Admission of Evidence-Child Pornography

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Jeffrey West

Case No.: 21-2701

Officials: Easterbrook, Hamilton, and Brennan, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Admission of Evidence-Child Pornography

Appellant West was convicted of possessing child pornography and other sexual offenses against children. At trial, the district court admitted photographs and videos containing child pornography that were discovered on electronic devices seized from West’s home and business. Sixteen of those exhibits were shown to the jury. On appeal, West argues that the admission and display of two exhibits were unfairly prejudicial and needlessly cumulative, in violation of Federal Rule of Evidence 403 and his broad reading of Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172 (1997).

The district court did not abuse its discretion when it allowed the government to show the two exhibits to the jury. The probative value of the exhibits outweighed their prejudicial effect, and, considering that the government showed only sixteen of the roughly one thousand images found on West’s devices, the court could not conclude that the publication of those two exhibits was needlessly cumulative.

Affirmed.

Decided 11/22/22

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