United States v. Guardia
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
135 F.3d 1326 (10th Cir. 1998)
David Guardia (defendant), a gynecologist, was charged with sexually abusing two patients during gynecological exams by exceeding medically appropriate examination techniques. The prosecution sought to introduce testimony from four other women alleging similar abuse during their own exams, relying on Federal Rule of Evidence 413, which allows evidence of a defendant's other sexual assaults in sexual-assault prosecutions. The district court found the evidence technically admissible under Rule 413 but excluded it under Rule 403 as more prejudicial than probative, and the government appealed.
Whether evidence of a defendant's other sexual assaults, admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 413, must also satisfy the more-probative-than-prejudicial standard of Rule 403.