Opinion ID: 703235
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Admission of Sharla Doss's Testimony

Text: 44 Mr. McDermott contends that the district court abused its discretion in admitting testimony of Sharla Doss regarding a death threat she says Mr. McDermott made against her. He argues that under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b), 9 the extrinsic acts testimony was not probative of any issue before the court, not offered for any proper purpose, and highly prejudicial, and the court improperly admitted it without a limiting instruction. 45 We review a district court's admission of evidence under Rule 404(b) for abuse of discretion. United States v. Grissom, 44 F.3d 1507, 1513 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 1720, 131 L.Ed.2d 579 (1995). That discretion is not abused, and a defendant is presumed not to have been subjected to undue prejudice, if four requirements are met: (1) the evidence is offered for a proper purpose; (2) the evidence is relevant; (3) the trial court determines under Fed.R.Evid. 403 that the probative value of the evidence is not substantially outweighed by its potential for unfair prejudice; and (4) the court, if requested, provides an appropriate instruction limiting the jury's use of the evidence to its proper purpose. Huddleston v. United States, 485 U.S. 681, 691-92, 108 S.Ct. 1496, 1502, 99 L.Ed.2d 771 (1988); Grissom, 44 F.3d at 1513; United States v. Birch, 39 F.3d 1089, 1094 (10th Cir.1994). 46 Although we have held that the government must precisely articulate a proper purpose for the evidence and the trial court must specifically identify the proper purpose for which it is admitted, United States v. Kendall, 766 F.2d 1426, 1436 (10th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1081, 106 S.Ct. 848, 88 L.Ed.2d 889 (1986), the failure of the government or the court to do so will not be deemed harmful if the evidence's proper purpose is apparent from the record and the evidence was correctly admitted. Birch, 39 F.3d at 1094. 47 We look first at the specific evidence admitted. Ms. Doss testified about an altercation that occurred two weeks before the search of Mr. McDermott's home, when she was moving out from living with her ex-fiance, and Mr. McDermott was there helping him with some work. She testified that McDermott and she argued over the fact that she had slept with a third man, and McDermott accused me of things and told me that I would get hurt. He had higher powers than himself and he would have me dead. R. Vol. XIII at 660. She filed a police report at the time, which was admitted into evidence, and in her testimony she referred to the report, saying, As the report states, I called him a pothead and a drug dealer and he told me to leave my own house.... [H]e did say that he would have somebody hurt me.... [H]e threatened my life. Id. at 660-62. 48 The police report itself recounts the incident as follows: 49 The victim had come from work and Dave [McDermott] started accusing the victim of cheating on her fiance. Dave was being verbally abusive and kept poking the victim in the chest with his finger and telling her to get out of the house. The victim told Dave that he was nothing but a pothead and a drug dealer. Dave then told the victim that if she ever told anyone that she would get hurt. Dave said that he had connections bigger than himself and that if she said anything she would end up dead. 50 R. Vol. I, Tab 7. 51 The government never specifically stated the purpose for which it was offering the evidence or the precise inferences to be drawn from it. The court initially prohibited the evidence under Rule 403, R. Vol. X at 31, then reconsidered, saying it appeared to be a direct threat to a witness. R. Vol. XII at 394. Counsel for one of the codefendants argued that it was not in retaliation for any testimony Ms. Doss might give, to which the court replied that this could be brought out on cross-examination. Id. at 395. 52 The government argues on appeal that the threat, under the circumstances in which it was made, tends to prove that Mr. McDermott was part of a criminal organization or group with some connection to drug activity. The government argues that the testimony was admissible to show Mr. McDermott's knowledge of and intent and opportunity to be a part of a drug conspiracy, and his identity as a conspiracy member. These are proper purposes in the context of the case at bar, as would be the purpose stated by the court: to show a threat made to a witness. But it is not entirely clear that Mr. McDermott viewed Ms. Doss as a potential witness at the time. This link was stronger in the police report than in her testimony on the stand, and the district court also seemed concerned that the actual testimony proved less than what the court had anticipated. See R. Vol. XIII at 665. 53 Even if we agree that there is some relevance to this testimony, however, we cannot escape the conclusion that the district court was right the first time: whatever probative value the testimony had was substantially outweighed by its potential for unfair prejudice. It was error to admit it. 54