Criminal Law-Assault-Prior Bad Acts-Sentencing Error

Defendant appealed his conviction for assault, which stemmed from a long-simmering confrontation between defendant and the victim that included an incident in which someone had shot at a fuel tank at the victim’s home. At trial, the government introduced evidence that defendant shot the tank to prove that he later intentionally assaulted the victim, negating his self-defense claim. On appeal, defendant argued that the government failed to prove that he was the one who shot the tank.

Where the evidence included the parties’ history of animosity and defendant’s apology for shooting at the victim’s house, there was no abuse of discretion in admitting evidence that defendant shot the fuel tank, but the district court erred in imposing a sentence of time served where the time defendant spent in custody exceeded the statutory maximum for his offense.

Judgment is vacated and remanded.

U.S. v. Schneider (MLW No. 85008/Case No. 25-1229 – 4 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Kobes, J.) Appealed from U.S. District Court, District of South Dakota, Kornmann, J. (Anne M. Carter, AFPD, Fargo, ND for appellant) (Carl Thunem, AUSA, Sioux Falls, SD for appellee)