Opinion ID: 697383
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Other Crimes Evidence Against Hernandez

Text: 33 Hernandez argues the trial court erred in denying his motions to strike or dismiss for alleged violations of the Jencks Act when the government did not provide transcripts of prior grand jury and trial testimony by the 404(b) witness. See III.B. below. We disagree. 34 The following factors impel us to conclude the error, if any, was harmless: Jencks Act statements are strictly limited to impeachment. Palermo v. United States, 360 U.S. 343, 349, 79 S.Ct. 1217, 1223, 3 L.Ed.2d 1287 (1959). The most Hernandez could have achieved with the requested statements was to discredit the agent who gave 404(b) testimony regarding the separate, later, unrelated crime. Most important, independent evidence linking Hernandez to the crimes charged in the instant case was overwhelming. See III.C.ii. below. Strictly applying the harmless error standard, see Goldberg v. United States, 425 U.S. 94, 111 n. 21, 96 S.Ct. 1338, 1348 n. 21, 47 L.Ed.2d 603 (1976), we find no reversible error.