United States v. Melvin E. Howard, A/K/A Mu, United States of America v. George H. Jones, United States of America v. Jimmy Bacon

Affirmed by published opinion. Chief Judge WILKINSON wrote the opinion, in which Judge MICHAEL and Judge COPENHAVER joined.

OPINION

WILKINSON, Chief Judge:

Melvin Howard, George Jones, and Jimmy Bacon were convicted in May 1996 of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. Howard, Jones, and Bacon appeal their convictions on several grounds — that Howard’s confession should not have been admitted, that Howard’s counsel should not have been disqualified, that the judge made prejudicial comments at trial, that a coconspirator’s statement should have been excluded, that…