United States v. Adam Albrett
United States v. Adam Albrett
Opinion
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 19-4049
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
ADAM ALBRETT, a/k/a Muhannah Almahmoudi,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Anthony John Trenga, District Judge. (1:18-cr-00312-AJT-1)
Submitted: November 5, 2019 Decided: November 25, 2019
Before KING and AGEE, Circuit Judges, and SHEDD, Senior Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Gregory T. Hunter, Arlington, Virginia, for Appellant. G. Zachary Terwilliger, United States Attorney, Patricia Marie Haynes, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:
Adam Albrett appeals his convictions for sending threatening interstate
communications, in violation of
18 U.S.C. § 875(c) (2012). Albrett argues that the district
court improperly denied his motion to proceed pro se, admitted prejudicial evidence under
Fed. R. Evid. 404(b), and provided prejudicial supplemental jury instructions. We affirm
for the following reasons.
First, as the Government notes, Albrett knowingly and voluntarily waived his right
to represent himself, so that issue is not reviewable on appeal. United States v. Robinson,
744 F.3d 293, 298-99(4th Cir. 2014). Second, evidence of Albrett’s prior threatening
communications was highly probative of Albrett’s intent, and the Government did not
introduce substantive evidence of those communications. Accordingly, the district court
did not plainly err in admitting the challenged evidence. See United States v. Bell,
901 F.3d 455, 465(4th Cir. 2018) (providing standard for admission of Rule 404(b)
evidence), petition for cert. filed on other grounds, No. 19-39 (U.S. July 3, 2019); United
States v. Garcia-Lagunas,
835 F.3d 479, 492(4th Cir. 2016) (stating standard of review).
Finally, the district court accurately presented the elements of the offense in its initial jury
instructions, see United States v. White,
810 F.3d 212, 220-21(4th Cir. 2016). The court
did not err in clarifying only the element about which the jury had a question; “[a] trial
court generally may limit a supplemental charge to the specific instruction requested by the
jury,” United States v. Savage,
885 F.3d 212, 224(4th Cir.), cert. denied,
139 S. Ct. 238(2018).
2 Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s criminal judgment. We dispense with
oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
3
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished