United States v. Timothy William Kershner and Albert William Smith, Jr.

CLARK, Circuit Judge:

This was a jointly-tried, three-defendant criminal case involving problems raised by deletions made in cross-implicating confessional statements to comply with the rule of Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968). Two defendants, Timothy William Kershner and Albert William Smith, were convicted and the third, Lucien E. England, was acquitted. At trial the oral confession of each defendant was recounted in such a manner as to eliminate all parts of each statement implicating the other defendants. Smith and Kershner assert that the overall…