Mora-Isabelles

United States v. Mora-Isabelles

Good Law
173 F. App'x 555
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitMarch 9, 2006No. 05-30115California292 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM ***

Appellant Armando Mora-Isabelles appeals his criminal convictions for distributing heroin and cocaine and possessing heroin with intent to distribute. The parties are familiar with the facts, so we do not recite them here.

Although the prosecutor improperly vouched for the informant’s credibility, the error was harmless in the context of the whole trial and the district court’s curative jury instructions. See United States v. Younger, 398 F.3d 1179, 1190 (9th Cir. 2005) (claim of prosecutorial misconduct is viewed in the context of the entire trial, and reversal is justified only if it appears more probable than not that prosecutorial misconduct materially affected the fairness of the trial).

Defendant’s right to testify was not violated when the district court limited his testimony. It is well-settled that the right to testify “may, in appropriate cases, bow to accommodate other legitimate interests in the criminal trial process.” United States v. Pino-Noriega, 189 F.3d 1089, 1095 (9th Cir.1999) (citation omitted). In this case, the district court’s ruling did not prevent Defendant from testifying about his fear of the informant. Moreover, the disputed testimony…

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