United States v. Ted Severeid

MEMORANDUM

Defendant-Appellant Ted Severeid, an inmate in a Bureau of Prisons facility, was indicted by a grand jury on one count of assault on a federal officer in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 111 (a)(1) and (b). After a first trial that ended in a mistrial, a second jury convicted him. The district court sentenced him to 120 months in prison (consecutive to any outstanding sentence), three years of supervised release, and restitution in the amount of $1,874.25. He now appeals, challenging, inter alia, the prosecutor’s closing argument as containing several instances of improper vouching. We agree with Severeid that the prosecution’s vouching in closing argument constituted plain error. Accordingly, we reverse.

. 1. During closing argument, the prosecution made several statements that Sev-ereid challenges as instances of improper vouching. These include:

Because Severeid’s counsel failed to object to any of the statements above, we review for plain error. United States v. Dorsey, 677 F.3d 944, 953 (9th Cir.2012). “Under plain-error review, reversal is proper only if there is (1) an error that is (2) clear or obvious, (3) affects substantial rights, and (4) ‘seriously affects the…