United States v. James Flocker

ORDER

Appellant’s Petition for Panel Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc is granted in part with respect to the drawing of a replacement judge after Judge Betty Fletcher’s death. Judge Gould having been drawn to replace Judge Fletcher, we withdraw the previously-filed Memorandum disposition dated November 5, 2012, and file a Memorandum disposition concurrently with this Order. The remainder of the petition is denied without prejudice to renewal.

MEMORANDUM

James Thomas Flocker (“Flocker”) appeals from his jury trial conviction on three counts involving possession and distribution of images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Flock-er alleges a variety of errors, including evidentiary rulings, instructional error, and insufficiency of the evidence. We affirm.

The district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the testimony of the government computer expert. The court held an evidentiary hearing on the expert’s qualifications and methodology, and reasonably concluded the requirements of Daubert and Federal Rule of Evidence 702 were satisfied. Although Detective Partika was not officially California certified at the time he conducted his…