United States v. Richardson

MEMORANDUM **

Joann Richardson appeals her misdemeanor conviction for theft of property of the United States government of a value not in excess of one thousand dollars, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 7 and 641. A jury returned a guilty verdict, finding that on or about February 22, 2007, she did take and carry away with the intent to steal and purloin merchandise from the Post Exchange at Fort Lewis, Washington. The United States Magistrate Judge sentenced Richardson to forty-eight hours imprisonment and imposed a two hundred dollar fine and a special assessment of twenty-five dollars. The district court affirmed the judgment. Because the parties are familiar with the facts, we do not recount them here except as is necessary to explain our decision.

Richardson’s sole basis for this appeal relates to the denial of her motion for a new trial. She contends that a detective’s trial testimony that security officers were watching her due to previous conduct, which defense counsel objected to based on Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), necessitated a mistrial and that the denial of her motion for a new trial was an abuse of discretion. The United States Magistrate Judge had jurisdiction…