United States v. Roberto Hernandez, United States of America v. Jose Lopez-Leyva

J. SKELLY WRIGHT, Circuit Judge:

We review the criminal convictions of Roberto Hernandez and Jose Lopez-Leyva on charges of possession of an unregistered firearm and silencer, see 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d) (1982), and possession of a firearm not identified by a serial number, see 26 U.S.C. § 5861(i) (1982). In the course of the trial the District Court admitted evidence of an altercation that preceded the arrest of both appellants. This evidence was introduced for the purpose of showing that appellants had a motive for possessing a machine gun and silencer at the time of the arrest. Although only…