Opinion ID: 3064121
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Closing Statements and Verdict

Text: During closing statements, Anderson’s counsel emphasized that Anderson was a low-level participant in the conspiracy, that he had admitted his guilt as to Count I, and that he purchased the firearms long before his involvement in the conspiracy and did not use them in furtherance of the conspiracy. Anderson’s counsel summarized the evidence against Anderson, in part, as follows: The government has proven that on or about the middle of March–I can actually pinpoint it, March 16th of 2007–a lease was entered into for the residence that Mr. Anderson wound up being in when he was arrested. And where did that leasing company come from? That leasing company was involved with another individual in this case, and you know who I’m talking about. And shortly after that new arrangement that Mr. Anderson entered into to live in this new location, Mr. Anderson started storing marijuana for a specific person. And he stored it from times it came in from the middle of March until the middle of July when he got 12 arrested. And you know from the evidence that that’s really what he did. Because not another person, when they spoke to the police, even referenced C. J. Anderson as being something in March, April, May. It wasn’t until June the 20th of 2007 when Mr. Anderson delivered ten pounds of marijuana for someone to Mr. Henry that Mr. Anderson’s involvement became clear. And that’s as the officers testified. And this is a point of contention here. As the officers testified, Mr. Henry believed, thought, it’s possible that Mr. Anderson was storing marijuana. That turned out to be true. Swaine’s counsel did not object during or after Anderson’s counsel’s closing statement that the remarks improperly referenced Swaine. The district court again instructed the jury that it must consider only the evidence presented in the case and that the lawyers’ statements were not evidence. The district court also instructed the jury that Anderson’s guilty plea was not evidence of Swaine’s guilt. The jury found Swaine guilty of Counts I and VI and not guilty of Count VII. As to Count I, the jury specifically found that Swaine conspired to distribute or possess with intent to distribute fewer than 500 grams of cocaine and 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana. As to Count VI, the jury specifically found that Swaine distributed or possessed with the intent to distribute more than 50 kilograms of marijuana. The jury found Anderson not guilty of Count VII.