⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

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United States v. Lee — 10th Cir. (Sep 15, 2026)

No. 25-7084 Argued September 15, 2026 Published October 2, 2026

David Allen Lee challenges a murder conviction arising from a fatal stabbing inside a home. A federal jury found him guilty of second-degree murder. Lee testified at his trial. A special drug-abuser instruction named him and told jurors to use greater caution when weighing drug-abuser testimony. Lee will argue that this unfairly undermined his account of the killing. His lawyer will rely on Rule 605, which prohibits the presiding judge from testifying at trial. No trial objection is needed to preserve an issue under that rule, but here it is disputed whether the jury instruction counts as judicial testimony. Stuart Southerland, of the Federal Public Defender's office in eastern Oklahoma, will argue first for Lee.

United States v. Lee (No. 25-7084) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, argued September 15, 2026.

Sources
Argument audio — Tenth Circuit (public domain, 17 U.S.C. § 105):https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/oralarguments/25-7084.mp3
Argument date and case listing — Tenth Circuit:https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/oralargument/search-results?field_oa_hearing_date_value%5Bmin%5D%5Bdate%5D=08%2F01%2F2026&field_oa_hearing_date_value%5Bmax%5D%5Bdate%5D=10%2F02%2F2026
Killing, jury conviction and sentencing — U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Oklahoma:https://www.justice.gov/usao-edok/pr/fort-gibson-resident-sentenced-second-degree-murder-indian-country
September 2026 argument issues and counsel — Kansas Federal Public Defender:https://ks.fd.org/sites/ks/files/media-library/september-2026-oral-argument-summaries.pdf
Lee appeal and defense counsel appearance — court docket mirrored by Justia:https://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca10/25-7084
Federal Rule of Evidence 605 — rule text, Cornell LII:https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rule_605
Federal Rule of Evidence 608 and committee notes — Cornell LII:https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rule_608

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