Suarez

United States v. Suarez

Good Law
185 F. App'x 597
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitJune 16, 2006No. 04-10425California338 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Octavio Hernandez Suarez appeals from the district court’s judgment and 240-month sentence imposed following his jury trial conviction for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 (a)(1), 841(a)(1), and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, aiding and abetting, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Suarez contends that during his closing argument, the prosecutor committed misconduct by using Suarez’ prior drug conviction to argue that Suarez had the propensity to commit the instant offense. Because Suarez did not raise an objection below, we review for plain error. Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b); United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 730 , 113 S.Ct. 1770 , 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993). The record reveals that the prosecutor expressly told the jury that he was offering the prior conviction for the limited purpose of showing Suarez’ intent to be at the location, he limited his remarks to that purpose, and the district court gave a limiting jury instruction to that effect. Accordingly, there is no error, let alone plain error. See United States v.…

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