DISCLAIMER: Any unofficial case summaries below are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
213262P.pdf 02/21/2023 United States v. Adam Poitra
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 21-3262
U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota - Eastern
[PUBLISHED] [Benton, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Stras, Circuit
Judge]
Criminal case - Criminal law. The court gave a general unanimity
instruction, and the failure to give a specific unanimity instruction
under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2241(c) was not plain error; certain statements were
not hearsay, but even if they were, any error in admitting them was
harmless; admission of testimony from a forensic examiner was not error;
while it is a close call whether the government's closing argument shifted
the burden of proof and distorted defendant's case, the evidence of guilt
was strong, and the court would not reverse under a plain error standard
of review.