US v. Miller, No. 10-1187

In US v. Miller, No. 10-1187, the court reversed defendant's conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm, holding that the prosecutor improperly vouched for an officer's credibility and there was no curative instruction and no mitigating effect of the government's comments other than restating the proper burden of proof before sending the jury to deliberate.

As the court wrote:  "A jury found Frederick Miller guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2), and the district court sentenced him to 57 months' imprisonment. On appeal, Miller argues that (1) the district court abused its discretion by allowing prosecutorial misconduct during closing argument; (2) the district court erred in allowing the government to misrepresent testimony about the sound an object made upon landing after Miller threw it; (3) the district court abused its discretion when it sustained the government's objection to a particular line of cross examination on the issue of bias; and (4) the government presented insufficient evidence for the jury to find him guilty. For the reasons stated below, we reverse."

Related Resources

• Full Text of US v. Miller, No. 10-1187