Sufficiency of Evidence and Jury Instructions

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. McKenzie J. Carson

Case No.: 15-3421

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and ROVNER and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sufficiency of Evidence and Jury Instructions

A jury convicted McKenzie Carson of four counts of violating the federal sex trafficking statute. Three of those counts alleged that Carson engaged in sex trafficking with knowledge that the victims were forced, threatened or coerced. The other count alleged that Carson was involved in the sex trafficking of a person under the age of eighteen. He asks this court to reverse his conviction and remand for a new trial, claiming that he was prevented from eliciting relevant testimony from his victims, that he was precluded from effectively cross examining a key witness, that the district court errantly admitted evidence of un‐ charged “bad acts,” and that he was prejudiced by incorrectly worded jury instructions. We find no reversible error and thus affirm the decision of the district court.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.