United States v. Travis Fischer , 699 F. App'x 691 ( 2017 )

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS OCT 24 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 16-30153
Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No.
2:15-cr-00117-RSM-1
v.
TRAVIS EDWARD FISCHER, AKA MEMORANDUM*
Edward Travis Fischer,
Defendant-Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Washington
Ricardo S. Martinez, Chief Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted October 6, 2017
Seattle, Washington
Before: WARDLAW, CLIFTON, and OWENS, Circuit Judges.
Travis Edward Fischer appeals from his convictions on three counts of theft
of public funds under 18 U.S.C. § 641 on the ground that the district court
improperly commented on the evidence. As the parties are familiar with the facts,
we do not recount them here. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and
we affirm.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
To the extent the district court erred by including the chart in Instruction 20,
such error is harmless because there is “no reasonable possibility that the error
materially affected the verdict.” United States v. Rubio-Villareal, 967 F.2d 294,
296 n.3 (9th Cir. 1992) (en banc). As to Counts 9 and 10, both Cabrini Morris and
Annaliza Torres testified that Defendant’s Queen Anne apartment was subsidized
by HUD. As to Count 14, Renee Pelletier and Linda Peterson testified that the
food stamps were funded by the federal government. Fischer presented no
evidence contesting that testimony. In light of this evidence, there is no reasonable
possibility that the exclusion of the chart would have altered the jury’s verdict.
AFFIRMED.
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