In United States v. Benally, the Tenth Circuit reinstated a federal criminal conviction for assaulting a BIA officer against a Ute Mountain Ute tribal member. An excerpt:

On October 10, 2007, a jury convicted Kerry Dean Benally of forcibly assaulting a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer with a dangerous weapon, inviolation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(b). The next day one of the jurors came forward with a charge that the jury deliberations had been tainted by racial bias and other inappropriate considerations. The district court held that Federal Rule of Evidence 606(b)’s general rule against jurors testifying about jury deliberations did not apply and that the evidence of juror misconduct was sufficient to warrant a new trial. We disagree. Rule 606(b)’s prohibition covers juror testimony of racial bias in jury deliberations of the kind alleged in Mr. Benally’s trial, and the Sixth Amendment does not require an exception. The original conviction is reinstated.