United States v. Coughlin

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge GARLAND.

GARLAND, Circuit Judge:

The government accused defendant Charles Coughlin of defrauding the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which awarded him $331,034 for damages he said he sustained as a result of the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon. Coughlin was indicted on five counts of mail fraud, one count of making a false and fraudulent claim, and one count of theft of public money. A jury acquitted him on three of the mail fraud counts, but was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining counts. Coughlin argues that a retrial on…