Opinion ID: 466135
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Alleged Inconsistencies Of Jury Verdicts

Text: 62 Steele alleges that the jury's inability to reach a verdict on the conspiracy count makes the guilty verdicts on Counts II and III inconsistent. No authority has been cited to support the novel proposition that an inability to reach a verdict on one count is the equivalent of an acquittal of that charge. 63 Because this issue was not raised below, the alleged error must be reviewed for plain error. Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b). No error occurred in accepting the verdicts on Counts II and III, notwithstanding the jury's inability to reach a verdict on the conspiracy charge. Consistency in verdicts is not required. United States v. Powell, 469 U.S. 57, 105 S.Ct. 471, 477, 83 L.Ed.2d 461 (1984); Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87, 101, 94 S.Ct. 2887, 2899, 41 L.Ed.2d 590 (1974). A defendant can be convicted upon one or some of the counts but acquitted on another or others and the conviction will be sustained even though rationally incompatible with the acquittal. United States v. Horowitz, 756 F.2d 1400, 1406 (9th Cir.) (citing United States v. Miller, 546 F.2d 320, 325 (9th Cir.1976); United States v. Livengood, 427 F.2d 420, 423 (9th Cir.1970)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 74, 88 L.Ed.2d 60 (1985). 64 The judgment is AFFIRMED.