Opinion ID: 728946
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Kime's Books

Text: 7 Among the evidence seized from Asphalt Maintenance & Repair, the conspiracy's cover business, were several incriminating books. Some of these publications were devoted to the subject of illegal drugs. These included: The Secret Garden, Marijuana, Manufacturing Methamphetamine, Marijuana Grower's Guide, Psychedelic Chemistry, and Construction and Operation for Clandestine Drug Laboratories. Other titles covered burglary and theft-related topics, such as: Techniques of Safecracking, Techniques of Burglar Alarm Bypassing, How to Make Your Own Professional Lock Tools, Vol. 1-4, Techniques of Safe and Vault Manipulation, and The Complete Guide to Lockpicking by Eddie the Wire. These books were admitted into evidence over Kime's objection. While Government witness and former co-conspirator Randy Groves testified that the books belonged to Kime, he also admitted that he had never seen any member of the conspiracy, including Kime, read the books and that some of them appeared to have never been opened. Kime argues that these books should have been excluded under Fed.R.Evid. 403 because the risk of unfair prejudice greatly outweighed their probative value. The Government argues that the books are at least probative of Kime's criminal intent, especially when viewed in conjunction with the additional evidence of the conspiracy's involvement in drug distribution and armed robbery. 8 Rule 403 of the Federal Rules of Evidence gives the district court discretion to exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury. Fed.R.Evid. 403. We accord great deference to the district court's application of the Rule 403 balancing test and will reverse only for a clear abuse of discretion. United States v. Rabins, 63 F.3d 721, 726 (8th Cir.1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 1031, 134 L.Ed.2d 109 (1996). 9 Again we find no abuse of discretion. The risk of prejudice from these inflammatorily-titled publications is very real, but we do not view it as unfair prejudice. Whether or not Kime actually had the opportunity to read and exploit the techniques contained in these books, his mere possession of them is clearly probative of his criminal intent. The drug-oriented publications obviously bear on his interest in the charged drug distribution and conspiracy crimes as tool[s] of the drug-trafficking trade. United States v. Ford, 22 F.3d 374, 381-82 (1st Cir.) (admission of book entitled Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture in trial of defendant charged with distribution of cocaine and marijuana was relevant under Rule 401 and not unduly prejudicial under Rule 403), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 900, 115 S.Ct. 257, 130 L.Ed.2d 177 (1994). 10 While the burglary-related publications would not ordinarily prove relevant in defining an individual's criminal intent to distribute drugs, that is not the case here. The record is rife with evidence indicating that the Kime organization's modus operandi included the theft of rival drug dealers' product, proceeds, and firearms. As such, the possession of these books is further evidence of Kime's criminal intent in regard to this particular aspect of the charged conspiracy.