Opinion ID: 656636
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dr. Smoker's Testimony

Text: 7 At trial, defense counsel conceded that Melvin Joe had killed the two women. Mr. Joe's defense was that at the time of the killings he was intoxicated and enraged over the pending divorce, thus negating the requisite specific intent to sustain a conviction for first degree murder. With respect to Joe's intent, the government presented two types of evidence: the circumstances surrounding the murders and the testimony of Dr. Brett Smoker regarding statements made to him by Julia Joe. Dr. Smoker, an Indian Health Service family physician, testified that, eight days before Ms. Joe was killed, he treated her for an alleged rape and that she had identified her assailant as the defendant, Mr. Joe. (We will refer to Ms. Joe's comments regarding the alleged rape and her assailant as the rape statement.) Dr. Smoker further testified that Ms. Joe stated she was afraid sometimes because Mr. Joe suspected her of having an extramarital affair and had threatened to kill her if he caught her with another man. (We will refer to Ms. Joe's comments regarding her fear and the basis for her fear as the threat statement.) 8 The trial court admitted Dr. Smoker's testimony over defense counsel's timely objection, ruling on the evidence in two stages. The court first ruled that the threat and rape statements were admissible under the hearsay exception contained in Fed.R.Evid. 803(3) 1 , rather than the Rule 803(4) exception 2 proffered by the government. The court then responded to defense counsel's objections under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) 3 . The court determined that the threat and rape statements were not precluded under Rule 404(b), as they were being offered to show Mr. Joe's specific intent. The court also ruled that the relevance of the threat and rape statements was not outweighed by their prejudicial effect under Fed.R.Evid. 403. 9 After hearing the evidence, including the testimony of Dr. Smoker, the jury convicted Joe of first degree murder for killing his wife and second degree murder for killing Ms. Washburn.