United States v. Spotted Horse, No. 18-1138 (8th Cir. 2019)
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The Eighth Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction of three counts of child abuse and three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, holding that any error in the proceedings below was harmless.
Specifically, the Court held (1) any error on the part of the district court in defining “dangerous weapon” in its jury instructions was harmless; (2) the district court did not err in refusing to instruct the jury on the reasonable use of disciplinary force by a guardian as a defense to the crime of child abuse; and (3) the district court did not err when it prohibited Defendant from introducing sexual touching evidence and when it denied Defendant’s motion for a mistrial.
Court Description: Erickson, Author, with Loken, Circuit Judges, and Magnuson, District Judge] Criminal Case - conviction. On appeal from conviction for child abuse and assault with a dangerous weapon, district court did not abuse its discretion in defining "dangerous weapon" in jury instructions, as it fairly tracked the statute requiring intent to do bodily harm, not serious bodily harm, and, in any event, any error was harmless; district court properly denied the instruction on the reasonable use of disciplinary force by a guardian as a defense because no reasonable jury could have found that this use of force was "reasonable in manner and moderate in degree." The district did not err in excluding testimony nor abuse its discretion by denying a motion for mistrial following the district court's revision of in limine order.
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