Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cadc/00-3026/00-3026a-2011-03-24.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 14:38:45+00:00

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Edwards, Chief Judge: On November 3, 1999, following a three-day trial, a federal jury found appellant Antonione Smith guilty on one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. s 922(g)(1) (1994). Smith was thereafter sentenced to 51 months in federal prison, where he now resides. On appeal, Smith identifies three alleged evidentiary errors, each of which he argues merit reversal of the judgment below and remand for a new trial. Only one of the alleged errors, however, requires extended treatment here.
plainly relevant. Because Smith did not raise the more specific Rule 608(b) objection at trial, we must review admis- sion on that front for plain error. This circuit has not yet addressed whether, and to what extent, Rule 608(b) prohibits admission of extrinsic evidence of specific instances of past "truthful" cooperation offered by the government to rebut allegations of an informant's bias; and there is no consensus among the circuits that have addressed the issue. Thus, even were we to find error, it would not be plain.
bution charges, Perry, who is confined to a wheelchair, en- tered into a cooperation agreement on February 14, 1997. Pursuant to his agreement, Perry entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute over 50 grams of crack cocaine. Tr. at 59. In exchange for assistance, information, and truthful testimony, HIDTA agents agreed to dismiss two charges then pending against Perry in Superior Court. Tr. at 63-64. The Govern- ment also agreed to file a substantial assistance motion pursuant to U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual s 5K1.1 (1997), urging the District Court to waive the mandatory 10- year minimum sentence on the federal distribution charge. Tr. at 63. Though not explicitly part of the agreement, agents also provided Perry with various amounts of money for rent, bills, childcare, transportation, and moving expenses. Tr. at 46-47, 104-07.
114. Though no officer was present during the transaction, Agent Haera surveyed the events via radio transmitter from a block away. Tr. at 30.
On November 17, 1998, a federal grand jury indicted both Smith and Hamilton on one count of unlawful transfer and possession of a semi-automatic assault weapon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. s 922(v)(1) (1994). Because Smith already had a previous felony conviction, he was also indicted on one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, in violation of 18 U.S.C. s 922(g)(1). See Indictment, United States v. Smith, Crim. No. 98-399-01-JR (D.D.C. Nov. 17, 1998), reprinted in Appellant's Appendix ("App.") at 10. The District Court dismissed the indictment on the first count as to each defendant, leaving only the second count as to Smith.
The trial involving Smith's prosecution commenced on No- vember 1, 1999. After one day of testimony and argument, the jury returned a guilty verdict. At trial, the Government called four witnesses--Agent Haera, Officer Brooks, Kevin Perry, and Jeffrey Descheemaeker, an ATF firearms special- ist to testify about the rifle's capabilities. During direct examination of Perry, the prosecutor played the videotape of the transaction, though the sound was inaudible. Tr. at 85. Thus, Perry's testimony was the only evidence presented regarding the content of his discussions with Smith and Hamilton. The defense rested without calling witnesses.
Q: Mr. Miles asked you some questions about Mr. Perry's cooperation and the information he's given you. Do you remember those questions? A: Yes. Q: Is it true that Perry had given you information that has led to the capture of other criminals? Mr. Miles: Objection, Your Honor. The Court: Sustained. By Ms. Covell: Q: As a result of Mr. Perry's cooperation, have you been able to arrest other criminals? Mr. Miles: Objection. The Court: Sustained. It's leading. By Ms. Covell: Q: What happened--well, let me rephrase this. With the information that Mr. Perry gave you, what did you do? Mr. Miles: Objection to relevance. The Court: I'll overrule that objection. The Witness: Repeat your question. Ms. Covell: Sure. By Ms. Covell: Q: Mr. Perry gave you certain information about indi- viduals in the Park Morton complex; is that right? A: That's true. Q: And what did you do with that information? A: The information that Mr. Perry gave me personally, I did a lot of different things with it. Some of the information was used to obtain search warrants. Some of the information was used to begin investigations on other people in that area that were committing crimes such as drug dealing and firearms possession. And some of the information was used to inform the attorneys of how he could help us in these investigations by way of testimony in the grand jury and at trials. Q: In any of those search warrants that were based on information given you by Perry, did you uncover contra- band? A: Yes. Q: And any of those investigations of other individuals that you started as a result of Mr. Perry's information, did any of those investigations lead to arrest? A: Yes Q: And were the arrests of those individuals corroborat- ed by any tangible evidence? Mr. Miles: Objection, Your Honor. The Court: Sustained. By Ms. Covell: Q: Agent Haera, based on what you know about the information Mr. Perry gave you, and the search warrants you've gotten and the arrests, do you believe that the information Mr. Perry gave you is truthful? Mr. Miles: Objection, Your Honor. The Court: Sustained. Ms. Covell: That's all I have, Your Honor. Tr. at 52-55 (emphasis added). This exchange came on the heels of a cross-examination, during which defense counsel elicited from Agent Haera information regarding Perry's possible bias, including his plea agreement and money paid Perry by the ATF. Tr. at 42-48. Smith here renews his relevance objection and also raises for the first time the inadmissibility of the testimony under Federal Rule of Evi- dence 608(b). Because defense counsel lodged an objection on the basis of relevance in a timely fashion, we review admission of the cited testimony for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Ramsey, 165 F.3d 980, 983 n.3 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, 120 S. Ct. 223 (1999). Evidence is relevant if it has "any tenden- cy to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less proba- ble than it would be without the evidence." Fed. R. Evid. 401.
