Sufficiency of evidence to prove conviction

U.S. v. Gardner, No. 07-5947 (6th Cir. Aug. 12, 2011) (published)

In this criminal sentencing case, the Court affirmed a district court order finding that the records offered by government were insufficient to establish whether a prior conviction triggered a higher mandatory minimum.  The defendant had a prior conviction for sexual battery and the records indicated that the victim was his minor daughter.  But because the age of the victim was not an element of the sexual battery statute, the references to her age in the indictment and other documents were not essential to the offense to which he pleaded.  In other words, the Court looked to what the convicting court was required to find to enter a conviction, not what the convicting court actually found.

The PSR, like a police report or criminal complaint, is not a judicially noticeable document.

The decision has a good discussion of Shephard and Taylor.