United States v. Christopher Garcia

MEMORANDUM

A jury convicted Christopher Garcia of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse. Garcia now challenges his conviction and sentence. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm his conviction, reverse his sentence, and remand for resentencing.

I.

If jury instructions “fairly and adequately cover the issues presented,” the district court “is given substantial latitude in tailoring” them. United States v. Powell, 955 F.2d 1206, 1210 (9th Cir.1991) (internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, “[a] district court’s formulation of the jury instruction is reviewed for abuse of discretion.” Du v. Allstate Ins. Co., 681 F.3d 1118, 1122 (9th Cir.2012) (internal quotation marks omitted). The jury instructions here fairly and adequately covered the issues presented, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in formulating them.

The government’s DNA expert’s testimony recounting her reviewer’s evaluation of her work was admissible under Rule 703 to assist the jury in evaluating her expert opinion. The probative value of the evidence for that purpose substantially outweighed any prejudicial effect. Fed.R.Evid. 703. We assume without deciding that the…