Opinion ID: 182421
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Jabari Sheffield's Crack Cocaine Complaint and Judgment

Text: Defendant alleges that the district court erred by refusing to admit into evidence a complaint against Jabari Sheffield for possession of 9.6 grams of crack cocaine for resale and a judgment showing her subsequent guilty plea to simple possession of cocaine. The complaint states that officers recovered the crack cocaine from Sheffield on Bonnyman near Oldham, on June 2, 2007. The district court sustained the Government's objection, concluding that the exhibit could not be introduced for impeachment purposes under Federal Rule of Evidence 609 because Sheffield was not testifying and that the exhibit was not relevant to whether Defendant was guilty of the crimes charged. Defendant argues that this was error because the trial court should have analyzed the admissibility under Federal Rule of Evidence 803(8)(C) and 804(b)(3). Defendant's argument misses the mark. The evidence was not excluded because it was hearsay, and it does not matter whether an exception to the hearsay rule might apply. Nor do we find that the district court abused its discretion in sustaining the Government's objection to evidence that was not relevant. The evidence suggesting that Sheffield was dealing drugs at another location does not bear on any fact of consequence in this case. Sheffield's potential involvement in drug trafficking activitiesothers or those implicated in this casedoes not make the question of Defendant's guilt more or less likely. Indeed, the Government was not required to prove that it was Defendant, to the exclusion of all others, who possessed the drugs and firearms in this case. Even if Sheffield jointly possessed the guns and drugs at 1537 Virginia Avenue, Defendant could still be found guilty. United States v. Gibbs, 182 F.3d 408, 425 (6th Cir.1999) (citing United States v. Craven, 478 F.2d 1329, 1333 (6th Cir.1973)). The district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to admit the evidence regarding Jabari Sheffield's crack cocaine charge and guilty plea.