United States v. Mon Gen Yip

MEMORANDUM ***

Gerardo Mon Gen Yip (“Mon Gen Yip”) appeals his jury conviction (1) for the importation of approximately 16.3 kilograms of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952 and 960 and (2) for possession of the same amount with the intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). Mon Gen Yip contends that the district court abused its discretion by denying on harmlessness grounds Mon Gen Yip’s request for a mistrial because testimony as to his methamphetamine use, made in direct violation of the district court’s in limine order prohibiting such testimony, had assert-edly prejudiced the jury. We affirm.

Because the district court issued a proper limiting instruction, telling the jury to disregard the statement at issue immediately after it was made, it must be assumed that the jury followed the instruction and did not consider the testimony when rendering its verdict (see, e.g., Weeks v. Angelone, 528 U.S. 225, 234 , 120 S.Ct. 727 , 145 L.Ed.2d 727 (2000)). Furthermore, because Mon Gen Yip’s conviction was supported by strong evidence apart from his methamphetamine use, a single reference to such use would have been harmless even if that testimony had been…