Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-2nd-circuit/1432847.html
Timestamp: 2019-09-19 03:17:03
Document Index: 756471526

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\u20022314', '§\u20021956', '§\u2002371', '§\u20023500', '§\u2002371', '§\u20022314', '§\u20022314', '§\u20022314', '§\u200257', '§\u200210']

UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. Christopher D. REYES, Defendant-Appellee.
Docket No. 01-1258.
Before: CARDAMONE, POOLER, and B.D. PARKER, Jr., Circuit Judges. Daniel S. Ruzumna, Assistant United States Attorney, New York, N.Y. (Mary Jo White, United States Attorney, Anirudh Bansal, Christine H. Chung, Assistant United States Attorneys, Southern District of New York, New York, NY, of counsel), for Appellant. Michele Hauser, New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee.
Between September 1994 and May 1998, Maurizio Percan sold over a million dollars worth of stolen automobile airbags through his business, All-in-One Auto Parts (All-in-One), located in the Bronx, New York. In September 1999 Percan was convicted of the substantive crimes of transporting stolen goods in interstate commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2314 and 2, money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(a)(1)(A)(i), 1957, and 2, and was also convicted of a conspiracy to commit these offenses. We affirmed his conviction. See United States v. Kalust, 249 F.3d 106, 109-10 (2d Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Percan v. United States, 534 U.S. 894, 122 S.Ct. 213, 151 L.Ed.2d 152 (2001). Eileen Kalust, who worked at All-in-One, and several individuals who supplied stolen airbags to All-in-One were convicted on related charges.
Defendant Christopher Reyes was a business associate and personal friend of Percan's, close enough to have attended Percan's wedding. Reyes was the manager of Alpine Motor Cars, a used car and salvage lot located next door to All-in-One. He was arrested in March 2000 and charged with a single count of conspiring to transport stolen property in interstate commerce. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 2314. During his trial, at the close of the government's case-in-chief, defendant moved pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 29(a) for a judgment of acquittal. Rule 29 authorizes a trial court to enter a judgment of acquittal if the evidence is insufficient to support a conviction. U.S. District Court Judge Robert P. Patterson, who presided at the trial, reserved ruling on Reyes' motion. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 29(b). While a district court may reserve decision on a motion for judgment of acquittal, its later ruling on the motion must be based only on the evidence before the court at the time of the reservation. Id.
A. Government's Case-in-Chief
The relevant evidence in the case is that presented by the prosecution prior to the trial court's reservation on defendant's Rule 29(b) motion. We set out that evidence. Eileen Kalust was the government's first witness. According to her, Reyes dropped in at Percan's All-in-One during the existence of the airbag conspiracy several mornings each week for breakfast and to chat before heading to work next door at Alpine Motor Cars, a business that opened one-half hour later. Kalust testified that from 1994 through 1996 the “vast majority” of All-in-One's business was in stolen airbags, and the company continued to sell stolen airbags into 1997. She further stated that on one occasion during the course of her four-year employment, Reyes brought a pair of airbags into her office at All-in-One and left them with her, after asking for Percan who was not there at the time. These airbags were in a plain, white plastic bag, not accompanied by a receipt. According to Kalust, people that Percan referred to as “thieves” delivered airbags in the same fashion, that is, in a plain wrapper, unaccompanied by a receipt, often with cut connector cables protruding. Kalust believed airbags delivered in this manner were stolen.
The prosecution's next witness was New York City Police Detective Thomas Burke who testified as an expert. According to him, the secondhand airbag market consists nearly entirely of stolen airbags. He stated that secondhand airbags that have not been stolen come from limited sources-like insurance companies that acquire vehicles that have been “totaled” in an accident-and that it is rare to find a totaled car with its airbags intact. Once deployed, Burke explained, an airbag is not reusable.
