United States v. Krapp
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
815 F.2d 1183 (1987)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Patricia Krapp (defendant) was employed at a United States post office. Krapp was charged with making false record entries with the intent to mislead, deceive, or defraud the United States. At trial, Krapp called a character witness who testified that Krapp was an honest person. On cross-examination, the prosecution asked the character witness, “Are you aware that Pat Krapp’s husband with her knowledge omitted cash income that he had on his—on their tax returns?” The judge sustained Krapp’s objection to this question. The judge told the jury to disregard the question. Krapp was convicted. Krapp appealed, arguing that the district court should have ordered a mistrial on account of the jury hearing the tax-return question.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Ross, J.)
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