Opinion ID: 549851
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The District Court's Refusal to Overturn the Jury Verdicts

Text: 41 Finally, appellant Blu-J argues that the jury's verdicts on the fraud and civil RICO counts were against the great weight of the evidence and thus a new trial is warranted. Our review of a district court's denial of a motion for new trial is very limited. Absent an abuse of discretion, the district court's disposition of a motion for a new trial will not be disturbed on appeal, especially when that disposition was to deny the motion. Mekdeci v. Merrell Nat. Labs., 711 F.2d 1510, 1513 & n. 1 (11th Cir.1983). 42 Guided by this standard of review, our review of the record indicates that there was ample evidence from which the jury could have concluded that Kemper lacked fraudulent intent, a necessary element of fraud under Florida law. See Kramer v. Unitas, 831 F.2d 994, 998 (11th Cir.1987). Fraudulent intent is also necessary to establish mail or wire fraud, which were the predicate acts alleged here for the civil RICO count. See Beck v. Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co., 820 F.2d 46, 49-50 (2nd Cir.1987), abrogated on other grounds, United States v. Indelicato, 865 F.2d 1370, 1378-82 (2nd Cir.1989), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1005, 108 S.Ct. 698, 98 L.Ed.2d 650 (1988); 18 U.S.C.A. Secs. 1341, 1343, 1961(1) (Supp.1990). Thus, the district court did not err in denying Blu-J's motion for new trial. 4 43 AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part, and REMANDED.