191252P.pdf   09/03/2020  United States  v.  Craig Ralston
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  19-1252
   U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Springfield   
   [PUBLISHED] [Smith, Chief Judge, with Colloton and Stras, Circuit Judges] 
   Criminal case - Criminal law. Claims of prosecutorial misconduct rejected 
   as the matters were not so prejudicial,either alone or in the aggregate, 
   as to violate defendant's right to a fair trial; further, the evidence 
   against defendant was strong, the court provided curative instructions 
   where necessary and struck portions of improper examinations and witness 
   testimony; on this trial record defendant's arguments do not establish the 
   kind of cumulative and pervasive misconduct that warrants reversal for a 
   new trial; defendant waived his challenge to a witness's unavailability, 
   and it was not error to admit her testimony from a prior state court 
   criminal preliminary hearing, as defendant had ample opportunity and 
   motive to cross-examine the witness at the state court hearing; the 
   district court did not plainly err in permitting defendant's witness to 
   assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination; the district 
   court did not abuse its discretion, much less plainly err, in allowing 
   defendant's ex-wife to testify as to out-of-court statements made to her 
   by their housekeepers when the couple lived in India; claims of 
   ineffective assistance of trial counsel would not be reviewed in this 
   direct appeal.