Opinion ID: 365815
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admissibility of Evidence of a Subsequent Crime

Text: 22 Outside the presence of the jury, the government informed the court of its intent to introduce evidence of a similar bank robbery, to which Vargas had pled guilty. The trial court ruled that the evidence would be admissible for the limited purpose of proving identity or Modus operandi, as permitted by Fed.R.Evid. 404(b). Vargas contends that the court committed reversible error by failing to make a finding that the two robberies were sufficiently similar to allow admission pursuant to Rule 404(b). 23 No evidence of the subsequent robbery was introduced at the trial; therefore, we need not consider whether the evidence was admissible under Rule 404(b). See 28 U.S.C. § 2111; United States v. Moore, 580 F.2d 360, 363 (9th Cir. 1978). 24 Vargas contends that the admissibility ruling deterred him from taking the stand. The admission of the evidence under Rule 404(b) was not conditioned upon Vargas taking the stand; thus the trial court's ruling could not have deterred Vargas from taking the stand. Furthermore, Vargas did not indicate his desire to take the stand nor move to preclude impeachment by evidence of the other crime under the provisions of Fed.R.Evid. 609(a). We find no error.