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United States v. MacPhail
Citation: 258 F. App'x 127Docket: No. 07-50183
Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; December 5, 2007; Federal Appellate Court
Giovanni MacPhail's appeal against the revocation of his supervised release was based on findings by the magistrate court that he violated a condition requiring him to notify his probation officer if questioned by law enforcement. Following a contested evidentiary hearing, the district court upheld the magistrate's conclusion that MacPhail did not report a traffic stop during which he was issued a speeding ticket, thereby violating the condition of his release. The appellate court focused on whether there was sufficient evidence for the magistrate court's probable cause finding. In reviewing the evidence, the court favored the government's perspective, following precedent (United States v. Jeremiah). It was established that MacPhail was stopped for speeding at 2:00 AM, and the issuance of a speeding ticket indicated an exchange of information between him and the officer, supporting the probable cause finding. MacPhail did not provide evidence to counter this inference. MacPhail argued that the questioning he experienced was routine and did not meet the condition's requirement, which he interpreted as necessitating adversarial questioning. However, the court clarified that the condition's language did not limit reporting to adversarial situations. Therefore, the finding of probable cause was upheld, and the revocation of MacPhail's supervised release was affirmed. The decision is not to be published or cited as precedent except under specific rules.