Opinion ID: 620563
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Other Act: Assault

Text: Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) allows the government to introduce evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts committed by the defendant so long as the evidence is not used merely to show propensity and if it bears upon a relevant issue in the case. Hardy, 228 F.3d at 750. The Rule contains a non-exhaustive list of possible purposes: motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. Fed. R.Evid. 404(b). Such evidence is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. Id. Clay argues that the district court erred in admitting the evidence of the September 2006 assault of Karissa Marshall pursuant to Rule 404(b). At trial, Marshall testified that when she was 15, a car driven by Clay pulled alongside her as she was walking to a bus stop and asked her if she wanted a ride. When she resisted, the driver got out of the car, grabbed her, and hit her in the face with a gun. The blow knocked her unconscious, and she told the jury, I thought I was going to die that day.
First, we must review for clear error the district court's determination that there is sufficient evidence to support a finding by the jury that the defendant committed the assault. Huddleston v. United States, 485 U.S. 681, 685, 108 S.Ct. 1496, 99 L.Ed.2d 771 (1988). The assault of Marshall is undisputed, so no discussion is needed as to step one.
Second, we review de novo whether the evidence was admitted for a proper 404(b) purpose. It is well-established that this determination is a question of law. See United States v. Ayoub, 498 F.3d 532, 548 (6th Cir.2007), cert. denied, 555 U.S. 830, 129 S.Ct. 37, 172 L.Ed.2d 49 (2008). This Circuit has taken the position that in reviewing a trial court's evidentiary determinations, this court reviews de novo the court's conclusions of law. United States v. McDaniel, 398 F.3d 540, 544 (6th Cir. 2005). The court in McDaniel confirmed that this standard is consistent with the Supreme Court's admonition in General Elec. Co. v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136, 118 S.Ct. 512, 139 L.Ed.2d 508 (1997) that we review evidentiary decisions for an abuse of discretion, because it is an abuse of discretion to make errors of law or clear errors of factual determination. Id. Indeed, this Circuit has been consistent in adopting McDaniel's interpretation of Joiner. See, e.g., United States v. Geisen, 612 F.3d 471, 495 (6th Cir.2010), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 131 S.Ct. 1813, 179 L.Ed.2d 772 (2011) (reviewing the district court's legal determinations de novo and its factual decisions for clear error, holding that these two standards of review are not in conflict as `it is an abuse of discretion to make errors of law or clear errors of factual determination' in evidentiary rulings) (citing McDaniel ); United States v. Martinez, 588 F.3d 301, 309 (6th Cir.2009) (following McDaniel's approach in reviewing de novo the court's conclusions of law, reasoning that [t]o the extent the district court's admission of the Boswell video constitutes an error of law, such error is an abuse of discretion); United States v. Baker, 458 F.3d 513, 517 (6th Cir.2006) (adopting McDaniel's interpretation of Joiner by point[ing] out that these two standards of review are not in fact inconsistent because `it is an abuse of discretion to make errors of law or clear errors of factual determination.') (citations omitted). The dissent urges us instead to apply an abuse of discretion standard in deference to the district court. The dissent grounds its position in a reading of Joiner that has not been adopted in this Circuit and is in derogation of McDaniel and its progeny. The dissent then bootstraps this insular reading of Joiner, relying on United States v. Jenkins , which cites Joiner's holding that all evidentiary rulings are subject to abuse-of-discretion review but does not discuss its standard of review of the trial court's legal determination of the proper 404(b) purpose, 593 F.3d 480, 484 (6th Cir.2010), and Trepel v. Roadway Exp. Inc., which held that after Joiner, hearsay evidentiary rulings must be reviewed for an abuse of discretion. 