March 24th, 2021

US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
United States v. Kieffer

Docket: 19-30225
Opinion Date: March 19, 2021
Judge: Catharina Haynes
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendants' convictions for offenses related to their involvement in two armored truck robberies. The court concluded that a third co-defendant's testimony alone was sufficient to support defendants' convictions; sufficient evidence supported Defendant Armstead's conviction for making a false material statement and for being a felon-in-possession of a firearm; the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendants' motions for a new trial where defendants failed to identify any inappropriate questions asked to the jury and the court saw no indication that any juror abandoned his or her role as a neutral fact-finder; and Defendant Jerome's conviction under 18 U.S.C. 924(c) was predicated solely on armed bank robbery and thus United States v. Reece, 938 F.3d 630 (5th Cir. 2019), was inapplicable in this case.

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