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United States v. Smith

725 F.3d 340 (2013)

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United States v. Smith

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
725 F.3d 340 (2013)

SC

Facts

Federal agents were in a car on a street corner surveilling the area. Durrell Smith (defendant) walked toward the car with a gun in his hand. Smith was charged with threatening a federal agent with a gun. Smith claimed that the gun was not his and that he had retrieved the gun only in self-defense because he did not know that federal agents were in the car and feared that the occupants were there to harm him. The prosecution (plaintiff) filed a motion in limine seeking to introduce evidence that two years prior, Smith had been seen selling drugs in the same area. The prosecution argued that this evidence showed that Smith’s motive for retrieving the gun was to protect his drug territory. The trial court granted the motion under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) (Rule 404(b)). Smith was convicted, and he appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Fuentes, J.)

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