United States v. Gilbert Flores

MEMORANDUM

Gilbert Flores appeals his conviction of importing methamphetamine into the United States. He challenges the district court’s decisions to exclude evidence of his wealth and admit the government’s expert witness testimony on “blind mules.” We affirm.

Flores has not shown that he ever made an offer of proof of wealth evidence, and without any offer of proof, we cannot review the exclusion of that evidence. See Fed.R.Evid. 103(a)(2); United States v. Morlan, 756 F.2d 1442, 1447 (9th Cir.1985). Even if he had made an offer of proof, he never objected to the district court’s decision to exclude wealth evidence at trial, so we could at most review that decision for plain error. United States v. Valenzuela, 495 F.3d 1127, 1130 (9th Cir.2007). Any error was not plain. The district court relied on United States v. Mitchell, where we held that evidence of a defendant’s poverty was inadmissible to prove motive to commit a robbery because it was unfairly prejudicial. 172 F.3d 1104 , 1108-10 (9th Cir.1999). Mitchell may not lend much support to excluding evidence of wealth because wealth evidence, unlike poverty evidence, does not entail the same risk of unfair prejudice to a…