United States v. Morgan, No. 18-2751 (7th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CaseA jury found that Morgan possessed the 86.5 grams of methamphetamine that he tossed past law enforcement officers in the Peoria airport. Morgan had testified that all of it was for his personal use. The jury could not agree on whether the government proved that he possessed the methamphetamine with the intent to deliver, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1); (b)(1)(A). They declared themselves deadlocked on that issue—the one charged in the indictment—but found him guilty of the lesser included offense of possession of methamphetamine. At a second trial, the court read the jury a limiting instruction several times: you’re going to hear testimony that the defendant committed a wrong other than the one charged in the indictment. Before using this evidence, you must decide whether it’s more likely than not that the defendant committed the wrong that is not charged in the indictment. If you decide that he did, then you may consider this evidence to help you decide whether the defendant intended to distribute methamphetamine …. You may not consider it for any other purpose ... the defendant is on trial here for possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute ... not for the other wrong. Morgan was sentenced to 240 months for possession with intent to distribute. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding only harmless errors and no violation of his Fifth Amendment right to be free from double jeopardy.
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