194 F.3d 708 (6th Cir.1999). The dissent's cases, however, are not apposite to the McDaniel line of cases. First, Jackson simply recites Joiner's general abuse of discretion standard for evidentiary determinations, which McDaniel follows and so do we. Secondly, McDaniel simply took over where Trepel left off by clarifying that the abuse of discretion review of evidentiary determinations which Joiner commands is not inconsistent with the court's abiding duty to review questions of law de novo. McDaniel, 398 F.3d at 544, supra. The dissent wishes to create a split in our precedent where one need not exist. It is unnecessary to address the remainder of the dissent's arguments as they are predicated on the heightened deference it grants to the district court's evidentiary decisions under the erroneous standard of review. This Court, accordingly, reviews the district court's determination of a proper 404(b) purpose de novo. The federal carjacking statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2119, requires the government to prove that a defendant had the specific intent to cause serious bodily harm or death when he or she took the victim's car. United States v. Fekete, 535 F.3d 471, 476 (6th Cir.2008). In other words, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant would have at least attempted to seriously harm or kill the driver if that action had been necessary to complete the taking of the car. Id. at 477 (quoting Holloway v. United States, 526 U.S. 1, 11-12, 119 S.Ct. 966, 143 L.Ed.2d 1 (1999)). In order to satisfy this requirement, the government sought to use the assault of Marshall to show that Clay had the specific intent to cause serious bodily harm or death to White. As a threshold matter, we have approved of the admission of other acts evidence to show specific intent in certain circumstances. See United States v. Johnson, 27 F.3d 1186, 1192 (6th Cir.1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1115, 115 S.Ct. 910, 130 L.Ed.2d 792 (1995) (holding that where there is thrust upon the government, either by virtue of the defense raised by the defendant or by virtue of the elements of the crime charged, the affirmative duty to prove that the underlying prohibited act was done with a specific criminal intent, other acts evidence may be introduced under Rule 404(b)). Most frequently, we admit this evidence in cases involving drug offenses such as possession with intent to distribute or conspiracy to distribute, or when the charged offenses are identical. See, e.g., United States v. Love, 254 Fed. Appx. 511, 515-20 (6th Cir.2007) (defendant's prior drug convictions admissible to show intent to participate in a conspiracy where defendant had pleaded not guilty to engaging in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine); United States v. Conteh, 234 Fed. Appx. 374, 384-85 (6th Cir.2007) (finding no error in the admission of testimony about defendant's Colorado bank fraud scheme in a prosecution for Ohio bank fraud scheme); Johnson, 27 F.3d at 1192-93 (finding no error in the admission of other acts of possession with intent to distribute in a prosecution for the same offense); United States v. Pierce, 16 F.3d 1223 (Table), 1993 WL 513950, at  (6th Cir.1993) (finding no error in the admission of evidence to show intent of past sexual abuse in prosecution of attempt to commit sexual abuse when victim was the same); United States v. Crachy, 800 F.2d 83, 87 (6th Cir.1986) (finding no error in the admission of evidence of conversations about prior acts relating to counterfeit bills in prosecution of possession of counterfeit money and delivery of counterfeit money). We have yet to consider, however, whether prior bad acts are admissible to show specific intent to cause serious bodily harm or death in a carjacking case. Other circuits have found that prior acts may be admissible to show specific intent to cause serious bodily harm or death in a carjacking case in narrow circumstances, such as when the prior acts occur nearly simultaneously with the charged offense or when they involve the same victim. See United States v. Rodriguez-Berrios, 573 F.3d 55, 63-64 (1st Cir.2009) (evidence about prior abuse and stalking of carjacking victim was admissible to show specific intent in carjacking offense); United States v. Basham, 561 F.3d 302, 328 (4th Cir.2009) (threats of violence made during crime spree were admissible to show specific intent to kill or to cause serious harm to victim of carjacking, which occurred during the spree). Relying on these cases, the government argues that the assault is admissible to prove specific intent because it shows that Clay could develop the intent to cause serious bodily harm to innocent strangers who resist his demands. Considering both the case law and the purposes of Rule 404(b), this sweeps too broadly and risks eroding the Rule's very purpose. It perches perilously close to proving specific intent by showing propensity, as it suggests that a person who engages in bad behavior toward another is likely to do so again. The two offenses at issueassault and carjackingare too unrelated and too far apart in time to be probative of whether Clay had the specific intent to do harm to White; they merely show the criminal character of Clay. See United States v. Bell, 516 F.3d 432, 443 (6th Cir.2008) (holding that Rule 404(b) evidence is probative of intent only when the prior [acts] were part of the same scheme or involved a similar modus operandi as the present offense). While a prior act may be relevant in other circumstances to show specific intent in a carjacking, the assault of Marshall is not admissible for a permissible 404(b) purpose in this case. The district court erred in admitting the evidence.
