United States v. David Leon Bradshaw

Convicted by a jury of kidnapping in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201 (a), David Leon Bradshaw argues on appeal that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of other crimes, improperly interrogated a witness, and erred in denying defense counsel’s motion that he be examined concerning his competency to stand trial. The appellant further maintains that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. Finding no merit in any of his claims, we AFFIRM.

I.

The victim in this case, Charles “Cory” Shults, was a nine-year-old boy. David Leon Bradshaw, the defendant/appellant, was the maintenance man at, and later the manager of, the Delano Motel in Delano, California, where the victim and his mother lived off and on from the summer of 1979 until July 29, 1981, when the mother moved from the motel and her son ran away with the appellant.

Cory, his older brother, Billy, and his mother, Alice Faye Estrella, first moved into the Delano Motel in the summer of 1979. The appellant was then a resident of the motel and employed as its maintenance man. Ms. Estrella remained with her-sons at the motel for six or seven months while she looked for appropriate living…