UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JUAN R. GROGAN - Articles

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JUAN R. GROGAN

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Feb 3, 2025

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Tyler Becker, WILLIAMS & CONNOLLY LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellant.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: Daniel R. Ranke, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee.

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: Tyler Becker, Harsha Sridhar, WILLIAMS & CONNOLLY LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellant.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: Daniel R. Ranke, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee.

Judge(s): TRANCH, WHITE, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Akron

NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. A jury convicted Juan Grogan of possessing a firearm as a felon, possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute. At trial, the judge allowed the government to admit testimony about a series of statements that Grogan made during a proffer session. The statements concerned his ownership of drugs, a firearm, and a wallet, and his involvement in a shooting and a kidnapping. On appeal, Grogan argues the admission of this evidence was an error. Under the proffer agreement, the government could introduce a particular statement from the proffer session if Grogan testified or presented arguments inconsistent with that statement. Grogan contends admission of the evidence was an error because neither of these conditions were met. We agree with him that at least some of these statements should not have been admitted. And because the error was not harmless, we REVERSE.

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