United States v. John

JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

Mike John, Jr., appeals his conviction on two counts of sexual contact with a minor under the age of twelve. Concluding that the district court committed reversible error by failing to instruct the jury that it could consider evidence of John’s good character, we reverse and remand.

I

John, a Choctaw Indian, was alleged to have engaged in sexual contact with his eleven-year-old female foster child on the Choctaw Indian Reservation. 18 U.S.C. § 1153, 18 U.S.C. § 2244(a)(1). After a one-day trial, a jury convicted John of both counts. He was sentenced to thirty-seven…