United States v. Cristerna-Gonzalez, No. 19-7009 (10th Cir. 2020)
Annotate this CaseDefendant Abel Cristerna-Gonzalez was convicted by jury on one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin. On appeal, he argued three evidentiary errors occurred at trial: (1) two law-enforcement witnesses gave expert testimony without being admitted as experts; (2) the government made an impermissible propensity argument in violation of Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b); and (3) the district court allowed irrelevant and prejudicial testimony about the Sinaloa cartel. The Tenth Circuit found defendant did not raise the first two issues at trial, and that there was no plain error. Although the Court agreed with Defendant that Sinaloa-cartel evidence was inadmissible, the error was harmless.
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