Yellow House co-owner asks federal judge to overturn jury’s guilty verdict on 16 charges

A Lawrence woman is asking a federal judge to overturn a jury’s verdict in a stolen goods and fraud case, according to court documents.

A federal jury in Kansas City, Kan., last week convicted Carrie Neighbors, 49, an owner of the Yellow House Store, 1904 Mass., on 16 counts related to a scheme to purchase stolen goods and later sell them on eBay from January 2004 to July 2006.

Her attorney John Duma has filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia to throw out the verdict and acquit Neighbors or grant a new trial. In the motion, Duma said that prosecutors did not submit sufficient evidence to support the verdict and that Murguia erred in giving the jury an instruction to consider that Neighbors used “deliberate ignorance” in purchasing stolen goods to sell them later at a profit.

Neighbors also filed a notice she will ask the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the guilty verdict in the case. In the notice, she accused the government of using “illegal evidence” by including video recordings that were altered without having the officer who altered the video testify, which prejudiced the jury.

Also in court Tuesday, Murguia granted a motion by prosecutors to revoke Neighbors’ bond, pending sentencing in the case, scheduled for Jan. 3.