Opinion ID: 2828566
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Admissibility of the Elder-Abuse Contract

Text: Under Federal Rule of Evidence 402, all relevant evidence is admissible unless otherwise stated by federal law or rule. Rule 404(b) provides an example of a rule stating otherwise, for this rule precludes evidence of other acts. United States v. Commanche, 577 F.3d 1261, 1267 (10th Cir. 2009). But this rule precludes the use of evidence only when it is offered to attack a witness’s character. Fed. R. Evid. 404(b); see United States v. Kendall, 766 F.2d 1426, 1436 n.5 (10th Cir. 1985) (“To fall within the scope of 404(b), an act need not be criminal, so long as it tends to impugn a defendant’s character.”). -17- The evidence of an elder-abuse contract is not subject to Rule 404(b) because it does not concern character. The government offered the evidence only to illustrate a legitimate contract between Dr. Gutierrez and the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office. Under the contract, Dr. Gutierrez received $63,418.92 (for which there was no allegation of wrongdoing). R., vol. VIII, at 1861–62. By comparison, Dr. Gutierrez received over $1.1 million for similar work under the suspect anti-smoking contract. Id. at 1867. Once the anti-smoking contract was admitted, the elder-abuse contract became relevant to show Dr. Gutierrez’s normal billing rate for a legitimate media contract. Because there was no suggestion of wrongdoing in connection with the elder-abuse contract, there was no danger involving use of the contract as character evidence. Minimal danger arose from this benign evidence and it had probative value; thus, the evidence was relevant and was not subject to exclusion under Rule 403 or Rule 404(b).