Opinion ID: 12937
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Three Bites at the Apple

Text: On November 3, 1994, Mulderig was convicted on all counts in which he was charged (Counts 1-3, 5, 7, and 8). On November 10, 1994, Mulderig moved for an extension of time within which to file a post-trial Rule 29 motion for judgment of acquittal. The district court granted the motion and gave Mulderig until November 29, 1994 to file the motion. The parties do not dispute that this motion for an extension of time was filed within the seven-day time frame prescribed by Rule 29 and that the district court had jurisdiction to grant such an extension. The Rule 29 motion was timely filed and subsequently denied on February 2, 1995. Exactly three months after the district court denied Mulderig’s first Rule 29 motion, Mulderig moved for leave to subpoena records in the custody of the New Orleans law firm of Stone, Pigman, Walther, Wittman and Hutchinson, which represented federal bank regulators in civil litigation involving Gulf Federal. The district court granted the motion on May 24, 1995. That same day, Mulderig sought leave to file a second Rule 29 motion for judgment of acquittal as to Counts 1-3. On June 23, 1995, the district court granted Mulderig leave to file the motion and continued Mulderig’s sentencing pending our en banc consideration of United States v. Crouch, 84 F.3d 1497 (5th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 117 S. Ct. 736 (1997). Mulderig’s second motion was denied on July 27, 1995. On August 22, 1995, with leave from the district court, Mulderig “renewed” his second posttrial motion for judgment of acquittal as to Counts 1 and 2. On September 14, 1995, this motion was denied. On July 16, 1996, following our en banc decision in Crouch, the district court ruled that Mulderig’s renewed motion for judgment of acquittal was moot, and sentencing was scheduled for September 4, 1996. Not to be deterred, on August 8, 1996, Mulderig moved for leave to subpoena records in the custody of federal bank regulators. That motion was granted on August 30, 1996. On October 16, 1996, Mulderig filed a third, post-trial motion for judgment of acquittal as to Counts 1-3. This time, Mulderig argued that evidence discovered pursuant to the bank regulator subpoenas was newly 12 discovered and demonstrated his innocence on Counts 1-3. The district court, however, denied the motion on the ground that the Supreme Court’s decision in Carlisle divested it of jurisdiction to rule on Mulderig’s third, post-trial motion for judgment of acquittal.