Criminal Law-Murder-Vulnerable Victim-Admission of Surveillance Footage

Defendants appealed their convictions for assaulting and murdering a victim within the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation. At sentencing, the district court determined that the victim was a “vulnerable victim” under the Guidelines and adjusted defendants’ sentences upward. Defendants challenged the admission of surveillance footage, and defendant Bailey Belt also challenged the application of the vulnerable victim adjustment.

Where the government was not required to exclude all possibilities of tampering with a surveillance video, the government had sufficiently authenticated the footage used in the case, and the district court correctly instructed the jury to assess the effect of gaps in the footage on the video’s reliability. Furthermore, application of the vulnerable victim adjustment did not constitute improper double-counting.

Kelly, J., dissenting: “I agree that McMillan is the touchstone for determining whether a proper foundation was laid to authenticate a video recording. But because the McMillan factors in this case do not support finding that the proffered recording is sufficiently reliable to establish its authentication, I respectfully dissent.”

Judgment is affirmed.

U.S. v. Belt (MLW No. 84780/Case No. 24-3265 & 24-3296 – 13 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Grasz, J.) Appealed from U.S. District Court, District of South Dakota, Lange, J. (John R. Murphy, Rapid City, SD and Ellery Grey, Rapid City, SD for appellants) (Troy Robert Morley, AUSA, Pierre, SD for appellee)