The district court admitted the evidence of the assault for an improper purpose. Our 404(b) analysis does not have to proceed, but in order to firmly establish that error occurred, we continue to the final step. The third step in the Rule 404(b) analysis requires us to determine whether the unfair prejudicial impact of the evidence substantially outweighs its probative value. Evidence of other bad acts undoubtedly has a powerful impact on a juror's mind. As we have previously explained, [w]hen prior acts evidence is introduced, regardless of the stated purpose, the likelihood is very great that the jurors will use the evidence precisely for the purpose it may not be considered: to suggest that the defendant is a bad person, a convicted criminal, and that if he `did it before he probably did it again.' United States v. Johnson, 27 F.3d 1186, 1193 (6th Cir.1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1115, 115 S.Ct. 910, 130 L.Ed.2d 792 (1995). While a limiting instruction can minimize the prejudicial impact of prior criminal acts, it is not a sure-fire panacea for the prejudice resulting from needless admission of such evidence. Haywood, 280 F.3d at 724. This evidence was of slim probative value. In making this evaluation, we consider whether there are alternate sources of proving the same facts. See Haywood, 280 F.3d at 723; see also United States v. Merriweather, 78 F.3d 1070, 1077 (6th Cir. 1996) (One factor in balancing unfair prejudice against probative value under Rule 403 is the availability of other means of proof.). Here, Means testified about the perpetrator's verbal threats and use of the gun during the carjacking. Thus, the evidence of the assault was not necessary to show that Clay had specific intent. By contrast, this evidence was extremely prejudicial. The prejudice must be unfair; it must do more than paint[ ] the defendant in a bad light. United States v. Sanders, 95 F.3d 449, 453 (6th Cir.1996). In this case, the evidence of the assault is so unrelated to the charged offense that it creates too much of a risk that the jury will generalize from prior examples of bad character. It goes beyond the elements of proof essential to the government's case and may lure the jury into making its determination of guilt or innocence on proof unrelated to the carjacking. Balancing is highly discretionary, and thus the district court is afforded great deference. Bell, 516 F.3d at 445. Despite this substantial deference, the district court abused its discretion in admitting the evidence of the assault. As explained supra, this evidence is not particularly probative of the charged offense. Nor is it necessary to prove that Clay had specific intent to harm White. By contrast, the unfair prejudicial impact of the evidence was high. As empirical studies have shown, evidence of prior bad acts influences factfinders even when the court gives a limiting instruction. See United States v. Hardy, 643 F.3d 143, 161 (6th Cir.2011) (Cole, J., dissenting) (stating that empirical studies confirm that `juries treat prior bad acts evidence as highly probative of the charged crime') (quoting United States v. Amaya-Manzanares, 377 F.3d 39, 49 (1st Cir.2004) (Torruella, J., dissenting)); see also Abraham P. Ordover, Balancing the Presumptions of Guilt and Innocence: Rules 404(b), 608(b) and 609(a), 38 Emory L.J. 135, 175-78 (1989). In this case, the differing nature of the crimes suggested that Clay was a repeatedly violent offender. This created a serious risk that the jury used the evidence for precisely the reasons it was counseled not to: that Clay was a bad person and a threat to society. Thus, the unfair prejudicial impact of the evidence substantially outweighed its slim probative value. As the evidence of the assault was not admissible for a permissible purpose under Rule 404(b) and its unfair prejudicial impact outweighed its probative value, we find that the district court erred in admitting the evidence.