Third Circuit Blog

Third Circuit Blog
In United States v. Korey, 2007 WL 14686, No. 05-3840, filed 1/4/07, the 3d Circuit vacated the defendant's conviction because the conspiracy instruction given to the jury contained an impermissible mandatory presumption that was not harmless. The instruction foreclosed the jury's consideration of an essential element of conspiracy: that the defendant shared a common goal, which in this case was to advance the cocaine distribution scheme.