Gov’t of the V.I. v. Mills — criminal — affirmance — Krause

The Third Circuit today issued a major opinion on prosecutorial misconduct, holding that the prosecution committed severe and pervasive misconduct but that the defendant was not entitled to a new trial because the evidence against him was overwhelming, his defense was implausible, and the court gave effective curative instructions. The Third Circuit found three types of misconduct: urging jurors to convict Mills to protect themselves, urging jurors to convict based on bad conduct not relevant to the charged crimes, and displaying a photo of the victim’s corpse during closing argument to evoke sympathy.

Joining Krause were Fisher and Roth. (Notably, both Krause and Fisher were prosecutors before joining the court.) Arguing counsel were Su-Layne Walker for the government and Joseph DiRuzzo III for the defendant.