The final witness for the prosecution was FBI Agent Blythe Helmer, who testified, among other matters, with respect to Reyes' post-arrest statements. She told the trial court and jury that “Mr. Reyes did not directly answer the questions that were presented to him” and hesitated before giving his answers. When Agent Helmer showed Reyes “photographs of thieves who provided stolen airbags to [All-in-One],” he admitted knowing “[s]ome of them” but refused to provide her with any information about them. She recalled Reyes had “stated that he did not want to give up any of his friends.” The defense did not object to this testimony by Agent Helmer.
The agent went on to recite that Reyes explained to her that he had received checks from All-in-One in exchange for his services as “an intermediary or a middleman or a broker” with respect to the sale of airbags. Although Helmer stated she could not remember the exact words used, it was her understanding that Reyes assisted “both with people who were trying to provide air bags to Maurizio Percan and people who were purchasing air bags for [sic] Maurizio Percan.” Again, no objection was taken by defendant to this portion of the government's case-in-chief. The transcript also reveals the trial court reminded Agent Helmer several times during direct examination to answer only the question asked her.
Q: [D]id you ask Mr. Reyes any questions about his state of knowledge about whether the air bags were stolen?
A: We asked Mr. Reyes at several different junctures about the stolen nature of the merchandise, and at least on two occasions that I remember specifically, there could have been a third occasion, his response was an analogy to drug use and when you see a friend using drugs you see what's happening, but you turn the other way. That's not a quote. It was that, in substance.
The prosecution's final proof consisted of two recordings of telephone calls to Reyes from a government informant pretending to be in need of secondhand airbags. These recordings were made after the period of the charged conspiracy, so they were admitted only to show Reyes's knowledge and intent. See Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) (providing that “other act” evidence may be admitted to show knowledge). In the first call, recorded on August 27, 1998, the informant asked defendant for a set of airbags for a 1997 Honda Accord. Reyes told the informant he would check around for the airbags and asked him to call back in an hour. Defendant estimated the set of airbags would cost between $700 and $900. He also stated, “I'm not sure, because I told you that I wasn't dealing too much with that stuff anymore.” The same confidential informant called defendant again on November 2, 1998 and asked for airbags for a Honda Civic and a Honda Accord. Reyes told the informant that “things are dead around here.” He explained that the mayor was a “hard hitter” and so “the people who were doing it, are scared now.” He further commented that no one wants to spend the holidays in a “bullpen.”
Since this was all the evidence produced in the government's case-in-chief, it is the only evidence pertinent to this appeal. Prior to ruling on defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal, the district court held a hearing on February 22, 2001 to review the statements and reports of witnesses that the FBI provided pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3500 and to determine the reliability of that material. In deciding the Rule 29 motion, however, none of that testimony is relevant.
I Preliminary Matters
II Conspiracy to Transport Stolen Airbags
Reyes was charged with conspiracy to transport stolen airbags in interstate commerce. The general federal conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. § 371, prohibits “two or more persons [from] conspir[ing] either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, [provided] one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy.” In this case, the underlying federal offense is the transportation of stolen goods through interstate commerce with the knowledge that such goods were stolen. See 18 U.S.C. § 2314.
We begin our analysis with the three elements of conspiracy under federal law. They are: (1) an agreement between two or more persons to commit an unlawful act; (2) knowingly engaging in the conspiracy intending to commit those offenses that were the objects of the conspiracy; and (3) commission of an “overt act” by one or more members of the conspiracy in furtherance of the conspiracy. See United States v. Samaria, 239 F.3d 228, 234 (2d Cir.2001); United States v. Salameh, 152 F.3d 88, 145-46 (2d Cir.1998) (per curiam). We will refer to this conspiracy involving stolen airbags as the “Percan/All-in-One conspiracy.”
The district court found, and Reyes concedes, that Percan and Kalust made the requisite agreement, had the requisite intent, and committed an overt act. The only disputed issue is whether the government produced sufficient evidence to show that Reyes knowingly engaged in the Percan/All-in-One conspiracy with the intent to violate 18 U.S.C. § 2314. In other words, we must decide whether the evidence of Reyes' knowledge was sufficient to find him guilty as a co-conspirator in an existing conspiracy.
