Opinion ID: 712131
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Motion for a New Trial Based on Newly Discovered Evidence

Text: 34 Defendant contends that the district court erred by not granting a new trial based on newly discovered evidence. On the day the jury returned a guilty verdict against Roulette, Cheryl F. Harrison, the mother of Charles Harrison, Jr., told defense counsel that Donald Riddlespringer had stated to her that he, and not Cedric Roulette, had sold crack cocaine to Freddie Barker at McDonald's. The district court held a hearing on Roulette's motion for a new trial based upon this and other new evidence. At the hearing, Cheryl Harrison's testimony proved less than credible. She admitted to confusing Donald Riddlespringer with his brother, George Riddlespringer. She testified that George initially confessed to participating in the January 8, 1990 drug sale at McDonald's; she then explained that she had confused the two brothers and that Donald had later confessed to her also. Mrs. Harrison also could not establish the date of the drug deal to which Donald Riddlespringer allegedly referred. Cheryl Harrison's daughter, Carolyn Harrison, also testified for the defendant at the hearing. Carolyn testified that Donald Riddlespringer had admitted to her on several occasions that he was the individual who sold drugs to Detective Tisinger on January 8, 1990. The defense also presented the sworn statements of two other individuals, Bonita Hill and Tanis McGaugh. Hill stated that Riddlespringer admitted to her that he had sold the drugs at McDonald's on the day in question, while McGaugh stated that Riddlespringer had failed to deny that he had made the January 8 drug sale. At the hearing on the motion for new trial, Donald Riddlespringer testified that he did not sell any crack cocaine at McDonald's on January 8, 1990 4 . Riddlespringer also denied admitting any participation in such a drug sale to Cheryl Harrison or anyone else. 35 In order to get a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, Roulette must demonstrate (1) the existence of new evidence, (2) due diligence, (3) the relevance of the evidence to a material issue, (4) the probability that evidence would lead to an acquittal on retrial, and (5) that the evidence 'is not merely cumulative or impeaching.'  United States v. Turk, 21 F.3d 309, 312 (8th Cir.1994) (citing United States v. Johnson, 12 F.3d 827, 833 (8th Cir.1994) (citation omitted), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 1860, 128 L.Ed.2d 482 (1994)). The district court's decision on whether to grant a new trial on such a motion will not be reversed absent a clear abuse of discretion. Johnson, 12 F.3d at 833-34 (citing United States v. Provost, 921 F.2d 163, 165 (8th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 968, 111 S.Ct. 1603, 113 L.Ed.2d 666 (1991)). 36 We agree with the trial court that the new evidence was insufficient to justify a new trial because there was no probability that the evidence would lead to an acquittal on retrial 5 . The testimony of the defendant's witnesses lacked credibility, especially since they did not come forward at Roulette's trial. Cheryl Harrison and Bonita Hill had both testified at the trial. Neither mentioned any confession by Donald Riddlespringer to the court or to Roulette's attorney prior to or during the trial. Moreover, none of the new evidence related to Roulette's face-to-face cocaine sale to Detective Tisinger on January 9, 1990, the strongest evidence against Roulette. Immediately after this second purchase, Detective Tisinger identified Roulette as the individual from both the January 8 and January 9 sales. Tisinger's identification of Roulette, and the confirmation of his identification by two other detectives, provide overwhelming evidence of Roulette's guilt. Roulette's new evidence would have little or no probability of leading to an acquittal on retrial. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Roulette's motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence.