U.S. v. Sorenson, 79-1678

Decision Date12 December 1979
Docket NumberNo. 79-1678,79-1678
Citation611 F.2d 701
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Gregory Herbert SORENSON, Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Gregory A. Gaut, Minneapolis, Minn., for appellant.

Francis X. Hermann, Asst. U. S. Atty., Minneapolis, Minn., for appellee; Thorwald H. Anderson, Jr., U. S. Atty., Minneapolis, Minn., and Robert J. Leinweber, Legal Intern, on brief.

Before HEANEY and HENLEY, Circuit Judges, and SCHATZ, District Judge. *

PER CURIAM.

Gregory Herbert Sorenson was convicted in federal district court for violating 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) (bank robbery) and sentenced to twelve years imprisonment. The defendant brought a motion for a new trial based on two grounds: (1) the trial court's instructions to the jury were erroneous in that they improperly commented on the evidence and incorrectly defined guilt beyond a reasonable doubt by using the word "probability"; and (2) one of the jurors was observed sleeping through portions of the trial. The defendant appeals on these same two grounds.

We refuse to reverse the conviction on either ground because counsel for defendant did not object at the time of trial. Indeed, after the jury had been instructed, the trial court specifically asked counsel if they had "any suggestions, observations, objections or anything of that kind" and defendant's counsel said he saw no problems. Failure to object to jury instructions at the time of trial constitutes a waiver of the objection. See United States v. Collins, 552 F.2d 243 (8th Cir.), Cert. denied, 434 U.S. 870, 98 S.Ct. 214, 54 L.Ed.2d 149 (1977). Similarly, objections based on jury misconduct during the trial cannot be raised for the first time on appeal when counsel did not apprise the trial court of the alleged misconduct at trial. See United States v. Hester, 489 F.2d 48 (8th Cir. 1973).

Moreover, we have read the district court's instructions and comments to the jury and are satisfied that, read as a whole, they were not erroneous. Accordingly, we affirm.

* THE HONORABLE ALBERT G. SCHATZ, United States District Judge, District of Nebraska, sitting by designation.

To continue reading

Request your trial
8 cases
  • U.S. v. Dean
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit
    • April 17, 1981
    ...with a potential for affecting impartiality, but not cases in which a juror was actually biased. See United States v. Sorenson, 611 F.2d 701 (8th Cir. 1979) (per curiam) (allegations that juror slept during part of the trial); United States v. Nance, 502 F.2d 615 (8th Cir. 1974), cert. deni......
  • U.S. v. Hoelscher, s. 89-2973
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit
    • October 29, 1990
    ...and actual prejudice when addressing the issue of waiver. We conclude that our line of decisions, culminating in United States v. Sorenson, 611 F.2d 701, 702 (8th Cir.1979), is controlling, and that appellant, by not bringing the question of juror misconduct to the attention of the trial co......
  • U.S. v. Dean
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit
    • January 6, 1982
    ...has not been dependent on a consideration of the degree of prejudice resulting from the alleged misconduct. See United States v. Sorenson, 611 F.2d 701, 702 (8th Cir. 1979); United States v. Jones, 597 F.2d 485, 488-89 (5th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1043, 100 S.Ct. 729, 62 L.Ed.2d ......
  • U.S. v. Sheffey
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit
    • September 20, 1995
    ...prejudice occurred.' ") (citation omitted), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 149, 130 L.Ed.2d 89 (1994). Cf. United States v. Sorenson, 611 F.2d 701, 702 (8th Cir.1979) ("[O]bjections based on jury misconduct during the trial cannot be raised for the first time on appeal when counsel ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT