[DOWNLOAD] "United States v. Riffe" by United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: United States v. Riffe
- Author : United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit
- Release Date : January 06, 1994
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 58 KB
Description
MERRITT, Chief Judge. Defendant Leonard Riffe appeals his convictions and sentences for conspiracy to distribute marijuana while a prisoner in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (Count 1) and for aiding and abetting the use of the mail to facilitate the distribution of marijuana in prison in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) (Counts 2 and 3). On appeal, Riffe claims that the district court committed reversible error when it refused to give a jury instruction on his theory of defense of duress by fellow prisoners and that there was insufficient evidence to support convictions on Counts 2 and 3. Although we find that sufficient evidence existed for the jury to convict, we agree that the district court erred when it refused to give a duress jury instruction. The most significant issue before us is whether the defense of duress, and hence an instruction on duress, is available only if a prisoner has attempted to present himself to prison authorities and attempted to seek safe haven from prison administrative procedures even though there is evidence that such action is likely to result in serious physical harm or death.