Thursday, January 7, 2016

IS VIKTOR BOUT SEEKING TWO BITES FROM THE SAME APPLE ?


As we have previously reported, Viktor Bout's motion for a new trial, and for an evidentiary hearing, was denied by the trial court. As expected, his counsel, Alexey Tarasov, has taken appeal. The question arises: will he limit his argument on appeal to the newly-discovered evidence grounds upon which he brought the motion for a new trial, or will he attempt to revisit his original appellate issues ?

Bout's appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit resulted in his conviction being affirmed, and he failed to seek Certiorari to the US Supreme Court. Since there is some overlap between his original appellate issues, and the points he made in his motion for a new trial, it will be interesting to see how his counsel frames the issues, and what the response of the US Attorney's Office in New York is. A Federal criminal defendant technically does not get two bites from the appellate apple, as a matter of right but in this instance, it appears to be precisely the case.


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