United States Ninth Circuit

Three defendants' convictions for conspiracy to commit murder and first degree murder stemming from the stabbing of a prison inmate are affirmed, where: 1) the district court's exclusion of evidence concerning medical negligence and the victim's removal of his breathing tube does not warrant reversal of the convictions; 2) the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence of the defendants' connections to the Mexican Mafia to demonstrate their motive for murdering the victim; 3) expert testimony concerning the connections between the Surenos and the Mexican Mafia within the prison gang hierarchy and photographs of the defendants with Mexican Mafia members did not render their trial unfair because the district court properly minimized any prejudice stemming from the evidence and the trial was replete with admissible evidence regarding the defendants' gang affiliations; and 4) defendants failed to demonstrate that a new trial was warranted based on the government's failure to disclose immaterial information regarding a government witness' sentence reduction and his cooperation in a DEA investigation.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/19/2014
• Published 06/19/2014

Judges

• RAWLINSON

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel