United States v. Colhoff, No. 15-2800 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed her conviction for two counts of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, and one count of attempted witness tampering. The court concluded that the district court did not plainly err by joining the conspiracy charges with the witness-tampering charge where the charges were interrelated. The court also concluded that the evidence was sufficient to convict defendant of witness tampering where the context of the case supports the conclusion that defendant's statement that "snitches get stitches" would cause a reasonable person in the witness's position to fear bodily injury, and defendant's First Amendment rights were not infringed upon. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Colloton, Author, with Riley, Chief Judge, and Kelly, District Judge] Criminal case - Criminal law. Defendant's witness tampering and conspiracy charges were interrelated and were properly joined; evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction for witness tampering; the context in the case supports a conclusion that defendant's statement to a government witness - "Snitches get stiches - would reasonably cause someone in the witness's position to fear bodily harm and the statement was a true threat and was not protected by the First Amendment.
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