United States Tenth Circuit

Defendant-sheriff's convictions for offenses, including counts of felony deprivation of rights under color of law involving aggravated sexual abuse, are reversed in part as to four felony deprivation of rights counts where the district court erroneously instructed the jury on the definition of aggravated sexual abuse as: 1) the district court used language suggesting the victim need only be placed in fear of "some bodily harm", impermissibly reducing the degree of fear necessary to sustain a conviction; and 2) the error was not harmless as to four counts.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/12/2007
• Published 06/13/2007

Judges

• MURPHY, Circuit Judge., Before KELLY, MURPHY, and HOLMES, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Tenth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Warren Gotcher, Gotcher and Belote, McAlester, OK, for Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Robert G. Guthrie, Assistant United States Attorney (Sheldon J. Sperling, United States Attorney, with him on the brief), Muskogee, OK, for Appellee.