United States v. Christie
2013 WL 2477252
10th Cir.2013Background
- Rebecca Christie was convicted in federal court of second-degree murder, two assimilated New Mexico homicide charges, and an assimilated child-abuse charge for BW's death on an Air Force base.
- BW died from dehydration after Christie allegedly neglected her care while BW's father was deployed, with evidence gathered from Christie's computer usage.
- Authorities seized Christie's computer with Derek Wulf's consent and later conducted two searches pursuant to warrants, which Christie challenged as Fourth Amendment violations.
- The district court dismissed the assimilated homicide charges after trial and imposed a 25-year sentence on the federal murder and assimilated child-abuse conviction.
- Christie challenged the delay before the 2006 search, the scope and particularity of the 2009 search, the exclusion of Wulf from a portion of the trial, and the government’s ACA/double jeopardy actions on cross-appeal.
- The court upheld the district court’s handling, rejected suppression and public-trial challenges, and affirmed the acquittal of the assimilated charges as appropriate under ACA and double jeopardy principles.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Was the five-month delay before the 2006 search reasonable under the Fourth Amendment? | Christie | Christie | Delay within constitutional bounds; suppression not required |
| Did the May 2009 warrant's scope satisfy the Fourth Amendment’s particularity requirement? | Christie | Christie | Warrant language, read reasonably and in light of Brooks, limited searches; no suppression |
| Was excluding Mr. Wulf from the child witness testimony a Sixth Amendment public-trial violation? | Christie | Christie | Partial closure with a substantial interest (minor’s well-being) permissible; harmless for bite-sized witness |
| Whether the Assimilative Crimes Act (ACA) justified or barred assimilation of state homicide charges with federal ones, and whether double jeopardy barred multiple punishments? | Christie | Government | ACA precludes cumulative punishment; assimilation dismissed; cross-appeal denied; harmless error if pre-trial dismissal not required |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Burgard, 675 F.3d 1029 (7th Cir. 2012) (delays in warrant execution and reasonableness balancing)
- United States v. Laist, 702 F.3d 608 (11th Cir. 2012) (totality-of-the-circumstances in warrant delay)
- United States v. Martin, 157 F.3d 46 (2d Cir. 1998) (reasonableness of seizures and searches)
- United States v. Riccardi, 405 F.3d 852 (10th Cir. 2005) (particularity and scope in computer searches)
- United States v. Brooks, 427 F.3d 1246 (10th Cir. 2005) (reading warrant language to limit scope of searches)
- United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (1984) (good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule)
- Lewis v. United States, 523 U.S. 155 (1998) (ACA assimilation framework; field of homicide statutes on federal enclaves)
- Waller v. Georgia, 467 U.S. 39 (1984) (test for closing a courtroom (full closure))
- U.S. v. Ramirez, 523 U.S. 65 (1998) (ex post review of search protocols in light of totality of circumstances)
- State v. Mann, 129 N.M. 600 (N.M. Ct. App. 2000) (New Mexico rule on homicide convictions and processing)