## Facts

- William Boswell, a convicted felon, was charged in federal court with possessing firearms in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
- At trial, Boswell testified and portrayed himself as someone who disliked firearms, attributing that dislike to his grandfather’s suicide with a gun.
- On cross-examination, the government asked Boswell why he had a tattoo depicting a gun on his neck if he disliked firearms.
- Boswell objected that the tattoo question was irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial under Federal Rules of Evidence 401 and 403.
- The district court overruled the objection and permitted the questioning.
- The jury convicted Boswell, and the court imposed a 235-month sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e).

## Issues

1. Whether the district court abused its discretion under Rules 401 and 403 by allowing cross-examination about Boswell’s gun tattoo to impeach his testimony that he did not like firearms.
2. Whether permitting the tattoo inquiry improperly invited propensity reasoning rather than permissible impeachment.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit affirmed the conviction and the 235-month ACCA sentence.
- The court held the district court did not abuse its discretion by allowing the tattoo question.
- The tattoo inquiry was relevant impeachment because it tended to contradict Boswell’s asserted longstanding aversion to firearms.
- The court concluded the probative value for credibility was not substantially outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice.

## Legal Principles

- Evidence is relevant under Rule 401 if it has any tendency to make a fact of consequence more or less probable, including facts bearing on a witness’s credibility.
- A defendant who offers broad testimony to distance himself from the charged conduct may be impeached by contradiction with evidence that directly challenges that testimony.
- Rule 403 permits exclusion only when unfair prejudice substantially outweighs probative value; appellate review of Rule 403 balancing is highly deferential and reversed only for abuse of discretion.
- Evidence with incidental character implications may be admissible when used narrowly to impeach specific testimony rather than to prove guilt by propensity.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit upheld the district court’s decision to allow limited cross-examination about Boswell’s gun tattoo because Boswell’s own testimony that he disliked firearms made the tattoo relevant to credibility, and the trial court reasonably found that any unfair prejudice did not substantially outweigh its impeachment value.


United States v. Boswell, 772 F.3d 469 (7th Cir. 2014)