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Mistrial Warranted Where Jury Receives Inculpatory Document Never Provided to Defense Counsel.

By Candace Hom, Melinda Ghilardi, Nancy Rimmer, Sarah Gannett, Renee Pietropaolo and Tieffa Harper

United States v. Jelani Lee, Nos. 07-0406, 07-4643 (July 17, 2009). Jelani Lee was charged with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Police stopped the car he was driving and found cocaine in a passenger?s "undergarments." The passenger said that the drugs belonged to Lee. The passenger also said ? and her cell phone records established ? that an associate of Lee had called her earlier in the day from a local motel. Lee had keys from that motel in his pocket. After officers interviewed hotel staff, the searched the room and found additional crack cocaine along with cash, a scale, and baggies. A registration card showed the room as registered to an "Omar Martin" at the same address in Lancaster that Lee had given to police as his own local address...continue to full post

Full post as published by Third Circuit Blog on July 27, 2009 (boomark / email).