United States v. Freeman, No. 09-4043 (7th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseAfter a five-week trial, four defendants were convicted of various drug crimes. Although the government's star witness had testified to a defendant's participation in events that occurred in 2003,the defendant was in prison from 2002 until 2005. Defense counsel attempted to confront the witness with the dates of incarceration, but the government objected, stating, "That’s not true." More than a week later, the government stipulated to the dates of incarceration, but referred to the testimony in closing arguments. The district court granted a new trial, and the Seventh Circuit affirmed. The record fully supported that the testimony was false; that the government was on notice, before the testimony, that there were problems and even relied on the testimony in closing arguments; and that the testimony was not "mere surplusage."
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