United States v. Roy Shelby Blueford

ORDER

The mandate issued on November 7, 2002, is hereby recalled for the purposes of clarifying the amended opinion.

The Government’s unopposed motion for clarification of amended opinion and for expedited consideration is GRANTED. The Amended Opinion, 2002 WL 193023 (9th Cir.(Cal.)), filed in this matter on October 30, 2002, is further amended and the further amended opinion is filed concurrently herewith.

The mandate shall issue forthwith.

OPINION

Roy Blueford appeals his jury conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Although Blueford raises several challenges on appeal, we need address only one, namely the allegation that the prosecutor engaged in misconduct that tainted the trial. We conclude that the prosecu tion’s actions in asking the jury to infer that Blueford had fabricated his alibi in certain telephone calls with witnesses in the weeks just before the trial, when in fact the government had evidence contradicting some of its assertions, requires that we reverse and remand to the district court for a new trial.

I. Facts and Proceedings Below

In response to reports of drug trafficking, Oakland, California, Police Officer Eric Richholt conducted an…