Filed: Jun. 04, 2004
Latest Update: Feb. 12, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 03-7294 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus RAYMOND MCGEE, a/k/a Raymond Washington, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Columbia. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., Chief District Judge. (CR-00-668) Submitted: April 28, 2004 Decided: June 4, 2004 Before WILKINSON and GREGORY, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublis
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 03-7294 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus RAYMOND MCGEE, a/k/a Raymond Washington, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Columbia. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., Chief District Judge. (CR-00-668) Submitted: April 28, 2004 Decided: June 4, 2004 Before WILKINSON and GREGORY, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublish..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 03-7294
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
RAYMOND MCGEE, a/k/a Raymond Washington,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Columbia. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., Chief
District Judge. (CR-00-668)
Submitted: April 28, 2004 Decided: June 4, 2004
Before WILKINSON and GREGORY, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
James P. Rogers, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellant. J. Strom
Thurmond, Jr., United States Attorney, Stacey D. Haynes, Assistant
United States Attorney, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Raymond McGee appeals the district court’s denial of his
motion for a new trial based on alleged juror bias. McGee was
convicted of unarmed bank robbery and conspiracy to commit bank
robbery and armed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371,
2113(a), (d) (2000). Fourteen months after being sentenced and
five months after we affirmed his convictions, see United States v.
Smith,
2002 WL 482561 (4th Cir. Apr. 1, 2002) (Nos. 00-4809, 01-
4089) (per curiam), McGee filed a motion for a new trial. McGee’s
motion alleged that one juror was biased against him at trial
because of a previous disagreement between the two of them. The
juror did not disclose this disagreement during jury selection.
After conducting an evidentiary hearing at which McGee and two
witnesses testified on his behalf, the district court denied
McGee’s motion for a new trial.
We review a district court’s denial of a motion for new
trial based on a juror’s failure to fully disclose information
during voir dire for an abuse of discretion, or a clear error of
law in the exercise of that discretion. See City of Richmond v.
Madison Mgmt. Group, Inc.,
918 F.2d 438, 459 (4th Cir. 1990). In
order to obtain a new trial “‘a party must first demonstrate that
a juror failed to answer honestly a material question on voir dire,
and then further show that a correct response would have provided
a valid basis for a challenge for cause.’” Fitzgerald v. Greene,
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150 F.3d 357, 362 (4th Cir. 1998) (quoting McDonough Power Equip.,
Inc. v. Greenwood,
464 U.S. 548, 556 (1984)). In the absence of
dishonesty, a criminal defendant may nevertheless establish a Sixth
Amendment violation warranting a new trial by showing that a juror
was actually biased against the defense.
Fitzgerald, 150 F.3d at
362-63.
We conclude the district court did not abuse its
discretion in finding McGee’s and his witnesses’ testimony
implausible and in denying McGee’s motion for a new trial.
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment. We dispense
with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument
would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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