United States v. Sawyer Doxtad

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: January 13, 2026
• Docket: 24-4648
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

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UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 24-4648

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

SAWYER DREW DOXTAD,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:21-cr-00328-WO-1)

Submitted: November 7, 2025 Decided: January 13, 2026

Before KING, HARRIS, and BENJAMIN, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

ON BRIEF: Aaron B. Wellman, IVEY, MCCLELLAN, SIEGMUND, BRUMBAUGH & MCDONOUGH, LLP, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant. Randall S. Galyon, Acting United States Attorney, Clifton T. Barrett, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.

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PER CURIAM:

Sawyer Drew Doxtad pleaded guilty, pursuant to a plea agreement, to interference

with commerce by robbery, threat, or violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951. After

serving a term of imprisonment, Doxtad began his first term of supervised release. That

term of supervised release was revoked, and the district court imposed a new term of

incarceration and a second term of supervised release. The probation officer filed a petition

for revocation of the second term of supervised release, alleging that Doxtad violated the

conditions of release by committing new criminal conduct, using marijuana on seven

occasions, and failing to complete his community service requirements.

At the revocation hearing, the probation officer testified about the events leading to

the alleged violations and based some of his testimony on positive drug tests and an

incident report completed by the officer who arrested Doxtad on the new criminal conduct

of driving while intoxicated (“DWI”). The district court revoked Doxtad’s supervised

release and sentenced him to 10 months’ imprisonment followed by one year of supervised

release. On appeal, Doxtad argues that the district court erred by considering hearsay

evidence about his DWI charge and his positive drug test results without having the lab

analyst testify as to the reliability of the drug tests or conducting the required balancing

test. We affirm.

“We review a district court’s evidentiary decisions in a supervised release

revocation hearing for abuse of discretion.” United States v. Combs, 36 F.4th 502, 505

(4th Cir. 2022). As such, we “will only overturn an evidentiary ruling that is arbitrary and

irrational.” United States v. Abdallah, 911 F.3d 201, 219 (4th Cir. 2018) (citation

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modified). But because Doxtad did not object during the revocation hearing to the district

court’s reliance on hearsay evidence, our review is for plain error. Combs, 36 F.4th at 505.

To succeed on plain error review, Doxtad “must establish that (1) an error occurred; (2) the

error was plain; and (3) the error affected his substantial rights.” Id. (citation modified).

If Doxtad makes this showing, we have discretion to correct the error and should do so “if

the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial

proceedings.” Rosales-Mireles v. United States, 585 U.S. 129, 135 (2018) (citation

modified); Combs, 36 F.4th at 505.

A defendant at a revocation hearing has “the right to confront and cross-examine

adverse witnesses (unless the hearing officer specifically finds good cause for not allowing

confrontation).” Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 489 (1972); see United States v.

Williams, 134 F.4th 134, 139-40 (4th Cir. 2025) (discussing due process requirements in

supervised release revocation hearing), cert. denied, No. 24-7521, 2025 WL 2824120 (U.S.

Oct. 6, 2025). Thus, a defendant “is entitled to . . . disclosure of the evidence against [him]”

and to “question any adverse witness unless the court determines that the interest of justice

does not require the witness to appear.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 32.1(b)(2)(B), (C). “[T]he district

court must balance the releasee’s interest in confronting an adverse witness against any

proffered good cause for denying such confrontation.” Combs, 36 F.4th at 506 (citation

modified). “Reliability [of the hearsay evidence] is a critical factor in that balancing test[,]

and unless the [G]overnment makes a showing of good cause for why the relevant witness

is unavailable, hearsay evidence is inadmissible at revocation hearings.” Id. at 507 (citation

modified).

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Even if the district court erred and any error is plain, we conclude that Doxtad has

not established that the error affected his substantial rights. “To establish the third prong

of plain error, [the defendant] must show a reasonable probability that, but for the error,

the outcome of the proceeding would have been different.” Id. (citation modified). In this

context, Doxtad must establish “a reasonable probability that the district court would have

imposed a lower sentence.” Id. at 508.

Here, the district court found that Doxtad had violated terms of his supervised

release by using marijuana. Doxtad admitted using marijuana on at least one occasion, and

he disclosed to his probation officer that he had used marijuana on additional occasions.

In the revocation hearing, Doxtad admitted he violated the terms of his supervised release

by using marijuana on one occasion. This violation was a Grade B violation for which the

advisory Sentencing Guidelines policy statement range was four to 10 months’

imprisonment. Thus, even if the Government had failed to prove the additional six drug

violations and the new DWI criminal conduct, Doxtad’s policy statement range would have

remained the same. We therefore conclude that any error in considering hearsay evidence

did not affect Doxtad’s substantial rights.

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court. We dispense with oral

argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials

before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED