Last Friday, a Sacramento federal jury returned a not guilty verdict on a misdemeanor assault charge in U.S. v. Foreman, No. 09-CR-0073-EFB. Congratulations to Assistant Federal Defender Lauren Cusick, who represented Foreman. The verdict followed Foreman's mtn in limine to exclude statements re discovery violations, which relates a series of discovery violations that reportedly led to the magistrate judge decrying a "systemic problem" with discovery in misdemeanor cases in excluding evidence that was provided to the defense only a week before trial.