Defendant’s drug conspiracy conviction is affirmed where: 1) defendant’s argument that he might have had a better chance of acquittal if he could have gone it alone without the baggage of codefendants who were, essentially, in the eyes of the jury, offering no defense at all, was not sufficient to demonstrate prejudice due to a denial of his motion to sever his trial; and 2) any harm caused by a witness’s reference to defendant’s refusal to testify was defused by an instruction from the court that was not only curative, but entirely favorable to the accused.
Read US v. Chavez, No. 08-12638
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