982549P.pdf   05/02/2005  United States  v.  Billie Jerome Allen
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  98-2549
   Eastern District of Missouri   
   Criminal case - criminal law. On remand from the Supreme Court for 
   reconsideration under Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002), the court 
   holds: (1) the Fifth Amendment requires at least one statutory aggravating 
   factor and the mens rea requirement to be found by the grand jury and 
   charged in the indictment; (2) the indictment in this case suffered a Fifth 
   Amendment defect; (3) the defect in the indictment was not a structural 
   error; (4) the error was harmless because any rational grand jury would 
   have found the existence of the requisite mental state and one or more 
   statutory aggravating factors based on the actual evidence which was 
   presented to the grand jury in the case, to wit, that defendant created a 
   grave risk of death to others while committing the bank robbery and in 
   fleeing apprehension and that he acted with the required mental state 
   when he intentionally shot and killed a bank guard; (5) mere possibility of 
   grand jury nullification does not transform harmless error into a 
   prejudicial error, and defendant could show nothing more than a 
   possibility; and (6) constitutional challenge to Federal Death Penalty Act 
   rejected. 
   [PUBLISHED] [Opinion of the Court En Banc. Judge Hansen, author 
   of the court's unanimous opinion] 
  
982549P.pdf   02/02/2004  United States  v.  Billie Jerome Allen
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  98-2549
   Eastern District of Missouri   
   Criminal case - criminal law. On remand from the Supreme Court for 
   reconsideration in light of Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002), the 
   court holds that the indictment failed to charge a federal capital offense, 
   and that given defendant's timely objections this failure cannot be 
   dismissed as harmless error; death sentence vacated and case remanded to 
   the district court with directions to impose a life sentence. Separate 
   opinion by Judge David R. Hansen, concurring in part and dissenting in 
   part. [PUBLISHED] [Melloy, Author] 
  
982549P.pdf   04/12/2001  United States  v.  Billie Jerome Allen
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  98-2549
                          and No:  98-2984
   Eastern District of Missouri   
   Criminal case - criminal law. Federal death penalties affirmed; 
   constitutional challenge to federal death penalty rejected; court did 
   not err in refusing to suppress confession; officer's actions in informing 
   defendant of results of lineup after he invoked right to counsel did not 
   amount to interrogation for purposes of the Fifth Amendment; 
   subsequent request to speak to police amounted to waiver of right to 
   counsel; Congress intended to permit cumulative punishments under 
   18 U.S.C. Sections 2113 and 924(j); while reference to defendant as 
   a murderous dog was improper, court could not say remark deprived 
   him of a fair sentencing; no error in admitting victim-impact evidence; 
   sentencing instructions concerning the imposition of the death penalty 
   were correct and court did not err in refusing proposed mercy instruction; 
   conviction under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2113(e) for armed robbery in which a killing 
   occurs does not require an additional finding of specific intent to kill; 
   aggravating factors contained in the federal death penalty act are 
   constitutional and were present in this case; record established 
   nonstatutory aggravating factors; court did not err in refusing to 
   strike subpanel after jurors heard emotional outburst from 
   adjoining courtroom upon conviction of co-defendant; admission of 
   autopsy photos of murdered bank guard was not error; court did not 
   err in finding proceeds from settlement of past lawsuit could be 
   garnished to satisf