United States v. Ybarra

Justia.com Opinion Summary: Defendant-Appellant Joe Lee Ybarra was convicted by a jury of possession of a firearm and ammunition after a former conviction of a felony, possession of fifty grams or more of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, all of which the government charged as occurring "on or about January 15, 2010." He was sentenced to 180 months followed by eight years’ supervised release. Before and during trial, Defendant pursued a motion in limine to exclude evidence that he sold methamphetamine one or two days before the charged offenses; the district court ultimately denied that motion. On appeal, Defendant argued that the district court should have excluded the evidence under Rule 403 and/or Rule 404(b), Fed. R. Evid., and that the evidence was not inextricably intertwined with a charged crime. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit concluded the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the evidence to be admitted. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the trial court.

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