United States v. LeMay
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
260 F.3d 1018 (9th Cir. 2001)
Fred LeMay (defendant) was charged with molesting two young nephews, who testified against him at trial while LeMay claimed they were lying. Over LeMay's objection, the prosecution introduced his 1989 conviction for raping two young cousins under strikingly similar circumstances — relatives, forced oral copulation, while babysitting — and the district court admitted the prior conviction under Federal Rules of Evidence 403 and 414 after weighing the other evidence in the case. LeMay was convicted and appealed, arguing Rule 414 itself violated due process.
Whether Federal Rule of Evidence 414 constitutionally permits the admission of a defendant's prior conviction for child molestation in a criminal case where the defendant is charged with child molestation.