United States v. Gary Halbert

Gary Halbert was convicted by a jury of twenty-one counts of mail fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1341 . On appeal, he raises four major issues. We affirm.

I

Juror Misconduct

There is an allegation that a juror improperly considered extrinsic evidence of a newspaper article about Halbert’s beach house.

We independently review the allegations of juror misconduct to determine whether a new trial is justified because there is “a reasonable possibility that the extrinsic material could have affected the verdict.” United States v. Bagnariol, 665 F.2d 877 , 887 n. 6 (9th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 962 , 102 S.Ct. 2040 , 72 L.Ed.2d 487 (1982). In making this determination, we give substantial weight to the district court’s conclusion about the effect of the juror misconduct. Id. at 885.

We conclude that the allegations of juror misconduct do not warrant a retrial because at the trial the jurors heard considerable evidence about the beach house and Halbert’s life style. We agree with the district court that there is no reasonable possibility that the newspaper article affected the verdict.

Applying an abuse of discretion standard, United States v. Hendrix, 549 F.2d 1225, 1229 (9th Cir.),…