## Facts

- A group led by Perdue planned to overthrow the government of Dominica and then establish a cocaine-refining operation there.
- Wolfgang Droege helped organize recruitment and logistics; David Duke recruited Stephen Black, who assisted in recruiting others.
- The group assembled weapons, uniforms, and related gear and boarded a ship in a U.S. port, intending to depart for Dominica the next day.
- The ship’s captain alerted federal authorities; an undercover agent boarded, and Droege described the coup plan and cocaine-manufacturing objective.
- Federal agents arrested the men aboard, including Black, and seized military equipment and other items.
- At trial, Black acknowledged an equity interest in the proposed cocaine venture but claimed the expedition was primarily anti-communist rather than drug-driven.
- The government introduced, among other items, a codefendant’s Nazi flag displayed with military gear, testimony about the cocaine plan, evidence that some codefendants pleaded guilty, and evidence linking Duke to the Ku Klux Klan.

## Issues

1. Whether the district court abused its discretion under Federal Rule of Evidence 403 by admitting allegedly inflammatory evidence (the Nazi flag, cocaine-plan testimony, codefendants’ guilty pleas, and KKK-related evidence).
2. If any evidentiary error occurred, whether it required reversal of convictions under the Neutrality Act, 18 U.S.C. § 960, and for conspiracy.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed Black’s convictions in a per curiam decision.
- The court held the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the challenged evidence.
- The court concluded the evidence had probative value on the existence and character of a “military or naval expedition” and on motive and intent, and that any unfair prejudice did not substantially outweigh that value.

## Legal Principles

- Under Rules 401 and 403, relevant evidence may be excluded only if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.
- Appellate review of Rule 403 determinations is highly deferential; trial courts have wide discretion in weighing probative value against unfair prejudice.
- Evidence that illuminates the objective, motive, recruitment, and operational character of an alleged expedition may be admissible even if it is politically or emotionally charged, when tied to disputed issues such as intent or the expedition’s military nature.
- Evidence of codefendants’ guilty pleas may be admitted for limited purposes when handled in a manner that reduces the risk the jury will treat the pleas as proof of the defendant’s guilt.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit upheld the convictions, concluding that the district court reasonably admitted contested evidence bearing on whether the defendants were preparing a prohibited military expedition against a nation at peace with the United States and on the conspirators’ motives, and that the Rule 403 balance was not abused.


United States v. Black, 685 F.2d 132 (5th Cir. 1982)