United States v. Morris

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

These interlocutory appeals question whether the acquittal of appellants Irvin R. Morris and Stuart L. Smith on charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana bars the government from now prosecuting them on charges of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The district court answered this question in the. negative. Concluding, as we do, that neither double jeopardy nor collateral estoppel principles preclude continued prosecution of the tax conspiracy charge, we affirm.

I

Background

In 1994, a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment against…