United States v. Richter, No. 13-1316 (10th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseThe government brought criminal charges against Brandon Richter and Tor Olson for fraudulently obtaining the electronic devices they exported for sale overseas, and for violating federal law governing the exportation of hazardous electronic waste. After a fifteen-day trial, the jury found them guilty of committing fraud and facilitating the illegal exportation of hazardous waste. The jury also convicted Richter on a single count of obstruction of justice. On appeal, Richter and Olson raised a variety of legal and evidentiary challenges to these convictions. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit reversed defendants' convictions for smuggling and fraud, based in part on testimony by the government's rebuttal witness. This witness was not qualified as an expert witness, and was allowed to opine as to the nature of the defendants' business and the devices they were exporting. The Court found that the admission of the witness' testimony did not have a "substantial influence" on the other charges against defendants, and as such, was harmlessly admitted. The Court remanded the case for further proceedings.
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