Background
Baling N. Dat, Dilang N. Dat, and Jany Jock were convicted in the District Court for the District of Nebraska for various drug and firearm offenses. Baling was convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and firearm offenses. Dilang, a felon on supervised release, was convicted of possessing a firearm as a prohibited person. Jock was convicted of selling a firearm to a felon. The defendants appealed, challenging the search warrant, the denial of their motions to sever the trials, and the admission of digital evidence and gang-related testimony.
The court’s reasoning
The court held that the search warrant was supported by probable cause because the citizen’s tip was corroborated by the discovery of marijuana residue and drug paraphernalia in a trash pull. The court found no abuse of discretion in denying the motion to sever, as the defendants failed to demonstrate severe prejudice that would outweigh the efficiency of a joint trial. The court further ruled that the district court properly admitted the digital evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence ten oh six as a summary of voluminous data, and as co-conspirator statements under Rule eight zero one D two E. The court also determined that the gang-related evidence was intrinsic to the charged crimes and not unduly prejudicial.
Probable cause, however, is not a high bar.
United States v. Charles, 125 F.4th 904, 910 (8th Cir. 2025)
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces the use of trash pulls to establish probable cause for residential warrants and affirms the standard for denying severance in multi-defendant trials involving shared evidence.