Opinion ID: 780959
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence of Givan's Prior Felony Drug Conviction

Text: 21 We next discuss Givan's argument that the district court erred when it admitted into evidence under Fed.R.Evid. Rule 404(b) testimony to the effect that Givan had been convicted of a felony drug offense in Des Moines County, Iowa, on January 25, 1993. To the extent that our review of this ruling requires us to consider the district court's interpretation of the rules of evidence our review is plenary. See United States v. Furst, 886 F.2d 558, 571 (3d Cir.1989). But, assuming that the evidence could be admissible in some circumstances, we review the district court's decision to admit it on an abuse of discretion basis. See United States v. Console, 13 F.3d 641, 658-59 (3d Cir.1993); United States v. Saada, 212 F.3d 210, 223 (3d Cir.2000). 22 Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) provides in relevant part that: Evidence of other crimes, wrongs or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity or absence of mistake or accident.... We have recognized that Rule 404(b) is a rule of inclusion rather than exclusion. See United States v. Jemal, 26 F.3d 1267, 1272 (3d Cir.1994). We favor the admission of evidence of other criminal conduct if such evidence is relevant for any other purpose than to show a mere propensity or disposition on the part of the defendant to commit the crime. United States v. Long, 574 F.2d 761, 765 (3d Cir. 1978) (quoting United States v. Stirone, 262 F.2d 571, 576 (3d Cir.1958), rev'd on other grounds, 361 U.S. 212, 80 S.Ct. 270, 4 L.Ed.2d 252 (1960)). In Huddleston v. United States, 485 U.S. 681, 108 S.Ct. 1496, 99 L.Ed.2d 771 (1988), the Supreme Court set out a four-part test for admission of Rule 404(b) evidence: (1) the evidence must have a proper purpose; (2) it must be relevant; (3) its probative value must outweigh its potential for unfair prejudice; and (4) the court must charge the jury to consider the evidence only for the limited purposes for which it is admitted. Id. at 691-92, 108 S.Ct. at 1502; United States v. Vega, 285 F.3d 256, 261 (3d Cir. 2002). 23 The government argues that Givan's 1993 conviction was proper Rule 404(b) evidence because it was probative of Givan's intent, knowledge, and absence of mistake or accident. The government argues that because it had to prove that Givan knew, prior to its discovery by the troopers, that a quantity of heroin was hidden in the back seat of the rental car and that it had to prove that Givan possessed the heroin with intent to distribute it, knowledge and intent were material and contested issues at trial. Br. of Appellee at 47. The government also argues that the evidence was offered to rebut a defense of innocent association. The district court accepted the government's argument stating that the circumstances of this case illustrate the probative value of Givan's past drug conviction on the question of whether he had knowledge of the heroin in the back seat; whether, with such knowledge, he had intent to secret it; and that the presence of heroin immediately underneath his body was not there because of accident or mistake. Givan's app. at 30. 24 Knowledge, intent, and lack of mistake or accident are well-established non-propensity purposes for admitting evidence of prior crimes or acts. See Fed.R.Evid. 404(b). Inasmuch as a showing of knowledge, intent and lack of mistake or accident was essential for the government to meet its burden of proof in this case, and the 1993 felony drug conviction was evidence that the jury could consider as shedding light on the key issues of whether Givan knew about the drugs in the vehicle, the court admitted the prior felony conviction for a proper purpose. See United States v. Parsee, 178 F.3d 374, 379 (5th Cir.1999); United States v. Martino, 759 F.2d 998, 1004-05 (2d Cir.1985). 25 In the circumstances, taking into account our holding with respect to Rule 404(b), we conclude that the evidence of Givan's felony conviction passes the less focused admissibility threshold in Fed. R.Evid. 401. Under Rule 401 relevant evidence means evidence having a tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. The evidence that Givan had been convicted of distribution of cocaine makes Givan's knowledge of the presence of the heroin more probable than it would have been without the evidence as it indicates that Givan had knowledge of drugs and drug distribution, and thus that it was less likely that he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Therefore, being relevant the evidence of the prior conviction was not inadmissible as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Evid. 402. 26 Even though we have concluded that evidence of Givan's 1993 felony drug conviction was not inadmissible on a legal basis, we must evaluate the evidence against the unfair prejudice standard of Fed.R.Evid. 403. See Government of Virgin Islands v. Harris, 938 F.2d 401, 420 (3d Cir.1991). Fed.R.Evid. 403 provides that relevant evidence may be excluded if, inter alia, its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury.... We review the district court's application of Rule 403 on an abuse of discretion basis. See id. But as we stated in United States v. Long, 574 F.2d at 767, [i]f judicial self-restraint is ever desirable, it is when a Rule 403 analysis of a trial court is reviewed by an appellate tribunal. 27 Givan argues that the district court failed to engage in a Rule 403 balancing of the probative value versus the prejudicial effect of admitting his prior felony drug conviction and that this omission requires us to reverse his conviction. However, in its Memorandum and Order denying Givan's motion in limine requesting the court to preclude the government from offering into evidence Givan's 1993 felony drug conviction the district court found that the probative value of the prior conviction is not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice to the defendant. Givan's app. at 30. While the district court did not set forth its reasons for concluding that the scale tipped in favor of admission of the evidence, the court did provide the jury with a limiting instruction regarding the prior conviction in which the district court emphasized the limited purpose for which the evidence was admissible, 2 thereby minimizing any prejudicial effect. Givan does not claim that the district court's limiting instruction was inadequate to prevent unfair prejudice. Overall, we cannot find that the district court abused its discretion under Rule 403. 28 In upholding the admission of the Rule 404(b) evidence, we recognize that Judge McKee in his dissent contends that the jury could only have considered the prior conviction to establish Givan's criminal propensity, dissent at 26, and makes much of the circumstance that the prior conviction involved cocaine and not heroin as here. We note, however, that it is a basic tenet of our jurisprudence that a jury is presumed to have followed the instructions the court gave it, see United States v. Gilsenan, 949 F.2d 90, 96 (3d Cir.1991), and the court's instructions did not allow the use of the evidence in the way that Judge McKee contends that it used it. If we preclude the use of evidence admissible under Rule 404(b) because of a concern that jurors will not be able to follow the court's instructions regarding its use we will inevitably severely limit the scope of evidence permitted by that important rule. Moreover, the distinction Judge McKee draws between the types of drugs involved is of limited significance in the context of this case in which the conviction is germane only with respect to Givan's knowledge of the presence of drugs. It is not as if dealing in cocaine and heroin are mutually exclusive endeavors. Finally on this point we note that our result is consistent with that reached by other courts of appeals. See, e.g., Parsee, 178 F.3d at 379; Martino, 759 F.2d at 1004-05. These cases cannot be distinguished reasonably from this case so that if we reject the Rule 404(b) evidence we will create a conflict among the circuits.