Huddleston v. United States

Huddleston (defendant) was charged with possessing and selling stolen video cassette tapes, with the key trial issue being whether he knew the tapes were stolen; the prosecution introduced evidence under Rule 404(b) that Huddleston had also sold a large quantity of new televisions suspiciously cheaply and was later caught offering stolen appliances to an undercover agent, using the same supplier, Leroy Westby, for all three transactions. Huddleston could produce no bills of sale for any of the goods. The trial court admitted this evidence, and Huddleston was convicted; he appealed, arguing the court should have first made a preliminary finding that the prosecution proved the prior act by a preponderance of the evidence.