Opinion ID: 203245
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Evidence of Other Bank Robberies

Text: Finally, Lugo claims that evidence of his participation in two prior bank robberies was not introduced for any permissible purpose under Rule 404(b). Further, he contends that the prior robberies were too remote in time to be probative and that the admission of this evidence was unfairly prejudicial, especially because the trial court issued no limiting instruction. Lugo has waived his right to raise this issue on appeal because he failed to object to the recommendation of the magistrate's report relating to the admissibility of the Rule 404(b) evidence. See United States v. Valencia-Copete, 792 F.2d 4, 6 (1st Cir.1986) (after proper notice, failure to file a specific objection to magistrate's report will waive the right to appeal). The magistrate's report contained a warning that failure to make specific objections would result in waiver. Lugo objected only to the portion of the report dealing with his Miranda claim. Although Lugo did make a contemporaneous objection to the evidence of his confession to the prior robberies at trial, this later objection was untimely. In any event, Lugo's arguments are without merit. Review of a trial court's admission of evidence under Rule 404(b), or Rule 403, is for abuse of discretion. United States v. Gilbert, 181 F.3d 152 (1st Cir.1999). Rule 404(b) excludes evidence of other acts when it is offered merely to prove the defendant's character. However, such evidence may be admitted if it has special relevance to an issue in the case such as preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. Fed.R.Evid. 404(b). Even if evidence of other acts is admissible under Rule 404(b), it must be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. See Fed.R.Evid. 403. The trial court correctly admitted the evidence of Lugo's two prior robberies under Rule 404(b). The robberies were especially relevant to prove that, contrary to Lugo's defense theory, he was not innocently present in the getaway car with two bank robbers, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that he was in fact one of the participants in the robbery. That Lugo committed two prior armed bank robberies makes it unlikely that his presence in the vehicle was a mere coincidence. See United States v. Tse, 375 F.3d 148, 155-56 (1st Cir.2004) (evidence of subsequent drug transaction between defendant and government witness was admissible to refute defendant's claim that his meeting with the government witness at the charged drug transaction was innocent). We also find no abuse of discretion in the district court's Rule 403 balancing. The prior bank robberies were not that distant in time: they occurred within fifteen months of the Banco Popular robbery. Also, Lugo can point to no unfair prejudice in this case. The evidence of past bank robberies was not likely to inflame the passions of the jurors. Further, given Lugo's confession to the charged robbery, there is little concern that the jury might have convicted on the basis of his confession to uncharged robberies. Finally, Lugo may not complain about the absence of a limiting instruction because he never requested one. See Huddleston v. United States, 485 U.S. 681, 691-92, 108 S.Ct. 1496, 99 L.Ed.2d 771 (1988) (noting that Federal Rule of Evidence 105 provides protection from unfair prejudice by requiring the trial court, upon request, to instruct the jury that the evidence of other acts is to be considered only for the proper purpose for which it was admitted). The trial court did not err by failing to issue, sua sponte, the limiting instruction that Lugo now claims was essential. See United States v. Cartagena-Carrasquillo, 70 F.3d 706, 713 (1st Cir.1995) (refusing to impose obligation on court to give, sua sponte, a limiting instruction because this decision is within the ken of counsel and part of litigation strategy and judgment). In sum, the admission of the evidence of other robberies was not an abuse of discretion.