United States v. Kopecky

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion for mistrial based on prosecutorial misconduct. In this case, when the prosecutor elicited whether defendant exercised his constitutional rights to withhold consent to search his vehicle, the brief and ambiguous exchange did not prejudicially affect defendant's right to a fair trial. Furthermore, the government presented strong, independent evidence of defendant's guilt and the district court issued a firm curative instruction immediately after the exchange in question. View "United States v. Kopecky" on Justia Law