United States of America v. Nevyou Alemu

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 15-4816
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
NEVYOU ALEMU,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern
District of West Virginia, at Clarksburg. Irene M. Keeley,
District Judge. (1:15-cr-00033-IMK-MJA-3)
Submitted: August 25, 2016 Decided: August 29, 2016
Before NIEMEYER, DIAZ, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Stephen D. Herndon, Wheeling, West Virginia, for Appellant.
William J. Ihlenfeld, II, United States Attorney, Zelda E.
Wesley, Assistant United States Attorney, Clarksburg, West
Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Nevyou Alemu appeals his conviction after a bench trial for
conspiracy to possess stolen firearms and aiding and abetting
the possession of stolen firearms, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
§§ 2, 371, 922(j), 924(a)(2) (2012). Alemu’s only assertion on
appeal is that the district court erred in refusing to admit
into evidence a disc containing audio recordings of his related
state court proceedings.
This Court reviews a district court’s evidentiary rulings
for abuse of discretion. United States v. Medford, 661 F.3d
746, 751 (4th Cir. 2011). Thus, we “afford[] the evidentiary
ruling substantial deference, and will not overturn the ruling
unless the decision was arbitrary and irrational.” Id.
(internal quotation marks omitted). Our review of the record
reveals no abuse of the district court’s discretion in excluding
the evidence under Fed. R. Evid. 608(b).
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment. We
dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED

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