United States v. Nathan Earl Cook and Larry James Phelps. Appeal of Larry James Phelps

OPINION OF THE COURT

ADAMS, Circuit Judge.

Larry Phelps was tried for armed robbery of a bank. In response to questions about a possible firearms violation, the government, in order to disabuse the jury of any notion that Phelps might legally possess a gun, introduced evidence that Phelps had previously been convicted of sodomy, and thus by possessing a pistol at the time of the arrest was in violation of federal statutes. 1 It is the admissibility of the evidence regarding the crime of sodomy that must be assessed on this appeal.

A

On February 19, 1975, a bank in Delaware was robbed by a lone…