United States v. James
United States v. James
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM
Defendant Earl James (“James”) appeals his conviction and sentence for two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child under the age of twelve pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2241(c) and one count of abusive sexual contact pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2244(a). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
The parties are presumed to be familiar with the facts of the case, which are detailed in the briefs and excerpts of record filed under seal with the Court. The only issue raised on appeal is whether the district court erred when it allowed the government to introduce, pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 414, evidence of a prior conviction for sexual assault of a child. We review the district court’s ruling that this evidence was admissible for an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Le-May, 260 F.3d 1018, 1024 (9th Cir. 2001).
Before admitting this evidence, the district court properly applied Federal Rule
The district court engaged in a thorough and reasonable Rule 403 analysis before allowing the government to introduce evidence of the prior conviction. The court allowed this evidence to be presented in a non-inflammatory fashion to prevent undue prejudice. The court also immediately provided an appropriate limiting instruction. In short, the district court weighed all of the necessary factors, reasonably concluded that this evidence was more probative than prejudicial, and then properly handled the presentation of the evidence to the jury. Based on this record, the district court certainly did not abuse its discretion. Accordingly, the conviction is
AFFIRMED.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
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