Opinion ID: 757282
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admissibility of Evidence and Testimony

Text: 32 Simpson argues that the court improperly allowed the government to present certain evidence, which should result in the reversal of his convictions. We review the court's rulings on the admission of evidence for abuse of discretion. United States v. Davis, 40 F.3d 1069, 1073 (10th Cir.1994).
33 First, Simpson contends that the district court erred in admitting evidence of other acts. Specifically, he complains that, in addition to the two images upon which the indictment was based, the district court allowed the government to introduce seven still shots of juvenile females, four separate video clips of child pornography, and seven pages of the file directory which related to those images. 34 Under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) [e]vidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. However, such evidence may be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. Id. Indeed, the rule is one of inclusion, rather than exclusion, unless the evidence is introduced for the impermissible purpose or is unduly prejudicial. United States v. Segien, 114 F.3d 1014, 1022 (10th Cir.1997), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 1310, 140 L.Ed.2d 474 (1998). 35 On review, we will affirm the district court's admission of evidence of extrinsic acts if: (1) the prosecution offered the evidence for a proper purpose under Rule 404(b); (2) the evidence was relevant under Rule 401; (3) its probative value was not substantially outweighed by its potential for unfair prejudice under Rule 403; and (4) upon request, the district court gave a proper instruction limiting the jury's consideration of the evidence to the purpose for which it was admitted. United States v. Wilson, 107 F.3d 774, 782 (10th Cir.1997) (citing Huddleston v. United States, 485 U.S. 681, 691, 108 S.Ct. 1496, 99 L.Ed.2d 771 (1988)). 36 In this case, the government sought to introduce the evidence in order to prove that (1) Simpson's possession of child pornography on his computer was not a mistake or accident, and (2) he had knowledge of the nature of the material he was receiving. 3 See Appellant's App. Vol. I, Tab 4; see also id., Tab 24 at 104-05. On appeal, Simpson does not contend that the evidence was offered for an improper purpose, or that it was not relevant, or that the court failed to give the limiting instructions which he requested. Rather, Simpson argues that the probative value was substantially outweighed by the prejudicial effect. 4 Appellant's Br. at 14. 37 In United States v. Garot, 801 F.2d 1241 (10th Cir.1986), we considered and rejected a similar argument. Noting that defendants under a child pornography charge unavoidably risk introduction of evidence that would offend the average juror, we concluded that the judge properly admitted the 404(b) evidence after a lengthy in camera inspection and considerable paring. Id. at 1247. Likewise in this case, we find that the district court conducted a special proceeding outside the presence of the jury that resulted in its express limitation as to both the length of time the evidence could be displayed and the number of items which could be introduced. 5 Accordingly, as in Garot, we conclude that the evidence was necessary to prove Simpson's intent and lack of mistake and that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting it. 38
39 Simpson next argues that the trial court erred in admitting Plaintiff's Exhibit 11, which is a computer printout of the alleged chat room discussion between Simpson and Detective Rehman, because the government could not identify that the statements attributed to Simpson were in his handwriting, his writing style, or his voice pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 901(b)(2)--(5). Appellant's Br. at 15-16. Therefore, argues Simpson, the evidence was not authenticated and should not have been admitted. The specific examples of authentication referred to by Simpson are merely illustrative, however, and are not intended as an exclusive enumeration of allowable methods of authentication. See Fed.R.Evid. 901(b). Rather, all that is ultimately required is evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims. Fed.R.Evid. 901(a). 40 The evidence introduced at trial clearly satisfies this standard. In the printout of the chat room discussion, the individual using the identity Stavron gave Detective Rehman his name as B. Simpson and his correct street address. Appellant's App. Vol. II at 160, 197. The discussion and subsequent e-mail exchanges indicated an e-mail address which belonged to Simpson. Id. at 163; Vol. III at 382. And the pages found near the computer in Simpson's home and introduced as evidence as Plaintiff's Exhibit 6 contain a notation of the name, street address, e-mail address, and telephone number that Detective Rehman gave to the individual in the chat room. Id. Vol. II at 211. Based on this evidence, the exhibit was properly authenticated and admitted as evidence. 41
42 Next, Simpson contends that the court abused its discretion in allowing Detective Walters to read from Exhibit 6, which consisted of 15 pages of handwritten notes found near the seized computer, because the exhibit was irrelevant and inflammatory. Simpson does not argue that the jury ever viewed the entire document, but only complains that the witness should not have been allowed to read to the jury the following notations: quicktime Movie Viewer, Quick Time for Windows-shows.mov.files, glviewer.mov., oung151.jpg, young171, enn11.jpg, 11-plseries, 13slut.jpg, 12book.jpg, dadsgirl.jpg, deb, and Stavron. Appellant's Br. at 17. 43 The court admitted Exhibit 6 mainly because it contained a notation with the name FlaHawk and the name, street address, and e-mail address that Agent Rehman had given the individual in the chat room. Appellant's App. Vol. II at 211; Vol. III at 447-48. This evidence supported the government's contention that it was indeed Simpson who conversed in the chat room with Agent Rehman about child pornography and was properly admitted. The notation Stavron also supports the government's contention that the individual in the chat room who used the code name Stavron was actually Simpson. 44 Considering the record as a whole, we do not think that the other notations that were read by the witness were so inflammatory as to cause undue prejudice. The notations quicktime Movie Viewer, Quick Time for Windows-shows.mov.files, glviewer.mov. are merely indicative of Simpson's use of or desire to obtain programs capable of viewing video clips, four of which were properly admitted at trial. The other notations are apparently file names, and those that are indicative of sexual content are similar to those properly admitted in Defendant's Exhibits 1, 2, and 3, and Plaintiff's Exhibit 9. We, therefore, conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in admitting this evidence. 45
46 Simpson argues that the trial court erred in allowing Detective Rehman to testify for the government as both a factual and an expert witness. Appellant's Br. at 17-18. However, it is not at all clear from the record that Simpson properly raised this objection below. Before the trial court, counsel's comments suggested only that Rehman was not qualified to offer expert testimony; counsel never argued that it was improper for Rehman to testify both as a factual witness and as an expert witness. See Appellant's App. Vol. II at 171 (arguing only that Rehman had not established his expertise in forensics and/or the investigation of child pornography ... or child exploitation). 47 Because counsel failed to object at trial, or at least objected on grounds not now asserted as error, we review this issue for plain error only. United States v. Markum, 4 F.3d 891, 895 (10th Cir.1993). We cannot now say that it was plain error for the trial judge to have admitted this testimony, if indeed it was error at all. See, e.g., United States v. Castillo, 77 F.3d 1480, 1499 (5th Cir.1996) (stating that a witness can be both a factual witness and an expert witness in the same trial); United States v. Rivera, 971 F.2d 876, 888 (2d Cir.1992) (same); United States v. Catlett, 97 F.3d 565, 571 (D.C.Cir.1996) (same). In particular, we would find no error here because the jury was informed of Rehman's dual roles when the government did not seek to qualify Rehman as an expert until after he had given his factual testimony and because Rehman was subjected to thorough cross-examination. See United States v. Thomas, 74 F.3d 676, 682-83 (6th Cir.1996); United States v. Foster, 939 F.2d 445, 453 (7th Cir.1991).