UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ernestine Audry JAMES, A/K/A Ernestine James, Defendant-Appellant

Opinion by Judge NOONAN; Dissent by Judge KLEINFELD.

NOONAN, Circuit Judge:

Ernestine Audry James appeals her conviction of aiding and abetting manslaughter within Indian country in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 1112, 1153. Holding that the district court erred in excluding relevant evidence corroborating her testimony, we reverse the judgment of conviction.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS1

James met her boyfriend, David Ogden (the victim), at a pow-wow in Seattle. He was nice sober, nasty drunk. Ogden had boasted to her about once killing a man and getting away with it. He told her he had sold another man…