DISCLAIMER: The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
191497P.pdf 07/16/2021 United States v. Kenneth Sanders
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 19-1497
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Dubuque
[PUBLISHED] [Erickson, Author, with Grasz and Kobes, Circuit Judges]
Criminal case - Criminal law. On remand from the Supreme Court for further
consideration in light of Caniglia v. Strom, 141 S.Ct. 1596 (2021). See
Sanders v. U.S., 141 S.Ct. 1646 (2021). The court's prior opinion is
vacated and this opinion is substituted in its place. Based on the facts
known to the officers at the time they responded to a domestic disturbance
call, they had a reasonable basis to enter the victim's home without a
warrant; the officers knew facts indicating defendant was a threat to
children inside the house (including a report that he had a gun), and the
victim had visible injuries consistent with a physical altercation;
additionally, officers could hear crying coming from the house could see a
child in a window gesturing to the officers in an excited manner, and were
warned by the victim not to tell defendant that her daughter had summoned
them to the scene; the scope of the encounter was carefully tailored to
satisfy the officers' purpose for entry; the district court did not err in
applying a two-level enhancement under Guidelines Sec. 3C1.1 for
obstruction of justice for attempting to influence a witness.