Opinion ID: 658851
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Hotel Robbery Evidence

Text: 10 The defendants object to the admission into evidence of Ashford's testimony regarding the hotel robbery because they claim the government gave insufficient notice that it planned on using this evidence and it was not properly admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) (Rule 404(b)). The district court, however, has broad discretion to admit such evidence and its decision will not be overturned unless it is clear that the evidence has no bearing on the case. United States v. Sykes, 977 F.2d 1242, 1246 (8th Cir.1992). 11 The government gave the defendants adequate notice that it planned on using Rule 404(b) evidence. The rule states the prosecution must provide reasonable notice in advance of trial, or during trial ... on good cause shown, of the general nature of any such evidence. Fed.R.Evid. 404(b). The magistrate judge specifically ordered that any bad act evidence be disclosed at least fourteen days prior to trial. The government complied by informing the defendants in a hearing before the magistrate judge that the government might use evidence from some local robberies. See Tr. at 335. At that time, the government did not yet have the state reports concerning these robberies. Approximately one week before trial, when the government obtained the reports, the defendants were likewise provided with these reports. Id. We find that the government's notice satisfies the requirements of Rule 404(b); the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that this notice was reasonable. 12 Rule 404(b) prohibits the admission of other crimes, wrongs, or acts to prove the character of a person, and hence, conformity with that character; that is, it prohibits propensity evidence. See id. The rule, nonetheless, specifically recognizes that evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts could be admissible for other purposes, such as to prove motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake. Id. 13 To properly admit Rule 404(b) evidence for purposes other than to prove propensity, it must (1) be relevant to a material issue raised at trial, (2) be similar in kind and close in time to the crime charged, (3) be supported by sufficient evidence to support a finding by a jury that the defendant committed the other act, and (4) not have a prejudicial value that substantially outweighs its probative value. Sykes, 977 F.2d at 1246; United States v. Johnson, 934 F.2d 936, 939 (8th Cir.1991). The district court warned the jury in an instruction prior to Ashford's testimony that the mere fact that these defendants may have committed a similar act in the past is not evidence that they committed the acts charged in this case. Tr. at 365. The district court repeated essentially the same warning in Jury Instruction No. 10. The permissible purposes enumerated by the district court for which this testimony could be considered included proof of identity, knowledge, plan, motive, and intent to conspire. 14 We find that the hotel robbery evidence was properly admitted to prove that Reeves and Kern intended to enter into an agreement or understanding to commit robbery and that they understood the purpose of this agreement. 3 The court instructed the jury that in order to find the defendants guilty of conspiracy to commit bank robbery, it had to find four elements: (1) two or more persons reached an agreement to commit the crime, (2) the defendant voluntarily and intentionally joined in the agreement, (3) at the time the defendant joined in the agreement, he knew the purpose of the agreement, and (4) that while the agreement was in effect, one or more of the persons who had joined in the agreement did an overt act in order to carry out the agreement. Thus, the hotel robbery evidence was relevant to a material fact: intent to conspire. See Cheek v. United States, 858 F.2d 1330, 1336-37 (8th Cir.1988); United States v. Scholle, 553 F.2d 1109, 1121 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 940, 98 S.Ct. 432, 54 L.Ed.2d 300 (1977); United States v. Carlson, 547 F.2d 1346, 1354 & n. 5 (8th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 914, 97 S.Ct. 2174, 53 L.Ed.2d 224 (1977). 15 As required by Sykes and Johnson, the hotel robbery evidence was similar in kind and close in time to the crime charged. The hotel robbery occurred only seventeen days after the bank robbery. Both robberies were committed by three stocking-masked males. In both robberies, the larger male carried a black short-barreled shotgun. Moreover, the smaller masked robber in both robberies vaulted over a relatively high obstacle: the teller's counter in the bank robbery and the desk in the hotel robbery. 16 Ashford's testimony regarding the hotel robbery was sufficient for a jury to have found that Reeves and Kern committed the hotel robbery. Ashford not only made a positive identification of the defendants at trial, but he also identified Reeves from an array of photographs soon after the hotel robbery. 17 Moreover, the court's limiting instruction to the jury was sufficient to prevent undue prejudice from the admission of this evidence. Therefore, because the hotel robbery evidence was admissible to prove that the defendants intended to enter into a conspiracy to rob, we find that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it allowed Ashford to testify. 18