It could all come down to the search warrant.
In arguments Tuesday before the 10th U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver, judges seemed to focus their questions on the legitimacy of the search warrant that helped put Weldon Angelos, a Salt Lake City rap producer, away for 55 years on charges of dealing small amounts of marijuana while possessing a gun.
But national attention is focused on the issue of whether mandatory minimum sentences resulted in an unconstitutionally long sentence.
Angelos’ lawyer, Erik Luna, said the judiciary ought to be able to identify extreme injustice and correct it.
Angelos, a first-time offender convicted on marijuana and weapons charges, had a mandatory term of 55 years added to his sentence because jurors believed he had a gun during two of the sales and because weapons were found in his house.
Robert Lund, the Utah federal prosecutor who convicted Angelos in 2003, said judges were bound to follow mandatory-minimum sentencing laws.
Angelos’ lawyer argued that the sentence was grossly disproportionate to the crimes. Senior Judge Stephen H. Anderson said the lawyer was asking the court to “pioneer a trail” of law.
Anderson, one of three judges who heard the appeal, asked about the propriety of the search warrant, which was lacking an affidavit. While the prosecutor called it a harmless error, Angelos’ lawyers said material from the search was prejudicial.
