United States v. Susan Brooke

Susan Brooke appeals her conviction on charges of conspiracy, manufacture of a destructive device ( 26 U.S.C. § 5861 (f)), possession of a destructive device ( 26 U.S.C. § 5861 (d)), and malicious damage to property resulting in personal injury ( 18 U.S.C. § 844 (i)). At trial, the prosecution introduced extensive testimony that Brooke falsely told her friends and acquaintances that she suffered from and was undergoing treatment for cancer. Because the unfairly prejudicial nature of the false-cancer evidence substantially outweighed its limited probative value, and because we cannot say with fair assurance that its use by the government did not affect the jury’s verdict, we reverse Brooke’s conviction and remand.

I

Brooke’s convictions stem from the manufacture and delivery by co-defendant Rocky Kearney of a packaged pipe bomb, containing nicotine poison, to the residence of Melinda Howell on December 7, 1987. Howell suffered serious burns to her hands and face when she opened the package and the pipe bomb exploded.

In prosecuting Brooke, the government contended that she paid Kearney $2000 to build and deliver the bomb to Howell. Howell was dating Charlie Burk, with…