Opinion ID: 199496
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Rebuttal Evidence.

Text: 28 The appellant next complains that the district court erroneously permitted the government to call rebuttal witnesses regarding his proficiency in the English language. This complaint need not occupy us for long. Appellate courts traditionally afford trial courts a wide berth in respect to regulating the scope of rebuttal testimony. See Geders v. United States, 425 U.S. 80, 86-87 (1976); Faigin v. Kelly, 184 F.3d 67, 85 (1st Cir. 1999). We review challenges to such rulings for abuse of discretion, Faigin, 184 F.3d at 85; United States v. LiCausi, 167 F.3d 36, 52 (1st Cir. 1999), and we find none here. 29 In his case in chief, the appellant presented several witnesses, some of them Ugandan nationals, who testified that he had difficulty speaking and understanding English. To counter this evidence, the government sought to present rebuttal witnesses who had found the appellant proficient in reading and speaking English. We think that it was permissible for the district court to allow the government to proceed in this fashion. It is a bedrock principle that [r]ebuttal evidence may be introduced to explain, repel, contradict or disprove an adversary's proof, United States v. Laboy, 909 F.2d 581, 588 (1st Cir. 1990), and this case is a classic example of the genre. Consequently, we reject the appellant's third assignment of error. 30