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Drug Conspiracy Convictions Affirmed

By Shari Allison

US v. Smith, 2008 WL 2814809, 7/23/08 - Drug convictions and lengthy sentence affirmed. Defendant ran a drug ring and was indicted for conspiracy and multiple distribution and related counts. One of her confederates had been convicted of murdering two women (a third woman somehow survived despite getting shot 7 times). There was some reason to believe that the defendant ordered the hits in retaliation for the victims' stealing defendant's drugs and money from the confederate, but defendant was never charged in connection with this. At trial, the district court admitted evidence of the murders because there was evidence that they were related to the drug conspiracy; murders were therefore not "other crimes" evidence prohibited ay Rule 404(b)...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on July 28, 2008 (boomark / email).