United States v. Gary Lester, United States of America v. Leroy "Obie" McGill United States of America v. Gary "Geek" Lester

These consolidated appeals follow the government’s successful prosecution of Gary Lester and Leroy McGill for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (conspiracy to obstruct justice and to obstruct a criminal investigation), 18 U.S.C. § 1503 (obstruction of justice), and 18 U.S.C. § 1510 (obstruction of a criminal investigation). The jury returned guilty verdicts against both defendants on all counts. Acting under Fed.R.Crim.P. 29(c), the district judge entered judgments of acquittal as to the two substantive counts for Lester and the conspiracy count for McGill. The government appeals from the judgments of acquittal for both defendants. Lester appeals from his conviction on the conspiracy count. We affirm Lester’s conviction for conspiracy, set aside the judgments of acquittal as to both defendants, and reinstate the guilty verdicts.

I.

BACKGROUND

This case involves a conspiracy to prevent Leslie Brigham from testifying in a federal prosecution of Felix Mitchell, the alleged leader of an Oakland narcotics gang. In April 1983, the Oakland police department arrested Brigham for murder. While in custody, Brigham began cooperating with federal authorities as they prepared to prosecute…