United States v. Kimo Little Bird, Sr., No. 22-2176 (8th Cir. 2023)
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A jury found Defendant guilty on three counts: (1) Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child, (2) Committing a Felony Sex Offense Against a Minor While Required to Register as a Sex Offender, and (3) Tampering with a Witness. After the verdict, Defendant filed a motion for judgment of acquittal under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29. The district court denied the motion and subsequently sentenced Defendant to life plus 120 months in prison. On appeal, Defendant argued that the district court erred when it denied his motion for judgment of acquittal because there was insufficient evidence to convict on the aggravated sexual abuse and witness tampering charges. Defendant also challenged his sentence.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The court wrote that here, the evidence at trial presented “two conflicting hypotheses” about Defendant’s motivation in making these phone calls. The jury found more credible the government’s explanation. And while there was no direct evidence that Defendant attempted to corruptly persuade his mother, there was sufficient circumstantial evidence to support the jury’s conclusion that he did. Given that all reasonable inferences must be construed in favor of upholding the verdict, this court will not disturb the jury’s decision on this count.
Court Description: [Kelly, Author, with Colloton and Benton, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law and Sentencing. The evidence was sufficient to support defendant's convictions for aggravated sexual abuse and witness tampering; no error in applying a two-level enhancement for obstruction of justice under Guidelines Sec. 3C1.1; defendant's life sentence was substantively reasonable.
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