United States v. Williams

MEMORANDUM *

Charles Lloyd Williams appeals his conviction following a jury trial on one count of possession with intent to distribute five grams of methamphetamine. Williams contends that the jury’s return of an improper verdict form should have resulted in a mistrial. He further contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

The district court did not err in failing to declare a mistrial after the jury returned an improperly completed verdict form. 1 Williams did not move for a mistrial and did not object to the court’s decision to instruct the jury to continue deliberating and to complete a replacement verdict form. We thus review this issue only for plain error. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b) (“A plain error that affects substantial rights may be considered even though it was not brought to the court’s attention.”); United States v. McCaleb, 552 F.3d 1053, 1057 (9th Cir.2009) (reviewing for plain error a claim that the defendant did not raise in the district court).

The verdict was unclear because the jury found Williams guilty of both the charged offense and the lesser included offense, and…