Court Opinion

ID: 9841101
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-21 00:00:26.444594+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:38:09.326182
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50835         Document: 00516902449             Page: 1      Date Filed: 09/20/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________
                                                                                United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                         Fifth Circuit
                                       No. 22-50835
                                     Summary Calendar                                  FILED
                                     ____________                             September 20, 2023
                                                                                  Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                           Clerk

                                                                       Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Esequiel Uribes,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                           for the Western District of Texas
                               USDC No. 2:21-CR-326-1
                      ______________________________

   Before Wiener, Stewart, and Douglas, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Defendant-Appellant Esequiel Uribes appeals his conviction and
   sentence for assaulting a federal officer. He contends that the district court
   incorrectly admitted evidence of his post-arrest conduct.
          We review for abuse of discretion subject to harmless error. United
   States v. Gurrola, 898 F.3d 524, 536 (5th Cir. 2018). Evidence of a

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-50835      Document: 00516902449           Page: 2   Date Filed: 09/20/2023

                                     No. 22-50835

   defendant’s other bad acts is inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence
   404(b) to prove character or to show that the defendant acted in conformity
   with such character. United States v. Sumlin, 489 F.3d 683, 689 (5th Cir.
   2007). Such evidence, however, “is generally admissible if ‘intrinsic’ to the
   crimes charged”—“Evidence is considered intrinsic if it is an uncharged
   offense which arose out of the same transaction . . . as the charged offense, if
   it was inextricably intertwined with the evidence regarding the charged
   offense, or if it is necessary to complete the story of the crime of the trial.”
   Gurrola, 898 F.3d at 536 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
          The Government presented evidence that Uribes acted aggressively
   while detained, damaged his detention cells, faked a shoulder injury, and
   admitted that he had previously behaved similarly to obtain civil damages.
   His conduct was intrinsic to the charged offense in that it “complete[d] the
   story” of his assault on the federal officer. Id.
          Evidence of Uribes’s post-arrest conduct was also admissible as
   extrinsic evidence under Rule 404(b). See United States v. Jiminez-Elvirez,
   862 F.3d 527, 536 (5th Cir. 2017). Such evidence must be “relevant to an
   issue other than the defendant’s character,” and it “must possess probative
   value that is not substantially outweighed by its undue prejudice” under Rule
   403. United States v. Beechum, 582 F.2d 898, 911 (5th Cir. 1978) (en banc).
   Extrinsic evidence has relatively great probative value when the defendant
   has urged particular defenses. See, e.g., United States v. Naidoo, 995 F.3d 367,
   377 (5th Cir. 2021). Here, evidence of Uribes’s aggressive post-arrest
   conduct is probative of Uribes’s defense that it was the officer who started
   the physical altercation. The probative value of the evidence outweighs any
   potential prejudice because of the foregoing reasons, the amount of time
   separating the actions from the offense, and the district court’s limiting
   instructions. See United States v. Jones, 930 F.3d 366, 373 (5th Cir. 2019).

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Case: 22-50835   Document: 00516902449         Page: 3   Date Filed: 09/20/2023

                                No. 22-50835

         For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is
   AFFIRMED.

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