Case Summaries: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (March 2024)

This post summarizes a published criminal law released by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals during March 2024. Cases of potential interest to state practitioners are summarized monthly. Previous summaries of Fourth Circuit cases are available here. Failure to disclose change in witness’s statement before trial and failure to correct the witness’s misleading statements at trial was not material under the facts of the case and did not justify post-trial relief U.S. v. George, 95 F.4th 200 (March 11, 2024). The defendant was tried before a jury and convicted of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon in the Eastern District of North Carolina. The defendant’s cousin was on scene at the time of the defendant’s arrest and was interviewed by law enforcement near that time. The cousin told police then that there were two additional people in the car immediately before the defendant’s car was stopped—a woman identified only as “Kate” and another, unnamed man. According to the witness, both were dropped off before the traffic stop leading to the defendant’s arrest occurred. A few weeks before trial, the Assistant U.S. Attorney and an ATF agent interviewed the cousin again. This time, he claimed that two different people were in the car before the stop, both of whom were men and were related to the defendant. This change in the cousin’s story about the identity of passengers in the car prior to the stop was not disclosed to the defendant at any point before trial. The cousin testified [...]