On Wednesday, the Sixth Circuit vacated the convictions of two defendants charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Although there was sufficient evidence to support their convictions, the Court held—on plain error review—that certain “remarks made by the prosecutor rose to the level of flagrant misconduct and deprived [defendants] of a fair trial.” Writing … Continue Reading
A divided panel of the Sixth Circuit held today in Lee v. Smith & Wesson Corp. that a district court abused its discretion in excluding testimony from the plaintiff’s expert that contradicted the injured plaintiff’s own account of how he was injured by an improperly discharging a Smith & Wesson revolver. The court held that … Continue Reading
Prosecutors trying to stop intellectual property theft were dealt a blow in United States v. Qin (12-1015), where the Sixth Circuit held that evidence of stealing electronic parts and schematics from one employer was not similar enough to a charge of stealing trade secrets from a different employer. Judge Donald’s opinion notes that evidence of … Continue Reading
