### FI LED U.S. COURT O F APP EALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT J uly 27, 20 05 THO MAS K. KAH N CL ERK [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UN ITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FO R T HE EL EV EN TH CIRC UI T

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ N o. 04- 1635 5 Non-A rgum ent Calendar

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ D.C. Dock etNo. 0 3- 00 33 4- CR-T-2 3M AP UNITED STAT ES OF AMERIC A, Plaintiff-Appellee, ve rs us EU GENE TI MOT HYAL LU MS, D ef en dant- Appe llant.

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ __ Appe al f ro m the U nit ed

S ta te s D istri ct

Co urt f or the Mi ddl e D istri ct

of F lor ida

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ _ (J ul y 27 , 200 5) Be fo re CA RN E S, H U L L and W IL SO N , Ci rc uit Jud ge s. PE R CU RIA M: E uge ne T im oth y

A llum s a ppe al s hi s c onvi ct ion s f

or a tte m pt t o ki ll, a nd sol ic itatio n of

anothe r to k ill , e m

plo y ee s of

the U nit ed

S ta te s G ove rn m en t on2

ac co unt of the ir of fi ci al dut ie s, and s oli ci ta tio n of a nothe r to k ill w itn es se s w ith int en t t o pr ev en t t es tim ony , in vio la tio n of 18 U . S. C. §§ 3 73( a) , 111 4, a nd 1512 (a)( 1)(A ). T he governm ent’ s theory and proof was that A llum s com m itted the se c ri m es in ana tte m

pt t o pr ev en t hi s c onvi ct ionon e ar lie r ch ar ge s of kidna ppi ng and transpo rt ing a cr oss state li ne s am ino r, his thi rt ee n- y ear old ste pdaught er . T he sol e iss ue in thi s a ppe al is w he the r the dis tr ic t c ourt a buse d it s d i s cr et i o n i n ad m i t t i n g p ro s ec u t o ri al co m m en t s an dt es t i m o n y ab o u tAl l u m s ’s se xua l r el at ion shi p w ithhis m ino r ste p- daught er ove r his F ed . R. E vid . 403 ob jecti on . W e re vie wadis tr ic t c ourt’ s de ci sio n no t t o e xc lud e ev ide nc e pur suant t o Ru le 403 onl y

f or an a buse of dis cr et ion . Unit ed

S ta te s v. Ro ss, 33 F . 3d 1 507, 1524 ( 11th C ir . 199 4) . R ule 403 pe rm its adis tr ic t c ourt t o e xc lud e re le vant evidence only

when “ its probativ e value is substan tially outweighed by

the danger of unf ai r pr ej udi ce , c onf

usi on o f the iss ue s, or

m isl ea din g th e j ur

y , or by co nsi de ratio ns o f undu e de lay , w as te of ti m e, or ne ed le ss p re se ntatio n of cum ulative evidence.” W e consider “ Rule 403 . . . an extraordinary rem edy that shou ld b e use d sp ar ing ly

be ca use it a llo w s ac ourt t o e xc lud e adm itt ed ly pr oba tiv e evidence.” Ross, 33 F. 3d at 152 4. A s such, w e “ narrow ly circum scribe” a trial co urt’ s di sc re tio n to e xc lud e ev ide nc e as und uly pr ej udi ci al . U nit ed

S ta te s v.3

Cr oss , 928 F . 2d 1 030, 104 8 ( 11th C ir . 199 1) . “ T he ‘ m aj or f unc tio n’ of

Ru le 403

‘ is l im ite d to e xc lud ing m atte r of sc an t or c um ulativ e pr oba tiv e fo rc e, dr ag ge d in by the he el s fo r th e sa ke of i ts pre jud ic ia l ef

fect .’ ” Id ., 92 8 F .2dat 1 04 8. Ther e w as no abuse of discretion. T estim ony about Allum s’ s sexual re la tio nshi p w ithhis m ino r ste p- daught er w as a dm iss ibl e to d em onstrate his m oti ve f or c om m itt ing the c harg ed

of fe nse s, a s w el l a s to de m onstrate the m oti ve of Carl H oll an de r, ake y

gov er nm en t w itn es s, in as sis tin g th e gove rn m en t i n it s inv es tig at ionof

A llum s. S ee U nit ed

S ta te s v. Chur ch , 955 F . 2d 6 88, 700 ( 11th Ci r. 199 2) . I n othe r w or ds, the e vid en ce a bout w ha t A llum s ha d do ne to his m ino r step-daught er “pertain[ed] to the chain of events explaini ng the context , m otive, an d se t- up o f the c ri m e, ” an d “ fo rm [e d] a n in te gr al a nd n at ur al part of a n a cc ount of th e cri m e, or[was ] ne ces sa ry to co m pl et e th e st ory

of t he cri m e fo r th e jury.” U nit ed S ta te s v. W ill if

or d, 764 F . 2d 1 493, 149 9 ( 11th C ir . 198 5) . B ec au se the pr ej udi ci al e ff

ec t of thi s te sti m ony

did not sub stanti al ly

outw ei gh i ts p ro ba tiv e va lu e, th e d is tri ctco ur t d idno t ab us e it s d is cret io n i n a dm it ti ng th is tes ti m on y . The refo re, we aff

irm All um s’s co nv ic ti on . AF FIRMED .