Opinion ID: 77432
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Objections Raised at Trial

Text: 53 Smith objected to the following evidence as either irrelevant, see Fed. R.Evid. 401, 402, or overly prejudicial, see Fed.R.Evid. 403: (1) photographs of Smith naked by himself; (2) photographs of Smith with other women (not the victim) engaged in sexually explicit conduct; and (3) photographs of women (not the victim) striking sexually suggestive positions. We review the district court's evidentiary rulings for clear abuse of discretion. United States v. Tinoco, 304 F.3d 1088, 1119 (11th Cir.2002). An abuse of discretion arises when the district court's decision rests upon a clearly erroneous finding of fact, an errant conclusion of law, or an improper application of law to fact. United States v. Baker, 432 F.3d 1189, 1202 (11th Cir. 2005). The district court possesses broad discretion to admit evidence if it has any tendency to prove or disprove a fact in issue. Conversely, we are mindful that the court's discretion to exclude evidence under Rule 403 is narrowly circumscribed. `Rule 403 is an extraordinary remedy[,] which should be used only sparingly since it permits the trial court to exclude concededly probative evidence.' The balance under the Rule, therefore, should be struck in favor of admissibility. United States v. Norton, 867 F.2d 1354, 1361 (11th Cir.1989) (citations omitted) (quoting United States v. Betancourt, 734 F.2d 750, 757 (11th Cir.1984)). Accordingly, we look at the evidence in a light most favorable to its admission, maximizing its probative value and minimizing its undue prejudicial impact. United States v. Elkins, 885 F.2d 775, 784 (11th Cir.1989). 54 We cannot hold that the district court erred in concluding that the challenged evidence was relevant. The pictures of Smith were the ones the victim singled out as photographs of the photographer. Given that Smith's defense was that another person took the pictures, these photographs were certainly relevant in establishing the photographer's identity. The pictures of Smith engaged in sexual acts with other women in a room identical to the one in which the victim was photographed were also relevant in establishing Smith's role in producing the photographs of the victim—the fact that he had appeared in pictures of a sexual nature in what appeared to be the same location could make it more probable that he frequented the locale for similar purposes. Additionally, these pictures, as well as the pictures of other women in similar poses in the same setting as those of the victim, were relevant to establishing that the pictures of the victim included lascivious exhibition[s] of genitals or pubic area of any person, 18 U.S.C. § 2256(2)(A) (defining sexually explicit conduct), 17 and that Smith knowingly, as opposed to inadvertently, possessed the pictures of the victim as required by 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B). Because the district court could have found that these pictures had some tendency to make Smith's defense less probable and the statutory requirements more probable, we do not find that that court abused its discretion in finding them relevant under Federal Rule of Evidence 401. 55 We also cannot say that the district court abused its discretion in finding that the probative value of the questioned evidence was not substantially outweighed by any potential for unfair prejudice, see Fed.R.Evid. 403, particularly in light of the presumptions in favor of admissibility stated above. Smith contends that the naked pictures of himself, pictures of other women, and pictures of Smith with other women were likely to inflame the jurors' emotions and prevented a level-headed evaluation of all the evidence. That is a permissible conclusion but not a necessary one. The jury might also have been able to evaluate the evidence for what it was— photographs from within defendant's lock-box that tended to establish identity, knowledge, and sexual content. That the nature of the crime itself, and therefore the nature of the evidence tending to prove it, is emotionally charged does not mean that the prosecution must be deprived of its most probative evidence. This is particularly true when the district court, as here, offers limiting instructions as to the proper purpose of admitted evidence. Thus, when we maximize the probative value discussed above and minimize any prejudicial impact, we cannot conclude that the district court clearly abused its discretion in admitting the evidence.