United States v. Chinh Quoc Pham

MEMORANDUM **

Chinh Quoc Pham appeals from his criminal conviction for conspiracy to distribute heroin, distribution and possession of heroin with intent to distribute, and unlawful use of a telecommunications facility. He contends that the district court committed prejudicial error when it did *121 not allow him to impeach the credibility of co-conspirator declarant John That Luong. Mr. Pham also maintains that the district court should have given a multiple conspiracies jury instruction.

We affirm because we conclude that the district court’s erroneous evidentiary ruling was harmless. We also hold that the court did not err in denying the multiple conspiracies instruction.

I Mr. Pham argues that the district court improperly refused to admit Mr. Luong’s prior conviction evidence on relevancy grounds. We review a district court’s rulings on the relevancy of evidence for abuse of discretion. United States v. Gilley, 836 F.2d 1206, 1213 (9th Cir.1988). A jury verdict will be vacated only if prejudice resulted from the abuse of discretion and more likely than not “materially affeet[ed] the verdict.” United States v. Beltran, 165 F.3d 1266, 1269 (9th Cir.1999) (quoting United…