United States v. Jeffrey H. Schwartz

Convicted of distributing a small quantity of cocaine (about one-half ounce) and sentenced to a 10-year prison term, appellant Jeffrey Schwartz seeks reversal of his conviction. He asserts that he was deprived of his right to a fundamentally fair trial in three ways: (1) by the erroneous admission of evidence of other crimes, in violation of Federal Rule of Evidence 404; (2) by the trial judge’s hostility and bias; and (3) by the trial judge’s receipt, from extra-judicial sources, of (false) information adverse to the defendant, the judge’s reliance thereon, and the denial of a recusal motion…