United States v. Johnson

MEMORANDUM **

Defendant Frederick Lim Johnson appeals from his conviction in the district court for knowingly possessing a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1). Johnson was observed casing banks over a span of several days, and was subsequently stopped near a bank in an SUV where authorities found a firearm close to where Johnson was seated. Johnson challenges the admission of the pre-arrest surveillance evidence at trial and the effectiveness of his representation of counsel at trial. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

We review the district court’s decision to admit evidence of pre-arrest surveillance under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) for abuse of discretion. United States v. Arambula-Ruiz, 987 F.2d 599, 602 (9th Cir. 1993).

Here, the district court did not abuse its discretion by allowing surveillance evidence conducted after May 26, 2007, because it was inextricably intertwined with Johnson’s arrest. This evidence was also admissible “for the purpose of providing the context in which the charged crime occurred.” United States v. Collins, 90 F.3d 1420, 1428-29 (9th Cir. 1996). The district court also did not abuse…