IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 96-41067
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
ANTHONY WAYNE MORRIS,
Defendant-Appellant.
- - - - - - - - - -
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Texas
USDC No. 4:95-CR067
- - - - - - - - - -
January 27, 1999
Before EMILIO M. GARZA, DeMOSS, and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Anthony Wayne Morris appeals his convictions of use of
interstate facilities in the commission of a murder for hire and
of solicitation to commit a crime of violence. See 18 U.S.C.
§ 1958, 373. Morris contends that he has established the defense
of entrapment as a matter of law and that, accordingly, the
evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. Morris
further asserts that the district court abused its discretion in
admitting evidence of his rape and kidnapping of the intended
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.
R. 47.5.4.
No. 96-41067
-2-
victim of the charged offenses because this evidence was not
relevant and posed a substantial risk of unfair prejudice.
Morris asserts that the district court abused its discretion in
admitting evidence that he had raped and kidnapped his ex-wife
Diana Lombardo, for essentially the same reasons.
The evidence presented by the Government established
Morris’s knowing and enthusiastic participation in the murder-
for-hire scheme; it was thus sufficient to rebut Morris’s
entrapment defense. United States v. Chavez, 119 F.3d 342, 346
(5th Cir. 1997). Accordingly, his conviction of the charged
crimes does not amount to a manifest miscarriage of justice.
United States v. Thomas, 12 F.3d 1350, 1358 (5th Cir. 1994).
Furthermore, the district court did not abuse its discretion
in admitting evidence that Morris had kidnapped and raped the
intended victim of his murder-for-hire scheme. This evidence was
relevant to the issue of motive and aided in rebutting Morris’s
entrapment defense. See United States v. Bentley-Smith, 2 F.3d
1368, 1377 (5th Cir. 1993); Fed. R. Evid. 404(b) & 403.
Likewise, the admission of evidence that Morris had also raped
his ex-wife, Diana Lombardo, did not constitute error as it too
aided in rebutting Morris’s entrapment defense. And even if this
evidence were found to be erroneously admitted, in light of the
overwhelming evidence of Morris’s guilt and the government’s
thorough rebuttal of his entrapment defense, it would constitute
harmless error. See United States v. Gadison, 8 F.3d 186, 192
(5th Cir. 1993).
AFFIRMED.