Filed: Nov. 06, 2009
Latest Update: Feb. 12, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 09-4021 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. JOHNNY LYNN BAKER, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond. James R. Spencer, Chief District Judge. (3:07-cr-00435-JRS-1) Submitted: October 28, 2009 Decided: November 6, 2009 Before WILKINSON, MICHAEL, and KING, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Steven Jay Rozan, ST
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 09-4021 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. JOHNNY LYNN BAKER, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond. James R. Spencer, Chief District Judge. (3:07-cr-00435-JRS-1) Submitted: October 28, 2009 Decided: November 6, 2009 Before WILKINSON, MICHAEL, and KING, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Steven Jay Rozan, STE..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 09-4021
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
JOHNNY LYNN BAKER,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Richmond. James R. Spencer, Chief
District Judge. (3:07-cr-00435-JRS-1)
Submitted: October 28, 2009 Decided: November 6, 2009
Before WILKINSON, MICHAEL, and KING, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Steven Jay Rozan, STEVEN JAY ROZAN & ASSOCIATES, Houston, Texas,
for Appellant. Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney,
Samuel E. Fishel, Special Assistant United States Attorney,
Elizabeth C. Wu, Assistant United States Attorney, Richmond,
Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
A jury convicted Johnny Baker of possession of child
pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 2252A(a)(5)(B) (West
Supp. 2009). The district court sentenced Baker to 108 months
of imprisonment and Baker now appeals. Finding no error, we
affirm.
Baker argues that the district court abused its
discretion in admitting evidence of Baker’s possession of images
and videos of child pornography that were not charged in the
indictment. We review a district court’s determination of the
admissibility of evidence under Fed. R. Evid. 404(b) for abuse
of discretion. United States v. Queen,
132 F.3d 991, 995 (4th
Cir. 1997). An abuse of discretion occurs only when “the
[district] court acted arbitrarily or irrationally in admitting
evidence.” United States v. Williams,
445 F.3d 724, 732 (4th
Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
Rule 404(b) prohibits the admission of “[e]vidence of
other crimes, wrongs, or acts . . . to prove the character of a
person in order to show action in conformity therewith.” Fed.
R. Evid. 404(b). However, such evidence is “admissible for
other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent,
preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of
mistake. . . .”
Id. Rule 404(b) is an inclusionary rule,
allowing evidence of other crimes or acts to be admitted, except
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that which tends to prove only criminal disposition. See
Queen,
132 F.3d at 994-95.
For such evidence to be admissible, it must be
“(1) relevant to an issue other than the general character of
the defendant; (2) necessary to prove an element of the charged
offense; and (3) reliable.” United States v. Hodge,
354 F.3d
305, 312 (4th Cir. 2004) (citing
Queen, 132 F.3d at 997).
Additionally, the probative value of the evidence must not be
substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect.
Id.
(citing Fed. R. Evid. 403).
Baker argues that the evidence of his possession of
uncharged images and videos of child pornography was not
relevant because there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate
that the images were in fact child pornography and that he
possessed the images. However, when the relevancy of evidence
depends on the fulfillment of a condition of fact, the district
court “simply examines all the evidence in the case and decides
whether the jury could reasonably find the condition fact . . .
by a preponderance of the evidence.” Huddleston v. United
States,
485 U.S. 681, 690 (1988). We have reviewed the record
on appeal and conclude that there was sufficient evidence for
the jury to conclude that the uncharged images and videos
contained child pornography and that Baker possessed them.
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Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district
court. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
before the court and argument would not aid the decisional
process.
AFFIRMED
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