Opinion ID: 2718597
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The degree to which a fact is contested

Text: One important issue in Rule 403 balancing in this context is the extent to which the non-propensity factual proposition actually is contested in the case. For example, if a defendant offers to concede or stipulate to the fact for which the evidence is offered, additional evidence may have little probative value. See, e.g., Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172, 191–92 (1997) (holding that a defendant’s stipulation to a prior felony conviction removes its probative value in a prosecution for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon). Of course, there are various degrees of factual disagreement in a trial, and stipulations are at one end of that spectrum. See generally 2 EDWARD J. IMWINKELRIED, UNCHARGED MISCONDUCT EVIDENCE §§ 8:10–15 (2004) (reviewing various forms of disagreement and their effect on the admissibility of other-act evidence). Because each case is unique, Rule 403 balancing is a highly context-specific inquiry; there are few categorical rules. See Miller, 673 F.3d at 696–97. The general guiding principle is that the degree to which the non-propensity issue actually is disputed in the case will affect the probative value of the otheract evidence. See United States v. Causey, 748 F.3d 310, 318 (7th Cir. 2014); Lee, 724 F.3d at 976; Miller, 673 F.3d at 696–97. On the other hand, there are a few discrete circumstances in which we can say as a categorical matter that other-act evidence is substantially more prejudicial than probative. The Supreme Court’s decision in Old Chief is one example. There, the defendant was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and offered to stipulate to his status as a felon to prevent the jury from learning the details of his prior No. 12-1104 19 conviction. The government rejected his offer to stipulate, and the district court permitted the prosecutor to introduce the prior conviction over the defendant’s Rule 403 objection. 519 U.S. at 177–78. The Supreme Court reversed. Id. at 192. The Court began by acknowledging the “familiar, standard rule that the prosecution is entitled to prove its case by evidence of its own choice, or, more exactly, that a criminal defendant may not stipulate or admit his way out of the full evidentiary force of the case as the Government chooses to present it.” Id. at 186–87. But when a defendant’s status as a felon is an element of the offense and he offers to stipulate to that fact, the evidence of his prior conviction loses its probative value, leaving only a substantial risk of unfair prejudice. Id. at 191–92. In this specific situation, a district court abuses its discretion in admitting the details of the prior conviction. Id. Our circuit also requires special caution when other-act evidence is offered to prove intent, which though a permissible non-propensity purpose is nonetheless “most likely to blend with improper propensity uses.” Miller, 673 F.3d at 698. In cases involving general-intent crimes—e.g., drug-distribution offenses (as distinct from drug conspiracies or possession of drugs with intent to distribute)—we have adopted a rule that other-act evidence is not admissible to show intent unless the defendant puts intent “at issue” beyond a general denial of guilt. See, e.g., United States v. Hicks, 635 F.3d 1063, 1070–71 (7th Cir. 2011); Shackleford, 738 F.2d at 781, overruled in part on other grounds by Huddleston v. United States, 485 U.S. 681. Our most complete explanation of this rule comes from Shackleford: 20 No. 12-1104 We have previously distinguished between situations in which intent is in issue because the government must show specific intent as an essential element of the crime and when intent is only a formal issue that can be inferred from the act. When the crime charged requires proof of specific intent, we have held that, because it is a material element to be proved by the govern- ment, it is necessarily in issue and the govern- ment may submit evidence of other acts in an attempt to establish the matter in its case-in- chief, assuming the other requirements of Rules 404(b) and 403 are satisfied. … On the other hand, we have stated that when intent is only a formal issue, so that proof of the proscribed act gives rise to an inference of intent, then unless the government has reason to believe that the de- fense will raise intent as an issue, evidence of other acts directed toward this issue should not be used in the government’s case-in-chief and should not be admitted until the defendant raises the issue. 