Keesha Elayne Frye v. United States

During a federal criminal jury trial, the district court sent a copy of the indictment to the jury room for the jury’s use in its deliberations and the completion of its verdict sheet. The district court intended for the courtroom clerk to give the jury a heavily redacted version of the indictment because the original indictment contained several allegations that the government agreed would have been prejudicial to the jury’s consideration of the defendant’s case. After the jury’s verdict was received and the jury was discharged, the courtroom clerk destroyed the indictment she had given to the jury, and no copy was made or retained by the district court. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected defendant’s claim that the clerk’s actions deprived her of meaningful appellate review, holding that the burden was on defendant to show that the clerk had submitted the wrong version of the indictment to the jury. The Question Presented is: What is the correct standard to determine whether a criminal defendant is denied meaningful appellate review when the district court destroys the only copy of a redacted indictment used by the jury in its deliberations, and who’s burden is it to show whether the jury was given the correct version of the indictment?