No. 25-597

Donatus Iriele v. United States

Lower Court: Eleventh Circuit
Docketed: 2025-11-21
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: constitutional-rights criminal-procedure drug-statute jury-instructions reasonable-doubt subjective-knowledge
Key Terms:
FifthAmendment DueProcess HabeasCorpus JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2026-01-09
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether reasonable jurists would find it debatable that a criminal defendant's constitutional rights were violated when convicted under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) based on a defective indictment and incorrect jury instructions that failed to require proof of subjective knowledge

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

Donatus Iriele was indicted for violations of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) based on a superseding indictment that failed to allege a knowing violation of the statute, and was subsequently convicted by a jury that was erroneously instructed that they could base their decision on objective, rather than subjective, knowledge. Following Mr. Iriele’s conviction and direct appeal, this Court held that violations of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) can only be supported where evidence of a defendant’s subjective knowledge or intent is established. Ruan v. United States , 597 U.S. 450 (2022). This petition presents the following question: whether reasonable jurists would find it debatable, under Ruan v. United States , 597 U.S. 450 (2022), that a criminal defendant’s constitutional rights were violated when he was convicted of violating 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) based on a defective indictment and incorrect jury instructions which failed to inform the jury that the Government was required to prove subjective , not objective , knowledge beyond a reasonable doubt?

Docket Entries

2026-01-12
Petition DENIED.
2025-12-23
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/9/2026.
2025-12-17
Waiver of United States of right to respond submitted.
2025-12-17
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2025-10-30
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 22, 2025)
2025-08-04
Application (25A135) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until October 30, 2025.
2025-07-24
Application (25A135) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from September 30, 2025 to November 29, 2025, submitted to Justice Thomas.

Attorneys

Donatus Iriele
Edward T. KangAlston and Bird LLP, Petitioner
Edward T. KangAlston and Bird LLP, Petitioner
United States
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent
D. John SauerSolicitor General, Respondent