United States v. Charles Kowaleski, III

MEMORANDUM

Charles Stanley Kowaleski appeals his conviction and sentence for receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

1. The district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the images and video clips despite Kowaleski’s challenge under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. First, despite Kowaleski’s offered stipulations, including the stipulation that a reasonable person looking at the images even momentarily would know that the images were child pornography, the images and video files shown at trial were relevant to proving Kowaleski’s knowledge of the files, and that he acted “knowingly,” and to undercutting Kowaleski’s asserted theory that a roommate had used Kowaleski’s computer to download and store the files. Also, the district court’s careful voir dire and cautionary instruction to the jury, combined with the fact that the images and video were only shown once and only three images and five video clips totaling less than a minute were shown, minimizes any prejudice. See United States v. Ganoe, 538 F.3d 1117, 1120, 1123-24 (9th Cir.2008) (rejecting an appeal involving similar offered…