United States v. Lopez

913 F.3d 807 (2019)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
U
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

United States v. Lopez

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
913 F.3d 807 (2019)

Facts

Lashay Marie Lopez (defendant) was charged with crimes relating to her purchase of a firearm using false identification. Lopez admitted to purchasing a handgun with her twin sister’s identification, but she asserted an affirmative defense of duress. Lopez claimed that she purchased the handgun for Hector Karaca because Karaca had threatened to harm Lopez and her family if she did not get a gun for him. Lopez sought to introduce expert testimony from Dr. Cheryl Karp regarding battered-woman syndrome and the effects of past abuse on a person’s behavior. Lopez had been physically and sexually abused by her stepfather, and she argued that Karp’s testimony could help the jury understand Lopez’s behavior and her fear of Karaca. The district court ruled that Karp’s testimony was irrelevant to Lopez’s duress defense and excluded the evidence. However, the court allowed Lopez to testify about how her past experiences with abuse affected her perceptions of Karaca. Lopez was convicted, and she appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Bybee, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 803,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 803,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 803,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Evidence

Key Terms