discretion by limiting defendant's cross-examination of the victim to 90 minutes; the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to instruct the jury that knowledge of the victim's age was an element of the offense under 18 U.S.C. 2251(a); the evidence was sufficient to support defendant's convictions; and the court rejected defendant's claim that his 264 month sentence was cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. View "United States v. Walker" on Justia Law