United States v. Vanessa Cattanea

MEMORANDUM

Appellant Vanessa Cattanea (“Catta-nea”) seeks reversal of her jury conviction for Medicaid fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1347 . She argues that the district court committed several errors over the course of the trial, including: (1) failing to grant her motion to sever her trial from that of her co-defendant; (2) erroneously instructing the jury on the element of intent; and (3) denying her motion for judgment of acquittal based on insufficiency of the evidence. She also argues that the prosecu tion made improper and prejudicial comments in its closing argument. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

First, Cattanea challenges the district court’s denial of her motion to sever. We review the district court’s ruling for abuse of discretion. United States v. Mayfield, 189 F.3d 895, 899 (9th Cir.1999). A party moving for severance based on the need for a co-defendant’s testimony must show that he or she would call the co-defendant to testify, that the co-defendant would testify, and that the testimony would be favorable to the moving party. United States v. Hernandez, 952 F.2d 1110, 1115 (9th Cir.1991); United States v. Castro, 887 F.2d 988, 998 (9th…