United States v. Linares, Harold

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge TATEL.

Opinion concurring in Part III filed by Circuit Judge GARLAND.

TATEL, Circuit Judge:

Convicted by a jury of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) (2000), appellant argues that the district court erroneously allowed the government to present evidence that years earlier he possessed a handgun in New Haven, Connecticut. Although we agree with appellant that the evidence was irrelevant to any issue except criminal propensity and thus inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), we conclude that the error…