United States v. Mabie, No. 15-1899 (7th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseMabie was unhappy with police response to a burglary at his place of business and started sending vulgar and threatening messages to officers. He was convicted of sending threatening letters through the mail, 18 U.S.C. 876(c). In a second case, Mabie was convicted of assaulting a deputy U.S. marshal. Mabie received prison terms totaling 340 months. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting Mabie’s claim that, in the threat case, the district court improperly admitted evidence (voicemails, statements, letters) under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b). Despite the absence of specific findings that the evidence fulfilled a non-propensity purpose and that the prejudicial effect of the evidence did not substantially outweigh its probative value, given the court’s actions and statements combined with the limiting instruction and evidence tutorial given at trial, the court committed no error. The district court did not err by refusing to allow Mabie to proceed pro se in the assault case and by forcing him to attend trial after he had waived his right to be present in the courtroom. The court noted his disruptive behavior at trial.
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