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U.S. v. Morales

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
Sep 27, 1990
910 F.2d 467 (7th Cir. 1990)

Summary

holding that a new trial may be ordered when "the complete record . . . leaves a strong doubt as to the defendant's guilt, even though not so strong as to require a judgment of acquittal."

Summary of this case from U.S. v. Hirschberg

Opinion

No. 89-2053.

August 20, 1990. Rehearing En Banc Denied Denied September 27, 1990.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division; William T. Hart, Judge.

Before POSNER, RIPPLE and KANNE, Circuit Judges.


ORDER AMENDING OPINION

The government in asking for rehearing in United States v. Morales, 902 F.2d 604 (7th Cir. 1990), picks out one sentence of our opinion as stating a new test for when a motion for a new trial in a criminal case should be granted. ("When, however, in a case in which a jury has convicted a person of a crime carrying a very long mandatory minimum penalty, the complete record, testimonial and physical, does not permit a confident conclusion that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the district judge is obliged to grant a motion for a new trial." 902 F.2d at 608; emphasis in original.) We did not intend to state a new test but merely to indicate as part of a much longer discussion some of the considerations that had moved us to conclude that the appellant in this case passed the old test, the test of Reed, which both the government and we consider canonical.

Lest others be confused on this point, we have decided to substitute for the quoted sentence as it appears in the advance sheets the following as more precisely expressive of our intended meaning: "But the question of admissibility must be separated from that of weight. Evidence may be admissible without establishing a proposition with the degree of certainty required of the prosecution in a criminal case. If the complete record, testimonial and physical, leaves a strong doubt as to the defendant's guilt, even though not so strong a doubt as to require a judgment of acquittal, the district judge may be obliged to grant a new trial."


Summaries of

U.S. v. Morales

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
Sep 27, 1990
910 F.2d 467 (7th Cir. 1990)

holding that a new trial may be ordered when "the complete record . . . leaves a strong doubt as to the defendant's guilt, even though not so strong as to require a judgment of acquittal."

Summary of this case from U.S. v. Hirschberg

upholding ruling but amending language

Summary of this case from United States v. Lewis

clarifying that "[i]f the complete record, testimonial and physical, leaves a strong doubt as to the defendant's guilt, even though not so strong a doubt as to require a judgment of acquittal, the [trial] judge may be obliged to grant a new trial"

Summary of this case from Whisenhunt v. State

emphasizing that "if the judge believes there is a serious danger that a miscarriage of justice has occurred — that is, that an innocent person has been convicted — he has the power to set the verdict aside, even if he does not think that he made any erroneous rulings at the trial"

Summary of this case from Phornsavanh v. State
Case details for

U.S. v. Morales

Case Details

Full title:UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, v. ROBERT MORALES…

Court:United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit

Date published: Sep 27, 1990

Citations

910 F.2d 467 (7th Cir. 1990)

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