Opinion ID: 200345
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Admissibility of the Pawn Shop Receipt

Text: 34 Henderson alleges that the court below committed constitutional error when it admitted into evidence a pawn shop sales receipt found in Henderson's wallet when he was arrested. The pawn shop receipt was signed by Henderson and indicated that Henderson pawned a watch on March 21, 1998, and redeemed it by paying $320 on November 6, 1998, just days after the November 3, 1998 drug sale. While Henderson objected at trial to the admission of the receipt, he did so on relevancy, not constitutional, grounds. If a new basis for objection is raised for the first time on appeal, that ground is not subject to harmless error review, and may only be reviewed for plain error. See United States v. Walsh, 75 F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir.1996). Review for plain error requires four showings: (1) that an error occurred (2) which was clear or obvious and which not only (3) affected the defendant's substantial rights, but also (4) seriously impaired the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceeding. See United States v. Gomez, 255 F.3d 31, 37 (1st Cir.2001). 35 Henderson attacks the admission of the pawn shop receipt on the grounds that it both impermissibly shifted the burden of proof by requiring him to explain where he got the money to redeem the watch and, at the same time, constituted a direct statement to the jurors that they could make an inference against him based on his choice not to testify. Both contentions lack merit. Henderson overlooks the fact that the admission of any evidence offered by the government in a criminal trial gives the defendant a reason to testify if he has a basis for rebutting the government's theory of the case. The jury was properly instructed both as to the government's burden of proof and as to the defendant's right to remain silent. In light of these instructions, we fail to see how the admission of the pawn shop sales receipt, in and of itself, impermissibly shifted the burden of proof, or how it invited the jury to draw an inference of guilt from the defendant's choice not to testify. The district court's admission of the pawn shop sales receipt did not constitute plain error.