Opinion ID: 3216857
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Prosecutorial and Juror Misconduct

Text: Defendants Emmenecker and Teadt argue that the prosecutor made inappropriate statements during closing arguments, but since Defendants did not challenge these statements below, we review them only for plain error. United States v. Koeberlein, 161 F.3d 946, 948–49 (6th Cir. 1998). Both Defendants suggest that the prosecutor improperly referred to evidence that existed, but was not in the record by telling the jury “I wish we could show cash deposits into Mr. Emmenecker and Mr. Teadt’s accounts that we could say was how they profited.” When the statement is viewed in context, however, it is clear that the prosecutor was merely conceding that the government had no direct evidence of how Teadt or Emmenecker benefitted monetarily from the crimes. Emmenecker takes issue with a number of other minor statements by the prosecutor. A thorough review of the trial transcript reveals that these statements fall within the range of discretion given to prosecutors during closing arguments. See United States v. al-Maliki, 787 F.3d 784, 795 (6th Cir. 2015). 18 Case Nos. 14-3995/14-4124/14-4125/15-3014/15-3015, United States v. Teadt, et al. Finally, the district court did not plainly err in dealing with the issue of sleeping jurors. See United States v. Maxwell, 160 F.3d 1071, 1076-77 (6th Cir. 1998). One juror who was having difficulty remaining awake was dismissed as an alternate at the conclusion of trial. The judge also reminded the jurors repeatedly that he was observing them, assessing their level of alertness, and “tak[ing] actions to wake up the situation.” A district judge has “considerable discretion in deciding how to handle a sleeping juror and overturning the verdict is appropriate only if the defendant was deprived of his Fifth Amendment due process rights or his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury.” United States v. Cook, 550 F. App’x 265, 270 (6th Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks removed). On this record, we cannot find such a deprivation of rights.