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Covington: 404(b) admissible in murder for hire

By Tim Cone

In U.S. v. Covington, No. 08-10513 (April 22, 2009), the Court affirmed the convictions and sentence of a defendant charged with having hired a murderer to kill a girlfriend.Covington was arrested and charged with assaulting his girlfriend. He allegedly hired a hitman to murder his girlfriend to avoid having her testify against him.The Court found no abuse of discretion under FRE 404(b) and 403 in the admission of communications Covington had from jail with his ex-girlfriend, of a description of his prior assault, and of the gun he used in the prior assault. The Court recognized that prior domestic abuse evidence can be irrelevant and prejudicial in a narcotics prosecution. Here, however, this evidence was relevant to Covington?s motive to hire someone to kill his girlfriend...continue to full post

Full post as published by Defense Newsletter Blog on April 22, 2009 (boomark / email).