Opinion ID: 663071
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Cross-Admissibility of Evidence

Text: 35 The joinder of the Original Offenses with the Additional [firearms] Offenses does raise issues of relevance, admissibility, and prejudice under FED.R.EVID. 401, 402, 403, and 404(b). Brown argues that some of the evidence found on his person during the February Search (the semiautomatic pistol, and the pager, but not the safe key) was inadmissible as evidence to prove the Original Offenses because it was relevant only to show propensity, which is forbidden under Rule 404(b); therefore, its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. FED.R.EVID. 403. 36 In general, all relevant evidence is admissible. See FED.R.EVID. 402. The Rules define relevant evidence to mean evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. FED.R.EVID. 401. Our first question, then, is whether the gun, or the pager, were relevant in proving the Original Offenses: Does either the gun, or the pager, tend to make the existence of any fact of consequence more probable or less probable? FED.R.EVID. 401, 402. We then ask whether the purpose for which the evidence is being admitted is proper. See FED.R.EVID. 404(b). If the evidence is relevant and proffered for a proper purpose, we must then determine whether its probative value is substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect. FED.R.EVID. 403; see also United States v. Miller, 895 F.2d 1431, 1435 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 825, 111 S.Ct. 79, 112 L.Ed.2d 52 (1990). 37
38 Brown was charged with dealing in drugs and firearms possession. When arrested in February for the Original Offenses, Brown was in possession of the equipment of an armed drug dealer: a pager, a gun, and, of course, the key to the safe that contained drug paraphernalia, drugs, and firearms. Thus, the gun and the pager were relevant evidence; they tended to make more probable the existence of the fact that Brown was an armed drug dealer who used Williams' apartment, and, more specifically, Sinclair's bedroom, to inventory cocaine and to cache the tools of his trade. 39
40 Under Rule 404(b), [e]vidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. In this case, the pager is relevant to show intent to distribute, and, therefore, admissible for a proper purpose under Rule 404(b). See United States v. Rogers, 918 F.2d 207, 212 n. 3 (D.C.Cir.1990) (specifically failing to reach the question whether--and under what circumstances--possessing a beeper maligns the person who possesses one). 41 The gun is more difficult. At trial, the gun was actually admitted as evidence in reference to counts eight and nine: On or about February 21, 1991, within the District of Columbia [Brown] having been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year ... did unlawfully, knowingly and intentionally transport, ship or receive, in interstate or foreign commerce, a firearm. The question, however, is whether the evidence would have been admitted had Brown been tried alone on the Original Offenses. 42 A reasonable person could come to the conclusion that a person who carries a gun with a serial number effaced is a person of the type who would deal drugs to elementary school children; therefore, the gun would be inadmissible if used to show Brown's propensity to deal in drugs or to show action in conformity with the character of a drug dealer, whatever that may be. Nevertheless, the gun is cross-admissible under Rule 404(b) because it was relevant to show intent, knowledge or absence of mistake with respect to the firearms found in the safe during the November Search. 43
44 Under Rule 403, [a]lthough relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. FED.R.EVID. 403. In balancing probative value against prejudicial effect, this court lean[s] toward admitting evidence in close cases. United States v. Miller, 895 F.2d at 1436 (quoting United States v. Manner, 887 F.2d 317, 322 (D.C.Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1062, 110 S.Ct. 879, 107 L.Ed.2d 962 (1990)). 45 First, we question whether admission of the pager into evidence would have had any prejudicial effect. The admission of a pager is neither prejudicial nor probative in proving the character of a person. Although the pager may be one of the many items associated with a drug dealer, many others including doctors, legal assistants, and emergency medical technicians carry pagers as part of their legitimate jobs in our modern world of advanced technological communications. Thus, the pager had little if any prejudicial effect. Second, the pager may have had some probative value. Therefore, we hold that the pager was cross-admissible. In contrast, while the admission of the semiautomatic pistol may have been prejudicial, its prejudicial effect did not outweigh its probative value. The pistol found during the February Search tends to make it less probable that the pistols found in the safe during the November Search were there by mistake or without intent. On the other hand, the fact that when Brown was arrested police found him armed with a semiautomatic pistol could be a very prejudicial fact. Nevertheless, this prejudicial fact has considerable probative weight. Therefore, the gun, while a close call, also was cross-admissible.