Opinion ID: 552246
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Irving, Texas Incident

Text: 42 A further claim of the prosecutor's improper use of evidence concerns testimony that Russell Sullivan was in possession of a gun and holster in Irving, Texas, an act not alleged in the indictment. The first reference to the incident occurred on the first day of trial, during the direct examination of Evelyn Rogers. She testified that during a visit by the Sullivans to her home in Irving, Texas, Russell Sullivan had carried a firearm. X R. at 367-68. The court sustained defense counsel's objection on the ground of relevance. Id. at 371. Shortly thereafter, the prosecutor showed Mrs. Rogers a holster that had been marked for identification, but not yet admitted into evidence. Id. at 382. While laying a foundation for the holster's admission, the prosecutor asked Mrs. Rogers where she had seen it before. Mrs. Rogers responded that she had seen the holster in Russell Sullivan's possession at Irving, Texas. Id. at 382-83. Defense counsel requested that her testimony be stricken and that the jury be admonished to disregard it. Id. The prosecutor acknowledged that counsel's request should be granted in view of the court's earlier ruling. Id. at 384. The court sustained the objection, but denied defense counsel's request for a mistrial. Instead, the court ordered the testimony stricken from the record and cautioned the jury to disregard it. Id. at 387. 43 The last reference to Russell Sullivan's possession of a gun in Irving, Texas, occurred during the government's direct examination of informant Steve Howell. The witness identified a photograph of a .38 caliber revolver which he said was in Russell Sullivan's possession in Irving. XI R. at 581. After a bench conference, the court admitted the evidence over the objection of defense counsel on the prosecutor's representation that the witness would eventually place the gun at the lab site. Id. at 584. 15 44 Russell Sullivan argues that the prosecutor's repeated efforts to elicit testimony concerning his possession of a gun in Irving, Texas, constituted prosecutorial misconduct which deprived him of a fair trial. The premise of his argument is that the evidence was inadmissible because it concerned an event not charged in the indictment and which did not occur in the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Sullivan argues that the prosecutor's repeated efforts to elicit such testimony was improper in light of the trial court's admonition to the prosecutor not to bring up evidence of other crimes, including testimony about the propensity of some of the defendants to carry firearms. See IX R. at 60. 45 At trial, the prosecutor argued that the evidence was admissible because it tended to prove an essential element of the offense charged in Count 4 of the indictment, namely possession of a firearm during and in relation to the 1988 conspiracy. In its brief, however, the government simply asserts that the evidence is admissible under Rules 403 and 404 for all the same reasons [as] the Mississippi incident, and that none of the defendants has shown prejudice which could negate a finding of harmless error. Appellee's Joint Brief at 67.