United States v. Robert Darryl War Club

MEMORANDUM

Robert Darryl War Club appeals his conviction for the murder of Richard Green, primarily on the basis of four evi-dentiary rulings made by the district court during the trial, the dismissal of a juror after communication with a witness during trial, and the denial of his motion for acquittal under Rule 29 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Full familiarity with the record on appeal is here presumed. We affirm the district court and deny the appeal.

Turning first to the evidentiary rulings, such rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion, Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172 , 174 n. 1, 117 S.Ct. 644 , 136 L.Ed.2d 574 (1997), and will not result in reversal on appeal if they are harmless. See United States v. Morales, 108 F.3d 1031, 1040 (9th Cir.1997) (en banc). If a defendant fails to object to the evidentiary ruling at trial, the issue is reviewed for plain error. United States v. Graf, 610 F.3d 1148, 1164 (9th Cir.2010).

War Club first appeals the district court’s exclusion of certain parts of the testimony of defense witness Jayni Anderson. War Club’s theory of defense was that Richard Green’s business partner and neighbor, Alvin Linville, and…