United States v. Urias Espinoza

The Ninth Circuit reversed defendant's conviction for importation of methamphetamine, holding that the district court necessarily abused its discretion because it applied the wrong legal standard in excluding the evidence of third-party culpability for failing to meet the "substantial evidence" threshold in Perry v. Rushen, 713 F.2d 1447 (9th Cir. 1983), and Territory of Guam v. Ignacio, 10 F.3d 608 (1983). The panel held that nothing in Perry purported to import California's evidentiary standard, and nothing in Ignacio purported to announce a new rule for the admissibility of third-party culpability evidence under the Federal Rules of Evidence. Because the district court's error was not harmless, the panel remanded for a new trial. View "United States v. Urias Espinoza" on Justia Law