U.S. v. Johnson

In prosecution on charge of unlawful possession of firearm by felon, Dist. Ct. erred in precluding two key government witnesses from testifying that they saw firearm in question have red laser sight when defendant possessed and brandished said firearm. While Dist. Ct. held belief, in instant pretrial ruling, that any evidence regarding said laser sight would cause unfair prejudice to defendant, Ct. of Appeals found that Dist. Ct. both understated probative value of identifying laser sight evidence and overstated risk of unfair prejudice to defendant. Ct. of Appeals further noted that government’s proposal to allow witnesses to make references to observing “glowing red light” on firearm would have been sufficient to avoid any unfair prejudice.