United States v. Jeffrey Gaskins, AKA Jeffery Gaskin

Gaskin appeals his conviction following a jury trial for possession of methamphetamine and manufacturing methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). On appeal, Gaskin argues that we should reverse his conviction because the district court’s additional instruction on aiding and abetting, given in response to a question from the jury, violated Rule 30 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and prejudiced him because the court did not allow Gaskin’s counsel to argue against an aiding and abetting theory to the jury. Gaskin also argues that the district court violated his sixth amendment right to a unanimous verdict when it accepted the verdict notwithstanding a note which allegedly revealed juror dissension on the manufacturing count. The district court had jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231 . We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . Because we find that the Rule 30 violation requires reversal of both counts, we do not reach the question whether Gaskin’s sixth amendment rights were violated in this case.

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A police officer detected a strong odor of ether, which is used to manufacture methamphetamine, near Gaskin’s home. The police officer advised the Drug…