United States v. Louis Phillip Paquet, Jr.

Although I agree with the result reached by Judge Coleman’s application of the evidentiary principle denominated “opening the door”,1 I do so for slightly *213different reasons. As expounded upon by Judge Coleman, this principle may be susceptible to treatment as an intractable rule, the violation of which is grounds for reversal per se. Since the Supreme Court has chosen to delimit the categories of trial court evidentiary errors which must invariably result in reversal,2 I would have misgivings about any decision which could be construed to expand that list.

Rather, I choose to bottom my opinion…