United States First Circuit

Defendant's conviction for possession of a stolen firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 922(j) is affirmed, where: 1) there was no abuse of discretion in the district court's admission of the objected-to testimonial of defendant's drug use and heroin trafficking; 2) this case is not the "rare and extraordinarily compelling" one that requires a reversal of the district court's on-the-spot judgment concerning the weighing of probative value and unfair effect; 3) the district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing FBI Special Agent Peavey to testify on issues relating to DNA residue, as the objected-to testimony satisfied each of the criteria of Federal Rules of Evidence 701; and 4) the district court properly declined to give an instruction to the jury on the defense's so-called "transitory possession theory, as defendant did not present sufficient evidence to be entitled to the instruction.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/20/2015
• Published 03/20/2015

Judges

• Barron

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel