United States v. Burrage, No. 11-3602 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseA jury convicted Defendant of distribution of heroin and distribution of heroin resulting in death. The district court sentenced Defendant to 240 months on each count, concurrently. Defendant appealed, arguing the court erred by admitting hearsay testimony and denying his motions for judgment of acquittal and a new trial. The Eighth District Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the district court did not err (1) by rejecting Defendant's proximate cause instructions or by using "contributing cause" language to define the causation element; (2) in denying Defendant's motion for a new trial because of remarks made by the prosecutor, where the remarks were proper; (3) in denying Defendant's motion for a judgment of acquittal, as the evidence was sufficient to sustain the convictions; and (4) in admitting certain testimony, because even if the district court erred in admitting the testimony, the error was harmless.
Court Description: Criminal case - Criminal law. District court did not err in rejecting defendant's proximate cause instructions as this court has held that a showing of proximate cause is not required in a prosecution under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(b)(1) for distributing heroin resulting in death; use of "contributing cause" language was appropriate under thi s court's case law; prosecutor's cross-examination of defendant and his closing comments as to whether the voice on a tape sounded like defendant were not improper; evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction; even if a police officer's testimony regarding defendant's status as a drug dealer was hearsay, its admission was harmless in light of the other evidence in the case.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on March 7, 2014.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on April 4, 2014.
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