United States v. Gouse

Appellant was serving a state sentence in a Massachusetts state facility when the federal government indicted him in the District of Rhode Island with a number of gun and drug offenses. The government brought Appellant to Rhode Island to face those charges but returned him to Massachusetts while the federal charges were still pending. The federal government subsequently moved to dismiss the federal case without prejudice in light of the anti-shuttling section of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers (IAD), a provision that required the United States to complete all proceedings against Appellant before sending him back to Massachusetts. One year later, the United States re-indicted Appellant on the same gun and drug charges. Appellant unsuccessfully moved to dismiss the indictment and was convicted on a federal felon in possession of a firearm charge. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) any IAD violation in the first federal case was addressed by the district court’s proper decision to dismiss the matter without prejudice; and (2) the second case was handled without error. View "United States v. Gouse" on Justia Law