| The Fifth Circuit affirmed Defendants Fackrell and Cramer's convictions and death sentences for killing a fellow prison inmate. The court found no error in the district court's denial of defendants' motions to sever; there was no error, much less plain error, in the finding of the requisite mental states under 18 U.S.C. 3591(a)(2); claims of prosecutorial misconduct rejected; any error in the Government's statements that referred to mitigating evidence was harmless; any error stemming from the Government's statements regarding justice for the victim did not affect Fackrell's substantial rights; the Government's use of rebuttal testimony of BOP psychologists did not violate Fackrell's right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment, Sixth Amendment right to counsel, and the psychotherapist-patient privilege; the use of mental health rebuttal witnesses did not violate Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12.2 and the Fifth and Sixth Amendments; the district court did not err in denying evidence from the victim's family's civil suit as irrelevant and likely to confuse the jury; the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence related to another murder; and there was no error in the Government's mention of Cramer's charge for the 2012 assault. The court rejected Fackrell's challenge to the district court's decision to reject the categorical approach. The court explained that, even assuming that the categorical approach applies and thus the 18 U.S.C. 3592(c)(2) and (c)(4) aggravators were invalid, the sentence can be affirmed if it would have been imposed without the invalid aggravators. Finally, the court rejected Fackrell's Hobbs Act claim; rejected challenges to the district court's penalty-phase jury instructions on mitigating evidence; concluded that the district court did not impermissibly marshal the evidence; upheld the district court's supplemental jury instruction to the sentencing jury; rejected defendants' challenge to the sufficiency of the record on appeal; and rejected claims of cumulative errors. |
