United States v. Abigail Gonzalez

MEMORANDUM

Appellant Abigail Gonzalez appeals her conviction and the district court’s denial of her motion for a new trial. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

First, Appellant did not renew her motion to sever at any time during her trial. As such, Appellant failed to pursue the motion diligently and waived the issue for appellate review. United States v. Sullivan, 522 F.3d 967, 981 (9th Cir.2008) (per curiam). Even assuming the motion was not waived, the severance argument fails on the merits. The district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that co-defendant Green’s testimony and related evidence was likely to be introduced even if Appellant was tried separately. The evidence was relevant to a substantive count against Appellant and did not result in improper spillover or unfair prejudice.

Second, the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence of Appellant’s abusive childhood and other details of her personal history under Federal Rules of Evidence 401 and 403. This evidence is highly prejudicial and has very little, if any, relevance or probative value absent some expert testimony connecting the past abuse…