In reviewing the proof on this issue, we consider the evidence as a whole. Once the conspiracy has been shown to exist-as has been conceded-evidence sufficient to link another defendant to it need not be overwhelming, and may be proved entirely by circumstantial evidence. United States v. Desimone, 119 F.3d 217, 223 (2d Cir.1997).
The prosecution also must show that Reyes had some knowledge of the unlawful aims of the conspiracy, Ferrarini, 219 F.3d at 155, that is, in this case, that Reyes knew Percan was dealing in stolen airbags. See 18 U.S.C. § 2314 (forbidding transportation in interstate commerce of stolen goods, provided the defendant knew goods were stolen). Application of the theory of conscious avoidance is of course appropriate where intent, i.e., guilty knowledge, is an essential element of the crime. See United States v. Mankani, 738 F.2d 538, 547 n. 1 (2d Cir.1984). For this guilty knowledge part of the intent element, once defendant's participation in the conspiracy has been established, the prosecution can satisfy its burden of proof by showing that Reyes consciously avoided actual knowledge of the purposes and objectives of the conspiracy. United States v. Eltayib, 88 F.3d 157, 170 (2d Cir.1996).
III Doctrine of Conscious Avoidance
Glanville Williams, Criminal Law: The General Part § 57, at 159 (2d ed.1961). While not without detractors, the doctrine has found fertile ground in this country where it has taken root. We believe it is a practical necessity given the ease with which a defendant could otherwise escape justice by deliberately refusing to confirm the existence of one or more facts that he believes to be true. Robbins, supra, at 192-93, 196-202.
In Leary v. United States, 395 U.S. 6, 89 S.Ct. 1532, 23 L.Ed.2d 57 (1969), the Supreme Court articulated the modern doctrine of conscious avoidance by reference to the Model Penal Code. In Leary, the Court reasoned that, in addition to actual knowledge, a defendant can also be said to know a fact if he “is aware of a high probability of its existence, unless he actually believes that it does not exist.” Id. at 46 n. 93, 89 S.Ct. 1532. Several years later, the Ninth Circuit had occasion to explain more thoroughly the influence of the Model Penal Code on the doctrine of conscious avoidance, finding that
[t]he substantive justification for the rule is that deliberate ignorance and positive knowledge are equally culpable. The textual justification is that in common understanding one “knows” facts of which he is less than absolutely certain. To act “knowingly,” therefore, is not necessarily to act only with positive knowledge, but also to act with an awareness of the high probability of the existence of the fact in question. When such awareness is present, “positive” knowledge is not required.
Courts in this Circuit commonly give the jury a conscious avoidance instruction “when a defendant claims to lack some specific aspect of knowledge necessary to conviction but where the evidence may be construed as deliberate ignorance.” United States v. Gabriel, 125 F.3d 89, 98 (2d Cir.1997); see also United States v. Rodriguez, 983 F.2d 455, 457 (2d Cir.1993). When a defendant has been charged with conspiracy, however, the jury may use the conscious avoidance doctrine to establish the defendant's knowledge of the aims of the conspiracy but, as just noted, may not use it to establish the defendant's intent to participate in the conspiracy. See Ferrarini, 219 F.3d at 155; Eltayib, 88 F.3d at 170; see also Mankani, 738 F.2d at 547 (explaining the illogic of using the conscious avoidance doctrine to prove intentional participation in a conspiracy). But see, e.g., United States v. Lara-Velasquez, 919 F.2d 946, 951-53 (5th Cir.1990) (not analyzing the knowledge element of conspiracy in two parts, thus allowing conscious avoidance to satisfy all aspects of knowledge). With this background on the doctrine, we turn to the merits.