738 F.2d at 781 (emphasis added). The specific-intent/general-intent distinction in the Rule 404(b) context is sometimes misunderstood. The critical point is that for general-intent crimes, the defendant’s intent can be inferred from the act itself, so intent is not “automatically” at issue. The paradigm case involves a charge of distribution of drugs, see Hicks, 635 F.3d at 1070–71, a general-intent No. 12-1104 21 crime for which the government need only show that the defendant physically transferred the drugs; the jury can infer from that act that the defendant’s intent was to distribute them. Hence our rule that “[b]ecause unlawful distribution [of drugs] is a general intent crime, in order for the government to introduce prior bad acts to show intent, the defendant must put his intent at issue first.” Id.; see also United States v. Manganellis, 864 F.2d 528, 539 (7th Cir. 1988). In contrast, we have repeatedly rejected a similar rule for specific-intent crimes because in this class of cases “intent is automatically at issue.” United States v. Conner, 583 F.3d 1011, 1022 (7th Cir. 2009) (collecting cases). Unfortunately, this line of precedent too frequently has been seen as a rule of automatic admission for other-act evidence in cases of specificintent crimes. See Lee, 724 F.3d at 981; Miller, 673 F.3d at 698–99. We firmly rejected that notion in Miller, emphasizing that other-act evidence is always subject to Rule 403 balancing. 673 F.3d at 696–98. We explained that although “[i]ntent can be ‘automatically at issue’ because it is an element of a specific intent crime,” other-act evidence offered to prove intent “can still be completely irrelevant to that issue, or relevant only in an impermissible way.” Id. at 697–98. We have reiterated these themes in other recent cases. See, e.g., Lee, 724 F.3d at 976 (“Simply because a subject like intent is formally at issue when the defendant has claimed innocence and the government is obliged to prove his intent as an element of his guilt does not automatically open the door to proof of the defendant’s other wrongful acts for purposes of establishing his intent.”); United States v. Earls, 704 F.3d 466, 471 (7th Cir. 2012) (“Rule 404(b) 22 No. 12-1104 does not provide a rule of automatic admission whenever bad acts evidence can be plausibly linked to another purpose … . The Rule 402 requirement of relevance and the unfair prejudice balancing inquiries of Rule 403 still apply with full force.” (internal quotation marks omitted)). To summarize then, when intent is not “at issue”—when the defendant is charged with a general-intent crime and does not meaningfully dispute intent—other-act evidence is not admissible to prove intent because its probative value will always be substantially outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice. In contrast, when intent is “at issue”—in cases involving specific-intent crimes or because the defendant makes it an issue in a case involving a general-intent crime— other-act evidence may be admissible to prove intent, but it must be relevant without relying on a propensity inference, and its probative value must not be substantially outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice. And again, the degree to which the non-propensity issue actually is contested may have a bearing on the probative value of the other-act evidence. Before moving on, we pause to note a point raised by the government that one of our recent cases could be read to suggest a generally applicable rule that other-act evidence may not be admitted unless the defendant “meaningfully dispute[s]” the non-propensity issue for which the evidence is offered. Richards, 719 F.3d at 759 (citing Miller, 673 F.3d at 697). Richards never actually held that, but for clarity’s sake, we reiterate that there is no such categorical rule or prerequisite, and we decline to adopt one now. Nothing in the Rules of Evidence supports imposing such a universal prerequisite to No. 12-1104 23 the admission of other-act evidence. Indeed, the advisory committee explicitly disapproves of any general requirement of this sort. See FED. R. EVID. 401 advisory committee’s notes (1972) (“The fact to which the evidence is directed need not be in dispute. … [T]he ruling should be made on the basis of such considerations as waste of time and undue prejudice (see Rule 403), rather than under any general requirement that evidence is admissible only if directed to matters in dispute.”); FED. R. EVID. 404 advisory committee’s notes (1972) (“No mechanical solution is offered.”). Moreover, as we have noted, the Supreme Court has specifically endorsed “the accepted rule that the prosecution is entitled to prove its case free from any defendant’s option to stipulate the evidence away.” Old Chief, 519 U.S. at 189. The Court held in Old Chief that “if … there [is] a justification for receiving evidence of the nature of prior acts on some issue other than status (i.e., to prove motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident … ), Rule 404(b) guarantees the opportunity to seek its admission.” Id. at 190 (internal quotation marks omitted). Though not a fixed requirement, we reiterate that the district court should consider the degree to which the nonpropensity issue actually is contested when evaluating the probative value of the proposed other-act evidence. Because other-act evidence almost always carries a risk of unfair prejudice, sensitivity to the real factual disputes in the case is critical to meaningful Rule 403 balancing. 24 No. 12-1104