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Criminal Law: Drug and Firearm Offenses-Admission of Non-Testifying Witness Statement-Prior Bad Acts Evidence
Staff Report//March 26, 2026//
Defendant appealed his conviction for various drug and firearm offenses, challenging the district court’s decision to admit a non-testifying witness’s statements and records of his prior drug trafficking conviction.
Where the statement was admitted not to prove the truth of the matter asserted but rather to explain the course of a police investigation where the propriety of the investigation had been called into question, the statement was not inadmissible hearsay.
Judgment is affirmed.
U.S. v. Timberlake (MLW No. 84506/Case No. 25-1351 – 6 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Benton, J.) Appealed from U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri, Harpool, J. (Melanie Susan Morgan, Kansas City, MO for appellant) (Justin G. Davids, AUSA, Kansas City, MO for appellee)
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