Jose Antonio Ortega-rodriguez v. United States (507 U.S. 234)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 8, 1993 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 507 U.S. 234 · 113 S. Ct. 1199
- Decided
- March 8, 1993
- Term
- October Term 1992
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. In United States v. Holmes, 680 F. 2d 1372, 1373 (1982), cert. denied, 460 U. S. 1015 (1983), the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that “a defendant who flees after conviction, but before sentencing, waives his right to appeal from the conviction unless he can establish that his absence was due to matters completely beyond his control.” Relying on that authority, and without further explanation, the court dismissed petitioner’s appeal. Because we have not previously considered whether a defendant may be deemed to forfeit his right to appeal by fleeing while his case is pending in the district court, though he is recaptured before sentencing and appeal, we granted certiorari. 504 U. S. 984 (1992). I In the early evening of November 7,1988, a Customs Service pilot was patrolling the Cay Sal Bank area, located midway between Cuba and the Florida Keys. Approximately 30 miles southwest of Cay Sal, the pilot observed a low-flying aircraft circling over a white boat and dropping bales. The boat, described by the pilot as 40 to 50 feet in length, was circling with the plane and retrieving the bales from the water as they dropped. Because the Customs Service plane was flying at an altitude of 2,500 feet, and visibility was less than optimal, the pilot was unable to identify the name of the boat. United States v.…
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