United States v. Wiggan, No. 10-50114 (9th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed her conviction and sentence for perjury and for making a false statement. Principally she challenged the district court's admission of testimony from a grand juror. She also challenged the district court's rejection of her claim of recantation, the sufficiency of the evidence, and her sentence. Because the court held that the admission of the grand juror's testimony was unduly prejudicial, the court reversed.
Court Description: Criminal Law. Reversing a conviction for making a false statement to the FBI and perjury before a grand jury and a district court, the panel held that the district court abused its discretion by admitting the grand jury foreman’s testimony that the defendant was not credible. The panel held that the danger of undue and unfair prejudice far outweighed the probative value of the foreman’s testimony, and that the error, which was devastating to the defendant’s defense, was not harmless. The panel rejected the defendant’s contentions that the district court erred when it determined that she had not recanted her testimony before the grand jury and that the district court should have submitted the defense of recantation to the petit jury. The panel also rejected the defendant’s contention that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict that she perjured herself at her first trial. Judge Ebel dissented from the majority’s conclusion that the district court committed reversible error in allowing the grand jury foreperson to testify that he did not believe the defendant was being truthful in her testimony before the grand jury.
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