United States v. Walter Michael Rising

McWILLIAMS, Circuit Judge.

This case arises out of a homicide which occurred in the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas on February 23, 1987. In Count 1 of a superseding indictment, Walter Michael Rising, an inmate in that institution, was charged with the murder of a fellow inmate, Paul Leon Jordan, with premeditation and malice aforethought, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1111. In a second count, Rising was charged with the unlawful possession of a knife in the penitentiary, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1791(a)(2).

A jury convicted Rising on both counts. Rising was sentenced to life…