Opinion ID: 184453
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Proffered Stipulation

Text: 57 Rezaq offered to stipulate that Mendelson and Rogenkamp had died, and claims that the district court should have compelled the United States to accept his offer. In Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172, 117 S.Ct. 644, 136 L.Ed.2d 574 (1997), the Supreme Court reaffirmed the general rule that the prosecution is entitled to prove its case free from any defendant's option to stipulate the evidence away. Id. at ----, 117 S.Ct. at 654. Old Chief established an exception to this rule for crimes like possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in which the evidentiary issue is one of status, id. at ----, 117 S.Ct. at 655, but that exception does not apply to this case, and Rezaq has not established that any other exception should apply. Thus, the United States was free to decline to stipulate.