United States v. Teague, No. 11-1214 (8th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of exceeding authorized computer access and obtaining information from a department of the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1030(a)(2)(B) and (c)(2)(A) where defendant used her employment with a Department of Education contractor to access President Obama's student loan records. At issue was whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain defendant's conviction and whether the district court abused its discretion by denying her request for a government-funded expert. The court held that, with all inferences drawn in favor of the government, a reasonable jury could disbelieve defendant's account of events. Therefore, the court held that there was no error where the government had met its burden and the jury properly performed its function. The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying defendant's motion for a government-funded expert where defendant failed to demonstrate that the expert was necessary to her defense, or demonstrated a reasonable probability the expert would aid in her defense and the denial of the expert would produce an unfair trial. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.
Court Description: Criminal case - Criminal law. Evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction for exceeding authorized computer access and obtaining information from a U.S. department; district court did not abuse its discretion by denying defendant's request for funding for a computer expert as defendant did not demonstrate a reasonable probability that the expert would aid in her defense and that denial of the funding would result in an unfair trial.
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