United States v. Crowder
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
141 F.3d 1202 (1998)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Police officers witnessed Rochelle Crowder passing a small object in exchange for money. The officers motioned for Crowder to come to them, but he ran the other way. While he was running, he threw away a paper bag found to contain crack cocaine and heroin. Crowder was charged with possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. Crowder claimed that the police officers framed him and that the exchange they had seen was a sale of a cigarette. As a result of this claim, the prosecution (plaintiff) asserted that Crowder had contested the issue of his intent and sought to introduce evidence that Crowder had previously dealt drugs. The trial court allowed the evidence pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) over Crowder’s objection. Crowder was convicted, and he appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Randolph, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 820,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 989 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.