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Criminal Procedure keyed to Kamisar
United States v. Armstrong
Citation:
517 U.S. 456, 116 S.Ct. 1480, 134 L.Ed.2d 687 (1996)Facts
Armstrong and Hampton (defendants) were indicted for conspiracy to possess and distribute crack cocaine as well as firearms offenses. The defendants filed a motion for discovery or for dismissal of the indictment, claiming they were being selectively prosecuted because they were Black. The District Court granted the motion, ordering the Government to provide a list of all cases from the last three years in which the Government charged both cocaine and firearms offenses, to identify the race of the defendants in those cases, and to explain its criteria for choosing to prosecute those defendants. The District Court denied the Government’s motion for reconsideration of the discovery order and when the Government did not comply with the order, the court dismissed the case.
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