US v. Watkins: Watkins, an Atlanta-based musician, was involved with Cloud (and associates) in North Carolina, providing drugs that they would sell. Watkins, along with eight others, was charged with conspiracy and convicted after a three-day trial. At the end of the Government’s case, Watkins made a motion for a judgement of acquittal, which was denied. He did not renew the motion at the close of all evidence, but did file a written motion after trial (which was also denied). He was sentenced to 120 months in prison.
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Watkins’ conviction and sentence. Watkins challenged the sufficiency of the evidence against him, which the court concluded was sufficient to sustain the conviction. It did so after concluding that Watkins’ post-trial filing of a motion for a judgement of acquittal preserved the issue, even though he did not renew the original motion at the close of all evidence. Watkins also challenged the district court permitting the Government to cross examine his wife about certain lyrics that Watkins wrote in some of his songs. The court found no abuse of discretion, agreeing with the district court that Watkins had opened the door to such questioning when he asked his wife about his character during her direct testimony.
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