United States v. S. Mohammad Marashi

A jury convicted appellant S. Mohammad Marashi on four counts of a five count indictment. It convicted him of three counts of attempted tax evasion in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7201 (1988) and one count of willful subscription to a false tax return in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206 (1). Marashi claims on appeal that (1) the district court abused its discretion by admitting evidence of marital communications; (2) the government committed reversible Brady error; (3) the district court abused its discretion by admitting evidence of prior bad acts; and (4) the evidence was insufficient to convict him.

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1988) and we affirm.

I

A

In the late summer of 1984, Sharon Smith Marashi (“Smith”) learned that her husband, Dr. S. Mohammad Marashi was having an extramarital affair with his secretary, Mrs. Sherrie Danzig. Smith also learned from the secretary’s husband, Steve Danzig, that the two had flown off to Europe. In August, Smith and Danzig’s brother-in-law, Earl Doering, entered Mara-shi’s office in an attempt to obtain Mara-shi’s travel itinerary. Because Smith did not have a key to Marashi’s desk, she had a locksmith open the top…