Monday, December 23, 2013

United States v. Boyd case brief

United States v. Boyd case brief summary
55 F.3d 239 (1995)

CASE SYNOPSIS
United States appealed an order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, which granted defendants' motion for a new trial after their conviction by jury for a variety of very serious federal crimes, ranging from trafficking in her*in and c*caine, murders, attempted murders, kidnappings, and acts of intimidation.

CASE FACTS
Defendants who were leaders and associates of a notorious Chicago street gang were convicted by a jury of a variety of very serious federal crimes. The evidence showed that the gang had trafficked in her*in and c*caine on a large scale, and to protect their lucrative turf, they had committed many murders, attempted murders, kidnappings, and acts of intimidation. The government's case depended heavily on the testimony of six former gang leaders. Defendants sought a new trial and alleged that the government had knowingly allowed two witnessed to perjure themselves at the trial and had withheld from the defense evidence that during the trial witnesses had used illegal drugs and received unlawful favors from government prosecutors and their staffs. The lower court granted the motion after a hearing.

ARGUMENT
The government argued that the lower court erred in finding that the government had knowingly used perjured testimony.

DISCUSSION
The court affirmed the lower court's order and held that a reasonable jury might have doubted the testimony of the witnesses had the truth been told about the treatment of the witnesses.

CONCLUSION
The court affirmed the lower court's order, which granted defendants' motion for a new trial because a reasonable jury might have doubted the testimony of the witnesses had the truth been told about the treatment of the witnesses. The court ruled that the court was not strongly convinced that the lower court wrongly determined that the government had knowingly made us of perjured testimony at trial.

Suggested law school study materials

Shop Amazon for the best prices on Law School Course Materials.

No comments:

Post a Comment

The Ins and Outs of Class Action Lawsuits: A Comprehensive Guide

Sometimes, you may buy a product only to find it defective. To make it worse, your search for the product reveals mass complaints. You can ...