United States v. Josephine Halabi

MEMORANDUM

Defendant Josephine Halabi appeals from the district court’s denial of her motion for a mistrial. A jury convicted Hala-bi of charges arising from her receipt of Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) payments to which she was not entitled and from false statements she made to the Social Security. Administration (“SSA”) re garding her eligibility for those payments. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Halabi urges us to review the district court’s denial of her motion for a mistrial for abuse of discretion, while the government urges us to treat the motion as an unpreserved evidentiary objection and review for plain error. See, e.g., United States v. Banks, 514 F.3d 959, 973 (9th Cir.2008) (“We generally review the district court’s denial of a motion for a mistrial for abuse of discretion.”). But see United States v. Rivera, 43 F.3d 1291, 1294-95 (9th Cir.1995) (treating motion for a mistrial based on alleged evidentiary error as untimely evidentiary objection). Assuming without deciding that abuse of discretion is the appropriate standard, the district court’s ruling fell within its “broad discretion” to. deny the motion. United States v.…