222914P.pdf   09/06/2023  United States  v.  Maria Nava
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  22-2914
                          and No:  22-2966
   U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City   
   [PUBLISHED] [Erickson, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Melloy, 
   Circuit Judges] 
   Criminal case - Criminal law. The court could not say that the evidence of 
   defendant De La Cruz Nava's involvement in a conspiracy to distribute 
   drugs was so lacking that no reasonable jury could have found her guilty 
   beyond a reasonable doubt, and the district court did not err in denying 
   her motion for a judgment of acquittal; however, on this record, the court 
   cannot determine whether the district court properly applied the standard 
   for reviewing a motion for new trial under Rule 33, and the matter is 
   remanded to the district court for consideration of defendant De La Cruz 
   Nava's motion for a new trial as it relates to the drug trafficking 
   conspiracy and related firearms count; the government did not meet its 
   burden to establish that De La Cruz Nava was involved in a conspiracy to 
   commit money laundering, and her conviction on that count is reversed; the 
   district court did not err in ruling that defendant Guzman's Mexico-based 
   alibi witnesses could not appear by Zoom; the district court did not err 
   in admitting evidence that defendant Guzman committed an unrelated assault 
   as it was relevant to establish knowledge of weapons and intent to use 
   them, and the probative value of the evidence was not outweighed by the 
   risk of unfair prejudice.