Opinion
NO. 3:10-cr-260 (30)
05-31-2012
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. MOHAMMED AMALLE (30)
JUDGE HAYNES
DEFENDANT MOHAMMED AMALLE'S (30) MOTION FOR ACQUITTAL
Defendant Mohammed Amalle (30), pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 29(a), hereby moves this Honorable Count for a judgment of acquittal in the above styled case. As grounds therefore, Counsel states as follows:
I. Authority.
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29(a) provides that "[a]fter the government closes its evidence or after the close of all the evidence, the court on the defendant's motion must enter a judgment of acquittal of any offense for which the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction. The court may on its own consider whether the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction." The Sixth Circuit has interpreted this Rule to mean that if the evidence "is such that a rational fact finder must conclude that a reasonable doubt is raised, the Sixth Circuit is obligated to reverse a denial of an acquittal motion." United States v. Lloyd, 10 F.3d 1197, 1210 (6th Cir.1993) (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781 (1979)). Thus, if the Court finds that a rational jury could not find that the evidence establishes proof beyond a reasonable doubt, then the Court must enter an acquittal pursuant to the Rules.