Opinion ID: 554040
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admissibility of Fields' Prior Forgery Conviction

Text: 4 Fields argues that his conviction is flawed because the trial judge erred by admitting into evidence Fields' previous conviction for forgery. In 1988 Fields was convicted in Texas state court of uttering a forged check in the name of William T. Neilley, drawn on the Willow Bend National Bank. The check used to purchase the revolver from the Army/Navy store in McKinney also bore the name William T. Neilley, and was drawn on the same bank. The Government sought to introduce into evidence the fact of this prior conviction, and a copy of the previously forged check, in order to prove Fields' identity--that is, to prove that it was Fields who had passed the false check to purchase the revolver. 5 Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) provides that evidence of past crimes is admissible to prove identity. The standards for admitting evidence under Rule 404(b) are well settled. If the evidence is relevant to one of the proper purposes listed in Rule 404(b), and its probative value is not outweighed by any danger of undue prejudice, the evidence is admissible. See United States v. Hopkins, 916 F.2d 207, 218 (5th Cir.1990). The trial court did not err by admitting the evidence. There can be no question that the evidence at issue here--Fields' conviction for forging a check in the same name and drawn on the same bank as the check used to purchase the revolver--was highly probative of Fields' identity as the purchaser of the revolver. Fields claims that admission of this prior conviction was unduly prejudicial, but he does not explain what it was about the conviction that was unduly prejudicial, and no undue prejudice is evident. Neither does Fields complain that the limiting instruction given to the jury was inadequate. The jury was told to consider the evidence solely as it related to the issue of the identity of the purchaser of the revolver, and the jury is presumed to have followed the instruction. Marshall v. Lonberger, 459 U.S. 422, 438 n. 6, 103 S.Ct. 843, 853 n. 6, 74 L.Ed.2d 646 (1983). 6 Fields also argues that the Government should have proved Fields identity differently, by means of a handwriting expert. This argument has no merit. While the Government may or may not have been able to adduce such testimony, it certainly was not required to do so. The law is well settled that the identity of handwriting need not be proved by expert testimony. Fed.R.Evid. 901(b)(2). See also United States v. Kilgore, 518 F.2d 496, 498 (5th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 950, 96 S.Ct. 1724, 48 L.Ed.2d 193 (1976); 5 J. Weinstein & M. Berger, Weinstein's Evidence p 901(b)(2) (1990). 3 7