United States v. Jenkins

126 F. App'x 187

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Decided: April 18, 2005
• Docket: 04-30429
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

Avery V. Jenkins, Sr., appeals his convictions of bank robbery using a dangerous weapon and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. Jenkins argues that the district court should have excluded a gun recovered from the residence of Jenkins’s wife and testimony regarding the discovery of the gun under Fed.R.Evtd. 403 because such evidence misled the jury.

“Relevant evidence is inherently prejudicial; but it is only unfair prejudice, substantially outweighing probative value,” that permits exclusion under Rule 403. United States v. Pace, 10 F.3d 1106, 1115-16 (5th Cir.1993). Rule 403 “is not designed to permit the court to ‘even out’ the weight of the evidence, to mitigate a crime, or to make a contest where there is little or none.” United States v. McRae, 593 F.2d 700, 707 (5th Cir.1979).

Because the probative value of the challenged evidence was not substantially outweighed by the dangers addressed by Rule 403, we have determined that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the evidence. See Pace, 10 F.3d at 1115-16; Fed.R.Evid. 403. We have also determined that any error, if it occurred, was harmless. See United States v. Howell, 664 F.2d 101, 105-06 (5th Cir.1981).

AFFIRMED.

* Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.