October 17th, 2017

​United States v. Bennett

Docket: 17-60038
Opinion Date: October 16, 2017
Judge: Higginbotham
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction of one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, ten counts of distributing or dispensing a controlled substance, and three counts of bankruptcy fraud. The court held that the district court did not err by rejecting defendant's proposed jury instructions because they were either substantively incorrect or irrelevant; even assuming that the prosecutor impermissibly used defendant's husband's pre-arrest, pre-Miranda silence, there was no error because the husband does not speak for defendant; the court rejected defendant's claims of prosecutorial misconduct; the government did not improperly amend its indictment; and the evidence was sufficient to convict defendant.