United States v. Louis, No. 16-11349 (11th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court's denial of defendant's motion for acquittal, holding that no reasonable jury could find from the little evidence presented during the two-day trial that defendant was guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 846 and 841. While the circumstances presented by the government here might show that it was more likely than not that defendant knew that the boxes contained some sort of contraband, the permissible inferences did not support a holding that the government proved that defendant knew this was a conspiracy involving a controlled substance or that he knew he was in possession of a controlled substance. The court explained that, without this requisite showing of knowledge, the government failed to carry its burden.
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