United States v. Butler

MEMORANDUM **

Elijah Butler appeals his jury trial conviction for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1), 846. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Butler contends that the district court abused its discretion when it denied his motion for a mistrial (and, in the alternative, to dismiss a juror) which Butler made after a juror revealed to the court that she was robbed at gunpoint one night during her jury service. We disagree. The district court investigated the incident, and carefully questioned the affected juror as well as the other jurors with whom she had discussed the incident. See Dyer v. Calderon, 151 F.3d 970, 974 (9th Cir.1998) (en banc) (stating that “[a] court confronted with a colorable claim of juror bias must undertake an investigation of the relevant facts and circumstances”). The court’s finding that each of these jurors was unbiased was not clearly erroneous, and it did not abuse its discretion in denying both the motion for a mistrial and the motion to have the affected juror removed from the case. See United States v. Ross, 886 F.2d 264, 267 (9th Cir.1989) (holding that…