Case Name: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jose Edgar LOPEZ, Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1978-09-13
Citations: 584 F.2d 1175
Docket Number: No. 742, Docket 77-1447
Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jose Edgar LOPEZ, Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: Federal Reporter 2d Series
Volume: 584
Pages: 1175–1185

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jose Edgar LOPEZ, Appellant.
No. 742, Docket 77-1447.
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
Argued March 7, 1978.
Decided Sept. 13, 1978.
Neaher, District Judge, sitting by designation, dissented and filed opinion.
Robert J. Rapoport, Syosset, N. Y., for appellant.
Richard L. Huffman, Asst. U. S. Atty., Brooklyn, N. Y. (David G. Trager, U. S. Atty., Eastern District of New York, Mary McGowan Davis, Asst. U. S. Atty., Brooklyn, N. Y., of counsel), for appellee.
Before OAKES, Circuit Judge, WYZANSKI and NEAHER, District Judges.
Of the District of Massachusetts, sitting by designation.
Of the Eastern District of New York, sitting by designation.

Opinion:
OAKES, Circuit Judge:
Jose Edgar Lopez appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Mark A. Costantino, Judge, convicting appellant, after a jury trial, of conspiring to import and to possess with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine, 21 U.S.C. § 846.
Appellant argues that there was insufficient evidence to support the verdict against him, that the prosecutor's summation violated appellant's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and that the district court failed properly to instruct the jury that no inference adverse to appellant could be drawn from his failure to testify.
The sufficiency of the evidence is beyond dispute. The Government's primary witness was a coconspirator, Arturo Romero, was who arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport with 328 grams of cocaine. He testified that he had met appellant on a previous visit from Venezuela, and that they subsequently discussed the possibility of importing cocaine. He further revealed that appellant telephoned him in Venezuela to advise that a man called Caesar would contact Romero concerning the cocaine which Romero was to bring into the United States. Caesar contacted Romero, gave him the cocaine and made arrangements for Romero's trip to New York. After Romero was apprehended at the airport, he agreed to assist law enforcement authorities. He telephoned appellant at the latter's home, dialing the telephone number by memory, and the conversation was recorded' by Government agents. The dialogue, without expressly mentioning the subject of narcotics, consisted of a series of inquiries by appellant seeking assurance that everything had gone well. They agreed to meet in Manhattan at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. The meeting took place under surveillance, after appellant took considerable care to make certain that no one was following Romero, who had been given a dummy load of narcotics by the agents. Appellant was arrested as he and Romero were leaving a coffee shop at the northeast corner of the above-mentioned streets. Following appellant's arrest, his address book, which contained Romero's telephone number and address in Venezuela, was seized. After advice as to his constitutional rights he made two false exculpatory statements, denying that he knew Romero and that he had been a party to the taped telephone call. The defense did not offer any evidence to rebut the Government's version of the events. Clearly, the evidence was sufficient to justify the jury's verdict of guilt.
Lopez complains that three statements of the prosecutor during summation amounted to indirect commentary on appellant's failure to testify. The first two statements implied that the telephone conversation between Romero and appellant, recorded at the airport, was susceptible of only one interpretation — discussion of the cocaine transaction. The prosecutor, in initial summation, stated:
I'd like you to read that translation, which you'll have in the jury room again. I want to hear I'm interested in hearing in summation [defense counsel's] explanation of it. No names at the beginning. "Who am I talking to? With a friend. It's me. Yes, I already know. Did it go well? It went well."
During rebuttal the prosecutor again alluded to the telephone call as follows:
Gee, you know, that phone call I asked, I thought maybe there would be some explanations [sic] for the languages [sic] in the phone call. If there was some, I guess I must have missed it.
No objection was made to either of these references to the telephone call, and no curative instruction or charge was sought. Thus, reversal is proper only if the prosecutor's comments were so prejudicial as to constitute plain error. See United States v. Briggs, 457 F.2d 908, 912 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 986, 93 S.Ct. 337, 34 L.Ed.2d 251 (1972).
