United States Second Circuit

A conviction for distributing, and possessing with the intent to distribute, a controlled substance is vacated and the case remanded for a new trial, where: 1) the district court abused its discretion by admitting trial testimony by two police detectives that they knew appellant and had spoken with him on several occasions, as the evidence was inadmissible under Rule 404(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which is held to extend to noncriminal acts or wrongs; 2) the district court failed to conduct the required Rule 403 relevancy analysis; and 3) the admission of the evidence was not harmless.

Appellate Information

• Decided 04/06/2012
• Published 04/06/2012

Judges

• Pooler

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Kristin M. Pauley, James J. Pastore, Jr.