United States v. Leon A. Cohen

THOMAS A. CLARK, Circuit Judge:

Leon Cohen appeals from his conviction under three counts of an indictment charging him with impersonating a federal official, giving a false statement in a matter within a federal agency’s jurisdiction, and conspiring to commit the impersonation offense, 18 U.S.C. §§ 912, 1001, and 371, respectively. Throughout the trial Cohen’s participation in the impersonation scheme was not contested; his theory of defense was duress, that his co-conspirator forced him to cooperate. On appeal he argues that the lower court erred (1) in refusing to direct a verdict of…