United States v. Brizuela, No. 19-4656 (4th Cir. 2020)
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Defendant appealed his conviction of 15 counts of unlawfully distributing controlled substances. Defendant's charges stemmed from his operation of a medical practice and his opioid prescription-writing practices.
The Fourth Circuit agreed with defendant that, under United States v. Kennedy, 32 F.3d 876 (4th Cir. 1994) and Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), the district court improperly admitted the testimony of patients whose treatment by defendant was not the basis for any of the charges in the indictment. The court held that the testimony was not necessary to complete the story of the charged offenses under Kennedy, and was not otherwise admissible under Rule 404(b). Furthermore, because the government did not carry its burden of establishing that this error was harmless, the court vacated defendant's conviction and remanded for a new trial.
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