Case Explained: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. AUSARIAN CARNEY

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Filed: 2026-08-04 The seventh-circuit affirmed Ausarian Carney’s kidnapping conviction and twenty-four-year sentence. Regarding the Confrontation Clause challenge to the admission of his sister’s jailhouse letters, the court applied plain-error review because Carney failed to object at trial. The court held that even assuming a constitutional error occurred, Carney could not demonstrate that the error affected his substantial rights or compromised the fairness of the proceedings, given the overwhelming independent evidence of guilt, including fingerprints, cell-site location data, and physical evidence linking him to the crime scene. Additionally, the court rejected Carney’s sentencing arguments, finding no procedural error because the district court meaningfully considered his mitigation claims regarding his lesser role in the kidnapping, and no substantive abuse of discretion in imposing a below-Guidelines sentence that was six years lighter than his sister’s. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.