United States Ninth Circuit

Defendant's conviction and sentence for drug-related offenses is: 1) affirmed in part, where defendant was not denied his Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel when the district court prohibited him from arguing a different burden and standard of proof during closing arguments, and although the district court did err in not instructing the jury on the proper burden and standard of proof for the public authority defense, defendant never raised this argument; 2) vacated and remanded in part, where the district court abused its discretion in denying two discovery requests, and the government's failure to disclose this information may have been a violation of Brady v. Maryland; and 3) defendant's sentence is vacated because the cumulative effect of the procedural violations amounted to plain error.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/31/2013
• Published 01/31/2013

Judges

• SMITH

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel