United States v. Vega-Molina

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

These appeals devolve from a violent robbery and hostage taking, which resulted in two murders and serious injury to a third victim. After a protracted trial, a jury convicted the four jointly tried defendants on all counts. Each of them received at least one life sentence.

On appeal, the defendants, ably represented, serve up a salmagundi of constitutional, statutory, and evidentiary arguments. Although we reject most of this asseverational array, we conclude that one defendant should be retried because of a prejudicial deprivation of his rights under the Sixth Amendment.…