Opinion ID: 221628
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Probability of Producing an Acquittal

Text: The district court found that Darrin's proposed testimony would probably produce an acquittal for Chad because it connects Jed to the guns and to the phone call placed to Newsom. The district court determined that it was more likely than not that the Piazza brother who sold the guns to Newsom was Jed rather than Chad. We agree. The defense had already presented or elicited testimonial evidence that: Chad and Jed had both been bald at times and have tattoos; Newsom had not personally seen Chad or Jed before the day of the transaction since they were children; Guilbeaux had told Shirley that Chad did not do it and that it was really Jed; someone had used Jed's phone to call Newsom to set up a sale; and Jed had a history of burgling houses. Darrin's proffered testimony additionally establishes that: Jed had the guns in his possession; Jed had sought and received the contact information of Newsom as a potential buyer of the guns; Jed or Guilbeaux, who had accompanied Jed to meet Steve and Darrin, told Steve and Darrin the same story about where the guns had come from that Guilbeaux told Newsom at the transaction; and Jed had admitted he may be in trouble because somebody had turned in some guns. The totality of the new evidence could rise to the level of creating a reasonable doubt that Jed, and not Chad, was the person who sold the guns to Newsom. The district court did not err in finding that the new evidence would probably produce an acquittal.