Supreme Court Report

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John Russell Bellhouse v. United States

IFP petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 23-3996 · judgment March 10, 2026


Certiorari denied · June 22, 2026

Questions presented

  1. Whether the trial court may admit evidence of sexual assaults in order to prove that the defendant has the propensity to commit another sexual assault when the uncharged acts were intertwined with the charged conduct but not “inextricably intertwined” and not needed to tell the full story regarding the crimes?

  2. Whether the general other acts model jury instruction was insufficient when a limiting instruction was read to the jury at the time two witnesses testified but not read to the jury at the time three other witnesses testified as to uncharged acts and only read to the jury as to one witness at the end of the case?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
James S. Thomson
James Thomson, Attorney and Counselor at Law

For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jun 22 2026
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jun 03 2026
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/18/2026.
  3. May 29 2026
    Waiver of right of respondent The United States to respond filed.
  4. May 11 2026
    Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due June 22, 2026)