Jensen
United States v. Jensen
Opinion
Opinion
Breyer, J.
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL
Defendant Stephanie Jensen moves this Court for a new trial, arguing that there are five justifications for overturning the jury’s guilty verdict: (1) the Court’s jury instruction for “willful” was erroneous; (2) the Books & Records statute is void for vagueness; (3) Congress precluded conspiracy liability for a Books & Records charge; (4) the Court failed to instruct the jury that, to be convicted, Jensen had to know the backdated documents affected Brocade’s financial statements; and (5) there is a reasonable probability that newly discovered evidence would lead to a different outcome on retrial. For the reasons set forth below, Jensen’s motion is DENIED.
Background
On December 5, 2007, a jury convicted Stephanie Jensen of falsifying Brocade’s books, records, and accounts in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 78m(b)(2)(A), id. § 78m(b)(5), id. § 78ff(a), and of conspiracy to falsify books, records, and accounts in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 .
Standard op Review
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 33 empowers the Court to “vacate any judgment and grant a new trial if the interest of justice so requires.” “The district court need not view the…