United States v. Mehanna
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
735 F.3d 32 (1st Cir. 2013)
Tarek Mehanna (defendant) translated Arabic-language materials supporting al-Qa'ida and Salafi-Jihadi views into English and posted them online, and was charged with providing, conspiring, and attempting to provide material support to terrorists. At trial, the government introduced terrorist-related media Mehanna had circulated, including disturbing beheading videos and al-Qa'ida propaganda, arguing it showed his intent and motive by demonstrating how the propaganda radicalized him and led him to travel to Yemen to assist al-Qa'ida; the district court gave limiting instructions to reduce the risk of unfair prejudice. Mehanna was convicted and sentenced to 210 months, and he appealed the admission of this emotionally charged evidence.
Whether, to be excludable for prejudice, evidence must be unfairly prejudicial such that its probative value is outweighed by its unfair prejudice.