United States v. Richard Santiago, A/K/A "Chuco"

Richard Santiago appeals his conviction for the first degree murder of Johnny Estrada, a fellow inmate at the United States Penitentiary at Lompoc, California (“USP-Lom-poc”). Santiago argues that the district court erred in admitting evidence relating to the Mexican Mafia, a prison gang at USP-Lompoc, because it should have been excluded under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) and because it violated his equal protection rights. He also asserts that the prosecution improperly bolstered witness testimony, that the government’s closing argument constituted prosecutorial misconduct, and that the court improperly denied his request for discovery of inmate witnesses’ prison records. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In the early afternoon of January 25,1989, Johnny Estrada, an inmate at USP-Lompoc, was stabbed to death in the prison kitchen bathroom. Another inmate had seen Santiago, on duty as a kitchen worker, enter the bathroom shortly after Estrada and emerge soon thereafter. After dropping a metal object into a sink and washing a large item of clothing, Santiago retened to his cellblock.

In the ensuing…