United States v. Cobenais, No. 16-3420 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for aggravated sexual abuse. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in providing the theory-of-defense instruction on consent. The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in holding defendant's counsel to the amount of time that he told the court he needed for closing argument -- one hour. In this case, the total amount of time afforded to defendant's counsel was reasonable for a day-and-a-half trial.
Court Description: Smith, Author, with Colloton and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. In this aggravated sexual abuse case, the district court's theory-of-defense instruction mentioning consent accurately stated the elements of the offense and the defense's theory of the case; the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing defense counsel's request for additional time to complete closing argument. Judge Kelly, dissenting.
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