United States v. Jose Ayala-Ventura

MEMORANDUM

Jose Manuel Ayala-Ventura appeals from the district court’s judgment and challenges his conviction and the 100-month sentence imposed for importation of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952 and 960. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Ayala-Ventura contends that the district court abused its discretion by precluding him from introducing a computer screen shot of a photograph from Face-book for lack of authentication. We review for abuse of discretion, see United States v. Tank, 200 F.3d 627, 630 (9th Cir. 2000), but we need not decide whether the district court properly excluded the evidence. Even if the foundation for the photo should have been deemed sufficient, any error in sustaining the objection to it was harmless. The jury received various other pieces of evidence that someone named Jesus No-veron once lived at, or was associated with, the address in question. See United States v. Pineda-Doval, 614 F.3d 1019, 1034 (9th Cir. 2010).

Ayala-Ventura next contends that the district court abused its discretion by precluding him from eliciting testimony about an out-of-court statement. Specifically, he argues that the district…