Mendez

MEMORANDUM **

Defendant Zenaido Mendez appeals his conviction for two counts of knowingly distributing methampethamine in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). At trial, the district court admitted the government’s expert witness testimony concerning drug jargon. We review this decision for an abuse of discretion, United States v. Finley, 301 F.3d 1000, 1007 (9th Cir.2002), conclude that it is more probable than not that any potential error did not materially affect the verdict, United States v. Morales, 108 F.3d 1031, 1039 (9th Cir.1997) (citing United States v. Crosby, 75 F.3d 1343, 1349 (9th Cir.1996)), and affirm.

Federal Rule of Evidence 704(b) provides that “no expert witness testifying with respect to the mental state ... of a defendant in a criminal case may state an opinion or inference as to whether the defendant did ... have the mental state ... constituting an element of the crime charged.... ” The rule does not bar an expert from testifying to a predicate factual matter, even if the jury might infer the defendant’s mental state from that testimony. Morales, 108 F.3d at 1033 . It only prohibits testimony that, if credited, necessarily implies that a defendant…