United States v. Wheaton

OPINION

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge.

Michael Wheaton was convicted by a jury on one count of conspiring to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and of possessing the drug with the intent to distribute. He filed a motion for a new trial, alleging that a juror’s use of a laptop computer in the jury room to obtain extrinsic evidence had undermined the integrity of the verdict. The district court denied Wheaton’s motion, concluding that the interests of justice did not require a new trial because the information acquired by the juror had no effect on the jury’s deliberations. Wheaton…