State Conviction During Time of Conspiracy Admissible As Intrinsic Evidence

US v. Bush: Bush was charged with a drug conspiracy that ran between 2008 and 2017, along with using a communication facility in connection with drug trafficking. At his trial, coconspirators would testify that Bush was “an integral member of a cocaine and cocaine base distributing ring” during the years charged, “with the exception of a period of about eighteen months in late 2011 and 2013, when Bush was in prison.” At trial, the Government introduced, over Bush’s objection, a state court document showing that Bush had been convicted in 2013 for distributing crack in South Carolina. Bush was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

The Fourth Circuit affirmed Bush’s conviction. Primarily, Bush argued that the district court erred in admitting the documentation of his 2013 conviction in South Carolina. He contended that it fell within the orbit of Rule 404(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which does not allow the use of extrinsic evidence. The court rejected that argument, agreeing with the district court that the document didn’t fall under Rule 404(b) at all because it was intrinsic to the crime charged. The incident that led to the 2013 conviction occurred in 2011, involved the same kind of drug, and “was thus inextricably intertwined with the conspiracy.” The court rejected Bush’s argument that his prison sentence showed he had withdrawn from the conspiracy by that time.