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Evidentiary Challenges Rejected

By Shari Allison

U.S. v. Tsosie, 2008 WL 2940800 (8/1/08) (unpub'd) - It was okay to present evidence defense witnesses belonged to the same gang as the defendant to show their bias. It was also okay to admit a threatening statement by one of the attackers, even if the defendant himself did not make the statement because the attackers were acting in concert. It was not reversible plain error to present evidence that the victims were devout members of a church [it didn't affect the verdict] and were reading Bible verses immediately before the assault [it was part of the narrative]. The recitation of the particular verse they were reading rebutted the defense's charge that the victims had memory issues.

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on August 05, 2008 (boomark / email).