IV Sufficiency of the Government's Evidence
A. Intentional Participation
B. Knowledge that Airbags Were Stolen
Moreover, there are the recordings of two telephone conversations between Reyes and a confidential informant. As stated earlier, these calls took place after the period of the charged conspiracy, so they cannot be taken as evidence of participation in the charged conspiracy. But, as “other act” evidence under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b), they are probative of Reyes' knowledge. We agree with the district court that Reyes' knowledge was at issue, and therefore reject defendant's contention that the recordings should not have been introduced into evidence.
One could reasonably infer from the recordings that Reyes knew about the stolen airbag market at the time of those telephone calls. More specifically, it could also be inferred that he knew he was brokering transactions involving stolen airbags because of the references in the second call to things being “dead” because “the mayor [is] a hard hitter” and nobody wanting to spend the holidays in a “bullpen.” This knowledge supports the inference that Reyes knew Percan was dealing in stolen airbags during the period of the charged conspiracy, when he admitted to brokering airbag transactions for Percan.
C. District Court's Rationale
The district court's decision granting the motion for judgment of acquittal was based upon its concern regarding the reliability of Agent Helmer. The court observed that she often failed to state either the precise question she asked or the precise answer defendant gave her. The trial court further characterized part of Agent Helmer's testimony-the portion relating to Reyes' admission to acting as a broker for Percan-as a “volunteered opinion” that “must be disregarded.” Without evidence of Reyes' post-arrest admissions, the court explained, the government failed to present sufficient evidence of Reyes' intent.
We agree that the agent's testimony was crucial to the sufficiency of the government's case. But we think it error for the district court to disregard that testimony. None of the evidence described above-including the testimony about which the district court had doubts-was objected to and none of it was stricken from the record. As a consequence, such evidence should have been considered in deciding the Rule 29 motion. Cf. United States v. Rosenberg, 195 F.2d 583, 596 (2d Cir.1952) (holding that jury may consider evidence, even if it is hearsay, if the evidence was not objected to at trial and not stricken from the record).
Further, had the government known the district court would ultimately discredit Agent Helmer's testimony, it likely would have clarified her testimony while she was still on the witness stand. By waiting until the prosecution rested before ruling that Agent Helmer's testimony was too unreliable to be trusted, the district court deprived the prosecution of the chance to introduce evidence to which the court did not have any objection. There was nothing inherently unreliable or inconsistent about Agent Helmer's testimony: it was not conjectural and did not contain prohibited hearsay. In short, it was not suspect in any way sufficient to warrant the district court's conclusion that it must be disregarded. Instead, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, as we must, we credit her testimony. Cf. United States v. Payton, 159 F.3d 49, 56 (2d Cir.1998) (“The ultimate question is not whether we believe the evidence adduced at trial established defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but whether any rational trier of fact could so find.”).
We are additionally aware that the district court was troubled by the agent's comment that her testimony reflected her “understanding” of what Reyes said. We agree with the trial court's reservations to the extent that police testimony with respect to a defendant's admissions is most helpful to the factfinder if it consists of the exact question asked and response given. Yet, inasmuch as witnesses are human, it is not unusual for memories to fade or for responses to questions to lack precision. Perfect testimony is not always possible, but that alone is not grounds for disregarding statements made by a witness under oath. See 1 McCormick on Evidence § 10, at 42-43 (John W. Strong, ed., 5th ed.1999).
FBI Agent Helmer's frank admission that she was unable to remember the words used, while admittedly exasperating to the district court, may even have served a useful purpose. By testifying to her “understanding,” she put the jury on notice that she was not purporting to recite the conversation verbatim. If anything, this would have benefitted defendant. If the jury believed Agent Helmer was exaggerating or remembering things incorrectly, then it could discredit her testimony. Nonetheless, in light of the procedural posture in which this case comes before us, that is, review of a judgment of acquittal under Rule 29, we must view all the evidence in the light most favorable to the government. Consequently, we are obligated to credit Agent Helmer's testimony and construe it most favorably to the government and in so doing reverse the granting of the Rule 29 motion of acquittal.