We hold that the jury would not "naturally and necessarily," see United States ex rel. Leak v. Follette, 418 F.2d 1266, 1268-69 (2d Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1050, 90 S.Ct. 1388, 25 L.Ed.2d 665 (1970); United States v. Bubar, 567 F.2d 192, 199 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 872, 98 S.Ct. 217, 54 L.Ed.2d 151 (1977), interpret the prosecutor's remarks in this case as a comment on appellant's failure to testify. Rather, these statements were simply comments on the weakness of the defense case, well within permissible bounds of advocacy. See United States v. Rodriguez, 556 F.2d 638, 641-42 (2d Cir. 1977) (prosecutor may tell jury that certain factual evidence is "uncontradicted" and that "nothing in the record places the proffered evidence in doubt"), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1061, 98 S.Ct. 1233, 55 L.Ed.2d 762 (1978); cf. United States v. Bubar, supra, 567 F.2d at 199-200 (prosecutor's reference in rebuttal to defendants' failure to "explain" or "refute" certain evidence in response to defendants' counsel's arguments permissible).
Appellant also objects to the prosecutor's suggestion in initial summation that if appellant had had a steady job for four years, as his attorney claimed, the work records would have been produced. This reference was very likely not improper in view of the fact that on cross-examination of Mr. Romero defense counsel stressed that appellant had worked as a clerk for a given concern for four years. See United States v. Bubar, supra, 567 F.2d at 199-200; United States v. Rodriguez, supra, 556 F.2d at 641 — 42; cf. United States v. Floyd, 555 F.2d 45, 47 (2d Cir. 1977) (prosecutor's reference in rebuttal summation to defendant's power to subpoena witnesses, in response to defense summations referring to the Government's failure to produce certain witnesses did not deprive appellants of their right to rely on the prosecution's burden of proof), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 851, 98 S.Ct. 163, 54 L.Ed.2d 120 (1977). In any event, upon defense counsel's objection, the court instructed the jury to disregard the comment and also instructed the jury three times that appellant was not required to prove his innocence or to submit evidence on his own behalf. Any error, therefore, was harmless.
Appellant also claims that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that no adverse inference could be drawn from Lopez' failure to testify or to produce evidence in his behalf. This contention is frivolous not just because counsel neither objected to the charge nor asked for additional cautionary instructions but because the jury was instructed that "no inference of any kind," see note 4 supra, could be drawn from appellant's failure to testify or to produce evidence.
Although not urged below or on appeal there is a serious question whether certain out-of-court declarations of Romero were improperly admitted. Krulewitch v. United States, 336 U.S. 440, 443-44, 69 S.Ct. 716, 93 L.Ed. 790 (1949), as modified by Lutwak v. United States, 344 U.S. 604, 617-19, 73 S.Ct. 481, 97 L.Ed.2d 593 (1953), and Anderson v. United States, 417 U.S. 211, 218-19, 94 S.Ct. 2253, 41 L.Ed.2d 20 (1974), holds that hearsay declarations (as opposed to acts) of one alleged coconspirator made after the conspiracy ends may not be admitted against the other conspirator to prove the existence of the conspiracy. While Romero's taped telephone conversation may be said to have occurred after the conspiracy ended, because Romero was already arrested and the narcotics seized, Fiswick v. United States, 329 U.S. 211, 217, 67 S.Ct. 224, 91 L.Ed. 196 (1946), it was offered not to prove the truth of the declarations but to prove that Romero and Lopez knew each other. It was, therefore, not hearsay and admissible. See Anderson v. United States, supra, 417 U.S. at 219-21, 94 S.Ct. 2253; Fed.R.Evid. 801(c). So, too, evidence of the meeting itself, if a "statement" at all, see Fed.R.Evid. 801(a), was admissible under Lutwak and Anderson because it was post-conspiracy conduct. See United States v. Bermudez, 526 F.2d 89, 95-96 (2d Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 970, 96 S.Ct. 2166, 48 L.Ed.2d 793 (1976). Romero's post-arrest statements to the law enforcement authorities which implicated Lopez are in a differ ent category. The traditional view is that prior consistent statements of a declarant offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted are inadmissible hearsay. McCormick on Evidence § 251, at 601-04 (2d ed. 1972); 4 Wigmore on Evidence § 1123-24, at 254-55, 1132, at 294-96 (Chadbourn ed. 1972). Where the declarant is present and subject to cross-examination, however, as was Romero, they are arguably not hearsay. E. g., McCormick on Evidence, supra; see 3A Wigmore on Evidence, supra, § 1018, at 995-96 (Chadbourn ed. 1970) (criticizing orthodox view excluding prior inconsistent statements on hearsay grounds when witness is subject to cross-examination). It is unnecessary, however, to grapple with this rather abstract question which also implicates matters of policy. The rule is that once a witness's testimony has been attacked as a recent fabrication or he is charged with improper influence or motive, his prior statements consistent with his testimony are admissible for the limited purpose of rehabilitation. Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(1)(B); e. g., Applebaum v. American Export Isbrandtsen Lines, 472 F.2d 56, 60 (2d Cir. 1972), and cases cited therein. Romero's prior statements would very likely have been admissible on redirect examination in light of appellant's counsel's repeated attempts during cross-examination to portray Romero as a liar. Moreover, while these statements may have bolstered Romero's credibility slightly, other evidence, such as the existence of his South American telephone number in Lopez' address book, appears more corroborative of Romero's trial testimony. Because Romero's statements to the agents were not crucial, could have been admitted for a limited purpose, and were not objected to below or on appeal, we do not view their admission as plain error.
