United States v. Blakeney

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendants' conviction of conspiracy against rights, deprivation of rights under color of law, and falsifying a record. The court held that the evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction for illegal arrest where a reasonable jury could find that another person, the Mayor, conspired with defendant to arrest a mayoral candidate. The court also held that the district court did not plainly err by admitting an unsigned copy of the incident report under the best evidence rule; the district court did not plainly err by permitting hearsay testimony from the Mayor because the Mayor was the coconspirator; the Government's comment during closing was not improper; the district court did not err by responding to the jury's question regarding the charge of falsifying a document; defendant's absence during a jury question about a transcript did not prejudice him; and defendant was not entitled to have the jury review a transcript of the government's witnesses' testimony. View "United States v. Blakeney" on Justia Law