United States v. Resnick

In 2008, Resnick, a long‐haul truck driver, took T.M., the nine‐year‐old son of family friends, on a cross‐country work trip that was supposed to end at Disneyland. Instead, they traveled to Washington State and back to Indiana. Over the two‐week trip, Resnick sexually abused T.M. repeatedly. Eventually, T.M. told his parents about Resnick’s conduct. Resnick was convicted of child abuse and firearms offenses and sentenced to life in prison. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding the evidence sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of the charge of brandishing a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(1)(A)(ii), despite T.M.’s imperfect description of the gun. The court also upheld the district court's admission of testimony of a second minor victim and testimony and argument about Resnick’s refusal to take a polygraph. The court noted that Resnick forfeited his objection to that evidence at trial. View "United States v. Resnick" on Justia Law