United States v. Gonzales, No. 15-50762 (5th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDefendants were convicted of crimes related to a murder committed by a drug trafficking operation. In this case, the district court used a special jury question to determine whether any findings of guilt on firearm and murder offenses committed in the course of a drug conspiracy were based on a theory of direct liability, aiding and abetting liability, or conspirator liability under Pinkerton v. United States. The court concluded that the jury's findings of personal liability cannot stand and the court cannot uphold the murder convictions because there might be sufficient evidence to support a Pinkerton theory that the jury rejected. Accordingly, the court vacated in part, affirmed in part, and remanded.
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