Source: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/916-f-2d-497-597518062
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 06:02:01+00:00

Document:
Party Name: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Earl Foster BOISE, Defendant-Appellant.
Argued and Submitted Jan. 8, 1990.
As Amended Sept. 27, 1990.
Kenneth Lerner, Asst. Federal Defender, Portland, Or., for defendant-appellant.
William W. Youngman, Asst. U.S. Atty., Portland, Or., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before WRIGHT, TANG and CANBY, Circuit Judges.
In April 1988 Quinton Boise, a six-week-old baby, died on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Following an investigation, the government charged his father, Earl Boise, with second degree murder in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 1111, 1153. A jury found him guilty and the court sentenced him to 240 months of imprisonment.
"[T]he critical inquiry on review of the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction ... [is] whether the record evidence could reasonably support a finding of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2788-89, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). Specifically, we ask whether "after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt." Id. at 319, 99 S.Ct. at 2789; United States v. Terry, 760 F.2d 939, 941 (9th Cir.1985). We respect, however, the exclusive province of the jury to determine the credibility of witnesses, resolve evidentiary conflicts, and draw reasonable inferences from proven facts. United States v. Goode, 814 F.2d 1353, 1355 (9th Cir.1987) (citing United States v. Ramos, 558 F.2d 545, 546 (9th Cir.1977)).
Our review of the record in the light most favorable to the government convinces us that a rational jury could have found Boise guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of second degree murder. We acknowledge that the evidence here, as in most child-abuse cases, is circumstantial. But if such evidence is of sufficient quality to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, we require no more. See Holland v. United States, 348 U.S. 121, 140, 75 S.Ct. 127, 137-38, 99 L.Ed. 150 (1954).
and change" and that there could well have been an injury very shortly before Quinton died. 3 See United States v. Harris, 661 F.2d 138, 141 (10th Cir.1981) (sufficient circumstantial evidence that defendant assaulted child where he admitted sole custody at the time when the child received the injuries which caused his death); United States v. Bowers, 660 F.2d 527, 529 (5th Cir.1981) (evidence that child was battered coupled with proof that he was in sole custody of parent may well permit jury to infer that the parent injured him).
Evaluating the facts and circumstances, the jury infers whether malice is present. See United States v. Fleming, 739 F.2d 945, 947 (4th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1193, 105 S.Ct. 970, 83 L.Ed.2d 973 (1985).
Malice aforethought does not mean simply hatred or ill will, but also embraces the state of mind with which one intentionally commits a wrongful act without legal justification or excuse. It may be inferred from circumstances which show "a wanton and depraved spirit, a mind bent on evil mischief without regard to its consequences."
United States v. Celestine, 510 F.2d 457, 459 (9th Cir.1975) (citing Government of Virgin Islands v. Lake, 362 F.2d 770 (3d Cir.1966)).
From the circumstances of Quinton's death, the jury could rationally conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Boise displayed "a wanton and depraved spirit, a mind bent on evil mischief without regard to its consequences." Celestine, 510 F.2d at 459. Physicians testified that Quinton died from two blunt force blows to the head that fractured his skull, causing subdural bleeding and swelling. They also testified that the injuries could not have been accidental, and were most likely caused when Quinton was hit with a hand or thrown against a wall.
The evidence showed that six-week old Quinton had received repeated beatings over a period of three and a half weeks and that, finally, two blows to the head, received when he was in Boise's care, killed him. From such evidence, the jury could rationally conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Boise killed Quinton with malice aforethought.
We review the district court's evidentiary rulings for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Gillespie, 852 F.2d 475, 478-79 (9th Cir.1988).
person's character, but may be admissible for other purposes such as intent or absence of mistake or accident. 5 The Supreme Court has addressed the question when similar act evidence is admissible under Rule 404(b). 6 Huddleston v. United States, 485 U.S. 681, 108 S.Ct. 1496, 1499, 99 L.Ed.2d 771 (1988). There, the petitioner argued that the district court must "make a preliminary finding that the Government has proved the 'other act' by a preponderance of the evidence before it submits the evidence to the jury." Id. 108 S.Ct. at 1497.
The Court found that the protection against unfair prejudice to the defendant came not from a requirement of a preliminary finding by the district court but from four other sources. Id. at 1502. A court should consider first whether under Rule 404(b) the evidence is probative of a material issue other than character. Id. at 1499, 1502.
It should next decide whether the evidence is relevant. Id. at 1502. In the Rule 404(b) context, the Court analyzed what it called "questions of relevance conditioned on a fact" under Fed.R.Evid. 104(b), 7 and found that similar act evidence was relevant only if the jury could "reasonably conclude that the act occurred and that the defendant was the actor." Id. at 1501. In determining whether the government introduced sufficient evidence to meet Rule 104(b), the Court indicated that the district court should examine the evidence and decide whether the jury could reasonably find the condition by a preponderance of the evidence. Id.
After finding evidence of prior bad acts admissible, a court should determine whether under Fed.R.Evid. 403 the probative value of the similar acts evidence is substantially outweighed by its potential for unfair prejudice. 8 Id., 108 S.Ct. at 1502. Finally, upon request, a court should instruct the jury under Fed.R.Evid. 105 that evidence of similar acts may be considered only for the proper purpose for which it is admitted. Id.
Boise contends that Quinton's prior injuries were inadmissible under Rule 404(b) because there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that he inflicted them. Applying Huddleston, we find that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it admitted the evidence. See United States v. Lewis, 837 F.2d 415, 418-19 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 923, 109 S.Ct. 304, 102 L.Ed.2d 323 (1988).

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