08-1854 U.S. v. Lewis

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Criminal Procedure
Forfeiture

Where the defendant failed to object to admission of those parts of his confession that are inadmissible, the objection is forfeited.

"This is not to say that the district court properly admitted the unredacted DVD. Lewis's statements regarding his prior bank robbery fly in the face of Rule 404(b). The evidence proves nothing beyond Lewis's proclivity for robbing banks, which is the exact inference that the rule is designed to root out. United States v. Owens, 424 F.3d 649, 653-55 (7th Cir. 2005). And his family's criminal history was irrelevant as it risked painting Lewis as just another member of a family that's not adverse to dabbling in criminal escapades. During oral argument here, the AUSA (who also tried the case) could not adequately explain why she declined to redact the DVD before seeking to admit it into evidence, or why she didn't simply play the important snippets of the interrogation during the trial. But the government's incomprehensible strategy does not excuse trial counsel's failure to object to such damaging evidence. While we cannot reverse based on this error, we leave open for another day the inquiry into trial counsel's effectiveness."

Affirmed.

08-1854 U.S. v. Lewis

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Springmann, J., Evans, J.

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