Jury Selection

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Terrance Brasher

Case No.: 18-1997

Officials: FLAUM, ROVNER, and SCUDDER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Jury Selection

A grand jury charged Terrance Brasher and 14 other defendants with engaging in a conspiracy to distribute narcotics in and around the Southern District of Indiana. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1). Only Brasher proceeded to trial, and after hearing the government’s evidence, a jury found him guilty. The district court ordered him to serve a term of life in prison. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) (2016). Brasher appeals, asserting that there was a material variance between the conspiracy as charged and as proven at trial, that the government’s proof at trial constructively amended the indictment, that the government improperly exercised its peremptory challenges to exclude two African American venire members during the jury selection process, that the prosecutor made prejudicial remarks in closing argument, that the government made improper use of evidence obtained via court-authorized wiretaps, and that the district court erroneously precluded him from challenging one of the prior narcotics convictions which triggered his mandatory term of life imprisonment. Finding no merit to any of these arguments, we affirm Brasher’s conviction and sentence.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.