Opinion ID: 779124
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admission for Legitimate or Illegitimate Purposes

Text: 19 Without citing any legal authority, defendant claims that admission of this evidence for reasons in addition to intent was plain error. The standard for establishing plain error is stringent. Plain errors are limited to those harmful ones so rank that they should have been apparent to the trial judge without objection, or that strike at fundamental fairness, honesty, or public reputation of the trial. United States v. Murphy, 241 F.3d 447, 451 (6th Cir.2001) (internal citation and quotation omitted). 20 Where a single, legitimate purpose supports the admission of the evidence under Rule 404(b), a trial court's admission of that evidence for additional reasons allowed under the rule does not constitute plain error. See Timothy Moses Johnson, 27 F.3d at 1194. As in that case, it is sufficient that the district court's instruction included intent. See also United States v. Ward, 190 F.3d 483, 490 (6th Cir.1999) (Here, the court's instruction was certainly error, but since there was no objection to this part of the instruction, the prior conviction was admissible for at least one of the purposes recited by the district court, and we decline to exercise our discretion to find `plain error.'). 21 Unlike the trial court in Ward, which was certainly in error, see id., it is not apparent that the district court here plainly erred in admitting evidence of prior fires for purposes of establishing, in addition to intent, motive, knowledge, and whether the fire was an accident. J.A. at 391. The district court made specific findings that the evidence of other acts was admissible to show intent and that the November 1996 fire was not an accident or mistake, [but] was intentionally set by the defendant. Id. at 62. In view of the foregoing, it was unnecessary for the district court and unnecessary for us to determine whether the other acts evidence was probative of motive or knowledge in the jury trial on the issue of innocence or guilt.