Barajas-Bandt

MEMORANDUM *

Petitioner Barajas-Bandt was tried and convicted of attempting to reenter the United States after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . He challenges the District Court’s 1) exclusion of medical records and testimony supporting his diminished capacity defense, 2) admission of statements made to inspectors at the border, 3) refusal to charge the jury with a mistake of fact instruction, and 4) mandatory application of the Sentencing Guidelines.

Admission or exclusion of evidence is reviewed for abuse of discretion, United States v. Beckman, 298 F.3d 788, 792 (9th Cir.2002), but only prejudicial error will justify reversal. United States v. Ives, 609 F.2d 930, 934 (9th Cir.1979).

There was no error in excluding Barajas-Bandt’s medical records under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. The District Court was well within its discretion to conclude that the probative value of the records was outweighed by confusion resulting from extensive use of unexplained medical terminology. Our decision in United States v. Blaylock is not to the contrary. 20 F.3d 1458 (9th Cir.1994). In Blaylock , the improperly excluded medical records were written in plain language and could be…