United States of America v. Ramon Urbina

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
RAMON URBINA,
Defendant-Appellant.
No. 16-50294
D.C. No. 3:16-cr-00375-LAB
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of California
Larry Alan Burns, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted February 15, 2018**
Pasadena, California
Before: MCKEOWN and WARDLAW, Circuit Judges, and DONATO,*** District
Judge.
Ramon Urbina appeals his jury conviction for importation of
methamphetamine on the ground that the district court improperly admitted
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
*** The Honorable James Donato, United States District Judge for the
Northern District of California, sitting by designation.
FILED
MAR 6 2018
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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evidence of three text messages found on his phone over his relevance objection.
We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and affirm.
While the relevance of the three text messages was debatable, we find no
abuse of discretion by the district court. United States v. Rendon-Duarte, 490 F.3d
1142, 1145 (9th Cir. 2007). The district court undertook a considered balancing of
the probative value of the proffered evidence against its potential for unfair
prejudice to the defendant. Even if the district court’s determinations were in
error, such error was harmless. The jury was presented with overwhelming
evidence of Urbina’s guilt, including the approximately fifteen pounds of
methamphetamine that was found in the car he drove into the United States from
Mexico at the time of his arrest. Consequently, the alleged error did not materially
affect the verdict. United States v. Mitchell, 376 F. App’x. 749, 750 (9th Cir.
2010).
AFFIRMED.

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