Criminal Law: Drug Distribution-Jury Bias-Judicial Factfinding

Defendant appealed his conviction for drug distribution. Although defendant was arrested in a sting conducted by an undercover state trooper, he chose to go to trial. Defendant unsuccessfully requested a new venire group after only one of the 39 prospective jurors was Black. After the jury convicted defendant, he moved for a new trial based on the fact that one of the jurors and defendant’s sister had an altercation a year prior. During sentencing, the district court calculated the amount of “pure” methamphetamine in the drugs sold by defendant.

Where the composition of the jury pool was itself not indicative of bias, the district court correctly denied defendant’s motions where the record did not demonstrate that the identified juror would possess an extreme bias against defendant. Defendant’s sentence did not violate the Sixth Amendment where it was below the statutory maximum.

Judgment is affirmed.

U.S. v. Farmer (MLW No. 79563/Case No. 21-3906 – 4 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, per curiam) Appealed from U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, Clark, J.