USCA1 Opinion

                                [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]



                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

                                 ____________________





        No. 96-1861



                                    UNITED STATES,



                                      Appellee,



                                          v.



                                    ROBERT MCMINN,



                                Defendant, Appellant.



                                 ____________________





                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT



                          FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE



                   [Hon. Steven J. McAuliffe, U.S. District Judge]
                                              ___________________



                                 ____________________



                                        Before



                                Selya, Cyr and Boudin,

                                   Circuit Judges.
                                   ______________



                                 ____________________



            Matthew  J. Lahey and  McLaughlin, Hemeon  & Lahey,  P.A. on brief
            _________________      __________________________________

        for appellant.

            Paul  M.  Gagnon,  United  States  Attorney,  and  Jean  B.  Weld,
            ________________                                   ______________

        Assistant United  States Attorney,  on Motion for  Summary Disposition

        for appellee.





                                 ____________________



                                   January 14, 1997

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                      Per Curiam.   After careful review  of the parties'
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            briefs and the  record, we grant the government's  motion for



            summary disposition and dispense  with oral argument, as this



            appeal presents  no substantial question.  See  1st Cir. Loc.
                                                       ___



            R. 27.1.



                      We find  no merit  in defendant's challenge  to the



            district court's ruling regarding authentication of the empty



            soda   bottle.     That  ruling   was  consistent   with  the



            requirements of Fed. R. Evid. 901, and it was well within the



            district  court's discretion  in  such  evidentiary  matters.



            Particularly,  in  light   of  all  the   circumstances,  the



            detective's testimony  comparing the  markings on the  bottle



            with those shown  in the photograph  was adequate to  support



            admission of the evidence.  See Fed. R. Evid. 901(b)(4).  
                                        ___



                      We   reject   defendant's   argument,    which   is



            unsupported by  citation to any relevant  authority, that the



            district  court   was  required  to   make  some  additional,



            independent comparison of the bottle and the photograph.  The



            district court  adequately fulfilled  its role under  Fed. R.



            Evid. 901 when it  determined that the detective's comparison



            was "reasonably  reliable" and the  jury could believe  it or



            not,  and that  the bottle  with its  glue markings  was "not



            entirely fungible" and had some "character,  weak admittedly,



            but sufficient  so the jury could say it is the same bottle."











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            We likewise reject defendant's unsupported argument that this



            court is required to make its own comparison de novo.



                      Affirmed.
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