UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 08-4198
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
SPENCE SILVER,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Newport News. Rebecca Beach Smith,
District Judge. (4:07-cr-00025-RBS-JEB-1)
Submitted: September 29, 2008 Decided: October 10, 2008
Before NIEMEYER, MICHAEL, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
James S. Ellenson, Newport News, Virginia, for Appellant. Chuck
Rosenberg, United States Attorney, Brian J. Samuels, Assistant
United States Attorney, Cameron M. Rountree, Third Year Law
Student, Newport News, Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Spence Silver was convicted, by a jury, of possession of
a firearm by a person previously convicted of a felony. The
district court imposed a sentence of 115 months’ imprisonment. On
appeal, Spence argues that the district court erred by granting the
government’s motion in limine and precluding Silver from
introducing evidence of the fact that one of the arresting officers
had recently been convicted of the misdemeanor offense of driving
under the influence. He argues that the officer’s disregard for
the law he swore to uphold showed that the officer would disrespect
the oath to testify truthfully. Silver also contends that the
officer’s credibility was a crucial issue in his trial.
We have reviewed the parties’ briefs and joint appendix
and find no error in the district court’s determination that the
officer’s DUI conviction was not relevant to his truthfulness, and
therefore was not admissible to impeach the officer’s testimony.
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order granting the
motion in limine, and also affirm Silver’s conviction for the
reasons stated by the district court. See United States v. Silver,
No. 4:07-cr-00025-RBS-JEB-1 (E.D. Va. dated Oct. 11, 2007; entered
Oct. 12, 2007). We dispense with oral argument because the facts
and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
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materials before the court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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