Opinion ID: 751343
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Admission of other criminal activities.

Text: 26 Before trial Tse filed a motion in limine asking the court to exclude the government's evidence of uncharged prior criminal activity. The court denied the motion. Tse urges that this denial was error under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. 4 He says that any probative value of the evidence was substantially outweighed by its extremely prejudicial effect. We review the balancing of probative value against prejudicial impact under Rule 403 for abuse of discretion, bearing in mind that the limitations of Rule 403 are to be rarely invoked. See U.S. v. Bartelho, 71 F.3d 436, 443-44 (1st Cir.1995) (internal quotations omitted). 5 Tse also asserts that the district court erred in admitting evidence of the subsequent crime of trying to smuggle aliens into the United States to aid Ping On. 6 27 The government contends that the evidence of Tse's other criminal acts had probative value. To prove Tse guilty of violating § 1959(a)(5) the government was required to prove that Ping On was an enterprise and that it engaged in racketeering activity as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1). Section 1961 defines racketeering activity as acts indictable under provisions of the United States Code such as robbery or extortion interfering with commerce or running an illegal gambling business. See 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1)(B). Furthermore, the government was required to prove that Tse committed the crimes to maintain his position in the enterprise. 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a). These evidentiary burdens made evidence of Tse's prior and subsequent criminal activity probative. See U.S. v. Salerno, 108 F.3d 730, 738-39 (7th Cir.1997) (deeming evidence of defendant's prior and subsequent crimes with accomplices as probative of the enterprise element of 18 U.S.C. § 1959). 28 Tse contends that he did not contest the existence of an enterprise or whether the enterprise engaged in racketeering activity; however, no stipulations to these elements were entered, and no concessions were made at trial. In addition, Tse's brief acknowledges that one of his defense strategies was to paint the attempted murders as ordinary state-law street crimes rather than federally punishable violent crimes in aid of a racketeering enterprise. This acknowledgment highlights the government's need to prove the existence of a racketeering enterprise. We cannot fault the government for trying to conclusively prove every element of the charged offense. If it had done less we would be hearing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. 29 While the evidence of Tse's prior and subsequent criminal acts may have been prejudicial, any prejudice did not substantially outweigh its probative value. The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Tse's motion in limine. 30