Sunday, March 04, 2007

Eighth Circuit slaps down Judge Bataillon again: this time the appeals court reverses Bataillon's order granting a new trial for a crack dealer. 061240P.pdf 02/28/2007 USA v. Jerome BassDistrict of Nebraska - Omaha[Arnold, author, with Murphy and Benton, Circuit Judges]While a cooperating prosecution witness lied several times during pretrial hearings and in an additional affidavit, the District court should d not have assumed that the witness lied during the trial, much less that the US Attorney knowingly presented perjured testimony. The witness who lied in earlier hearings claimed he lied because his aunt pressured him, he was mad he didn't get a lighter sentence. According to Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 153 (1972), United States v. Funchess, 422 F.3d 698, 701 (8th Cir. 2005) the government did not violate defendant's due process rights were not violated. Again the Eighth Circuit has a hard time figuring out Judge Bataillon's ruling, but assuming he granted a new trial because the verdict was against the weight of the evidence, the district court abused its discretion because the government presented several corroborating witnesses to prove the defendant guilty.

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