United States v. Bianchi

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

KAUFFMAN, District Judge.

Now before the Court is Defendant’s Motion for Judgment of Acquittal or New Trial (the “Motion”). For the reasons set forth below, the Motion will be denied.

I. BACKGROUND

This case presents an extraordinarily important issue: When the Government’s conduct intentionally precludes the attendance at trial of a member of the defense team, is the defendant entitled to a new trial if he fails to prove actual prejudice resulting from the misconduct?

On February 1, 2007, a grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a Second Superseding…