Judgment of conviction affirmed.
. Appellant was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, six months to be served in prison, the balance on probation, with a special parole term of ten years and deportation to follow. The district court further indicated that it would entertain a motion for reduction of sentence if appellant would voluntarily agree to depart the United States prior to his surrender. Sentence was stayed pending appeal, and Lopez is currently free on bail.
. Romero: Yes . . . look . I . I'm out here, at the airport, pal . if you can . . . how is it that I was here until 5 o'clock . . . I've been calling you and no . no .
Lopez: But did it go well for you? *
[discussion of Romero's difficulty with a provisional passport]
Romero: . I don't know where to go, what hotel should I go to? .
Lopez: Come over to 55th and 7th Avenue, I'll wait for you on the corner over there.
Romero: O.K.
Lopez: Listen .
Romero:- Aha
Lopez: It went well, right?
Romero: Well, yes, it went well, pal.
Lopez: You aren't lying to me?
Romero: No, I'm not lying, everything is all right.
Lopez: Careful brother!
Romero: No, don't worry.
Lopez: You're not going to cause me any problem, no?
Romero: No, don't worry.
Lopez: You're not going to get me into any trouble, Arturo.
Romero: No, don't worry.
. The prosecutor stated:
In conclusion, Mr. Rapoport, as I said before, has subpoena powers. Do you remember he asked the so-called question, got in a lot of stuff about where Mr. Lopez was supposedly working. Where are the work records if he was working at this place, whatever it was, on that day? Could have brought them in.
. The court charged:
You, the jury, will remember that a defendant is never to be convicted on mere suspicion or conjecture. The burden is always upon the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This burden never shifts to a defendant. The law never imposes upon a defendant in a criminal case the burden or duty of calling any witnesses or producing any evidence. If the jury views the evidence in the case as reasonably permitting either of two conclusions, one of innocence, the other of guilt, you, the jury must, of course, adopt the conclusion of innocence.
A reasonable doubt may arise not only from the evidence produced, but also from a lack of evidence. Since the burden is upon the prosecution to prove the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of every essential element of the crime charged, a defendant has the right to rely upon failure of the prosecution to establish such proof.
In a criminal case a defendant need not take the witness stand and testify, and no presumption of guilt may be raised, and no inference of any kind may be drawn from the failure of a defendant to testify, nor may you comment in your deliberations on the failure to do so.
The law never imposes upon a defendant in a criminal case the burden or duty of calling any witnesses or producing any evidence.
Let me state to you here that the burden is upon the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt each and every essential element of the crime charged. Failure to do so requires you to find the defendant not guilty. The burden never shifts to the defendant to prove his innocence. The law never imposes upon a defendant in a criminal case the burden or duty of calling any witnesses or producing any evidence.
. Prior consistent statements are generally held inadmissible if offered prior to impeachment as "unnecessary and valueless . . . cumbersome," 4 Wigmore on Evidence, supra, § 1124 & n. 2, if not irrelevant, United States v. Sherman, 171 F.2d 619, 622 (2d Cir. 1948), cert. denied, 337 U.S. 931, 69 S.Ct. 1484, 93 L.Ed. 1738 (1949).
. The defense presented no witnesses. Rather, counsel sought to discredit the Government's key witness, Romero, by interrogating him on the details of the alleged conspiracy, his post-arrest conversation with the arresting agents, and his testimony before the Grand Jury.