United States v. Jorge Luis Alzate

CARNES, Circuit Judge:

Jorge Luis Alzate was convicted of possessing and importing cocaine, and he has never denied doing it. At trial, his sole defense was duress. On two occasions while evidence was being presented, the prosecutor made certain representations detrimental to Alzate’s duress defense. Before the case was submitted to the jury, the prosecutor learned that his representations had been false, but he failed to correct them. Because the prosecutor’s failure to correct his false representations could have affected the jury’s verdict, we reverse the denial of Alzate’s new trial motion.