United States v. Sparks, No. 14-3120 (10th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseDefendant-Appellant Gary Sparks was convicted of witness tampering and sentenced to thirty-six months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release. Sparks’ conviction arose out of a statement he made to his thirteen-year-old granddaughter, “H.L.,” in advance of her expected testimony in a criminal proceeding against her mother, Sparks’ daughter, Stacy Ashley. Ashley faced charges for, inter alia, distribution of a substance containing oxymorphone, with death resulting. Investigators met with H.L., who told them that she had witnessed Ashley trading pills with the deceased individual the night before he overdosed and died. After discussing H.L.’s likely testimony with Ashley on two occasions, Sparks took H.L. to visit Ashley in jail roughly three weeks before the expected trial date. After the visit, Sparks took H.L. to dinner. H.L. confided in Sparks that she had spoken with an investigator. According to H.L., Sparks told her “you should only lie about the important stuff.” On appeal, Sparks argued that: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction; and (2) the jury was not properly instructed on a possible affirmative defense. Finding no reversible error, the Tenth Circuit affirmed.
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