use of extrinsic evidence of specific instances of a witness' truthful or untruthful conduct "for the purposes of attacking or supporting the witness' credibility" would itself be redun- dant. The concerns giving rise to Rules 404(b) and 608(b) are not relevance concerns. To the contrary, both "propensity" rules and the rule restricting the admission of extrinsic credibility evidence embody specific concerns that, although relevant, evidence of prior acts will either unduly prejudice and overpersuade the jury, see Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172, 181 (1997) (quoting United States v. Moccia, 681 F.2d 61, 63 (1st Cir. 1982)), or waste time by sanctioning countless distinct credibility mini-trials within the trial prop- er, see Fed. R. Evid. 405 advisory committee's note; Fed. R. Evid. 608(b) advisory committee's note. In short, we reject Smith's claim that the disputed testimony was irrelevant and turn to his 608(b) challenge.
As noted above, this circuit has not yet addressed whether, and to what extent, Rule 608(b) prohibits admission of extrin- sic evidence of specific instances of past "truthful" coopera- tion offered by the government to rebut allegations of an informant's bias. Although this fact, alone, is not dispositive of the plain error issue, it is important when we consider that Rule 608(b) itself admits of no simple answer to the question at hand and, in addition, our sister circuits have been unable to agree on the point at which impermissible "bolstering" ends and permissible use of past cooperation to rebut bias begins. Compare United States v. Taylor, 900 F.2d 779, 781 (4th Cir. 1990) ("[I]t was error for the district court to admit extrinsic evidence that the informer, Phillips, had provided reliable information and testimony that resulted in several convictions, in order to bolster Philips' credibility."), and United States v. Murray, 103 F.3d 310, 321-22 (3d Cir. 1997) (discussing Taylor), with United States v. Lochmondy, 890 F.2d 817, 821 (6th Cir. 1989) ("Several circuits have held that evidence of cooperation on other matters is admissible to justify a cooperation agreement and to rebut allegations of bias." (citing United States v. Sanchez, 790 F.2d 1561 (11th Cir. 1986); United States v. Fusco, 748 F.2d 996 (5th Cir. 1984); United States v. Martinez, 775 F.2d 31 (2d Cir. 1985))), and United States v. Penny, 60 F.3d 1257, 1264 (7th Cir. 1995) (quoting Lochmondy).
[s]pecific instances of the conduct of a witness, for the purpose of attacking or supporting the witness' credibili- ty, other than conviction of crime as provided in rule 609, may not be proved by extrinsic evidence. They may, however, in the discretion of the court, if probative of truthfulness or untruthfulness, be inquired into on cross- examination of the witness (1) concerning the witness' character for truthfulness or untruthfulness, or (2) con- cerning the character for truthfulness or untruthfulness of another witness as to which character the witness being cross-examined has testified. Fed. R. Evid. 608(b) (emphasis added). As both the plain language of the rule and the cases cited above suggest, the threshold question under Rule 608(b) is: For what purpose has the prosecution offered the extrinsic evidence? If offered solely "in order to bolster [the informant's] credibility," Tay- lor, 900 F.2d at 781, then Rule 608(b) bars admission lest one of the exceptions applies. But, if offered for a different and legitimate reason, such as "to justify a cooperation agreement [or] rebut allegations of bias," Lochmondy, 890 F.2d at 821, the evidence falls outside Rule 608(b)'s narrow confines.
[t]he evidence specifically rebutted the allegation that [the informant] was biased out of self-interest in Linde- mann's case: Burns' successful participation in numerous other cases meant that at the time he was negotiating over his plea deal, he had lots of information to use as bargaining chips. That fact was relevant under the standards of [Federal Rule of Evidence] 402 because it made less probable the assertion that Burns was lying in Lindemann's case out of self-interest. Id. at 1243.
errors" that "seriously affect the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings." ' " Spriggs, 102 F.3d at 1257 (quoting United States v. Copelin, 996 F.2d 379, 383 (D.C. Cir. 1993)). Here, the minimal damage arguably wrought by the contested testimony stands in stark contrast to the overwhelming weight of evidence against Smith. Fur- thermore, as noted above, it appears that the most damaging of the alleged "bolstering" testimony was excluded pursuant to objections that were raised by Smith's attorney. There was no plain error.
(Bench conference on the record) The Court: This is--in NFL language, this is my time out. There's been a lot of sort of hinting around the edges of the danger this guy was in, and my concern, of course, is that the implication of all of it is that this defendant is the one responsible for the danger. Now both sides have--both sides have toyed with this. I can't unscramble this egg. But there haven't been any objec- tions until now, but I don't want this danger thing to be played up. Ms. Covell: I understand, Your Honor. My view is that Mr. Miles opened the door by asking him about the payments for the move. I was going to ask why and make it clear--I can ask a follow-up question was it because of the defendant. He knows it wasn't because of the defendant. The Court: That would be very helpful. Ms. Covell: I can do that. Mr. Miles: Okay. (End of bench conference) By Ms. Covell: Q. What were the reasons that you moved Kevin Per- ry? A. I felt that his life was in danger on several occasions. That's why I moved Mr. Perry. Q. Were any of those occasions that you moved him a result of any sort of threat or danger that came from the defendant? Let me rephrase that: You never learned that the defen- dant had ever threatened Mr. Perry in any way? A. No. Tr. at 48-49. Any residual problems lingering after the clarification certainly do not constitute plain error.

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