Opinion ID: 4556393
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admission of the AR-15

Text: We review a district court’s decision to admit evidence for abuse of discretion, “recognizing that district courts enjoy broad discretion over the admission of evidence.” United States v. Barret, 848 F.3d 524, 531 (2d Cir. 2017) (internal quotation marks, brackets, and citation omitted). “Irrelevant evidence is not admissible.” Fed. R. Evid. 402. A district court “may exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by a danger of . . . unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, wasting time, or needlessly presenting cumulative evidence.” Fed. R. Evid. 403. A district court's decision to admit evidence is subject to harmless error analysis. Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(a); United States v. Madori, 419 F.3d 159, 168 (2d Cir. 2005). Delgado argues that the district court abused its discretion in admitting the AR-15 because there was no other evidence establishing that Delgado used the assault rifle in furtherance of the charged conspiracies, making its possession irrelevant. Delgado also argues that any possible probity was outweighed by undue prejudice under Rule 403 because the admission of a lawfully purchased assault rifle without a connection to the charged conspiracies “leaves a high probability that the jury would misuse its admission to bolster the testimonies of 15 cooperating witnesses,” who testified about Delgado’s possession of other guns. Appellant’s Br. at 28. We disagree that the AR-15 was offered for an improper purpose. 4 In context, Delgado’s purchase and possession of an assault rifle was, at the very least, relevant to the RICO conspiracy count. The fourth superseding indictment charges in its general allegations that “[i]n order to enforce the authority of the gang, 10th Street gang members maintained a ready supply of firearms, including handguns, shotguns, and semi-automatic rifles. Weapons were to be sold to others, or otherwise discarded, after having been used to commit acts of violence on behalf of the organization.” App’x at 67. The government introduced evidence at trial and argued in its theory of the case that 10th Street members kept a ready stock of guns as part of the security function of the enterprise. Witnesses testified that members routinely gave firearms to one another by hiding guns in a communal stash at the park and had knowledge of other members’ firearms. There was testimony demonstrating that other gang 4Because we conclude that the testimony was offered for a proper purpose, we reject Delgado’s argument that the testimony was only offered to show criminal propensity in violation of Federal Rule 404(b) of Evidence. 16 members were aware that Delgado purchased and owned the AR-15. Delgado’s possession of the assault rifle was relevant to the allegations of the RICO conspiracy that charged defendants with using, brandishing, and exchanging firearms as part of the illicit enterprise. We also disagree with Delgado’s argument that his possession of the AR15 had no connection to the charged conspiracy because “[t]here was no testimony presented at trial to indicate [Delgado] participated in the conspiracies contained in the Indictment after June, 2007.” Appellant’s Reply. Br. at 2. As alleged in Count 1 of the indictment, “beginning in or about 2000 and continuing to in or about 2011,” Delgado was part of a gang that sold narcotics and protected its territory by using, carrying, and possessing firearms. App’x at 299. Delgado’s argument fails because there was no evidence that he ever withdrew from the conspiracy and ATF records confirm that he purchased the AR-15 in early 2011, which, as a temporal matter, was within the time period of the alleged RICO conspiracy. We find no abuse of discretion in the district court’s determination that the probative value of this evidence is high and that it tends to illuminate the issues in the case rather than mislead the jury. As noted above, a Rule 403 challenge is 17 “highly deferential” to the district court. United States v. Coppola, 671 F.3d 220, 244 (2d Cir. 2012). There was nothing unduly prejudicial about the AR-15 simply because it also happened to bolster witnesses’ testimony about other firearms. Delgado does not cite to any authority that supports excluding evidence on this ground. Even assuming arguendo there was error, it would be harmless. We consider several factors in determining whether an evidentiary error is not harmless and thus requiring a new trial: In assessing the wrongly admitted testimony's importance, we consider such factors as whether the testimony bore on an issue that is plainly critical to the jury's decision, whether that testimony was material to the establishment of the critical fact or whether it was instead corroborated and cumulative, and whether the wrongly admitted evidence was emphasized in arguments to the jury. Wray v. Johnson, 202 F.3d 515, 526 (2d Cir. 2000) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). In light of the strength of the government’s case, our review of the record demonstrates that the AR-15 was “unimportant in relation to everything else the jury considered on the issue[s] in question.” Cameron v. City of New York, 598 F.3d 50, 61 (2d Cir. 2010) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). In its summation, the government argued (1) that Delgado’s possession of the AR-15 18 was evidence, on its own, that that he was guilty of the Section 924(c) charge; and (2) that it was probative of his guilt concerning the narcotics conspiracy and RICO conspiracy offenses, because there was testimony that he displayed the firearm to other gang members. Delgado’s possession of the assault rifle was plainly not essential to either of the conspiracy counts, which charged a broader scheme. Delgado’s only colorable argument for a new trial is if the AR-15 was used by the jury as the sole basis for its guilty verdict on the Section 924(c) charge. But the AR-15 evidence was not critical to the Section 924(c) count either. In the few instances when the government referenced the AR-15 in its summation, it did so in the context of Delgado possessing other firearms—at one point arguing that the jury “heard at least about half a dozen guns possessed by Delgado, himself, to include the [AR15].” Smith App’x at 4990. A raft of government witnesses placed a gun in Delgado’s hands during the conspiracy—including during the murders of MacDonald and Young—any of which could have formed the basis of the jury’s guilty verdict on the Section 924(c) count. See United States v. McCallum, 584 F.3d 471, 478 (2009) (“We have repeatedly held that the strength of the government’s case is the most critical 19 factor in assessing whether error was harmless.”). In sum, vacatur would not be warranted even if the district court erred because there was overwhelming evidence presented at trial concerning Delgado’s possession of firearms.