Opinion ID: 397401
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admission of Underhill's Grand Jury Testimony

Text: 33 Having determined that the charges in the indictment were proper, we proceed to consider appellants' various evidentiary claims. One of their major contentions is that the trial court erroneously admitted certain transcripts of Underhill's grand jury testimony and FBI interviews as substantive evidence of guilt on the RICO charges. 34 The government's principal witness in the RICO case against Thevis and Global was to be Thevis' former business associate, Roger Dean Underhill. Following Underhill's murder, the government notified the court and the defendants that pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 804(b)(5), 7 it intended to offer portions of Underhill's grand jury testimony and interviews with the FBI as substantive evidence of Thevis' guilt under Counts One and Two. The court permitted the government to offer its evidence as to Count Ten first, in order to establish that Thevis was responsible for Underhill's death and provide a basis for the court to rule on the 804(b)(5) issue. The court then admitted specific portions of Underhill's testimony as containing sufficient circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness as required under Fed.R.Evid. 804(b)(5). The court also held that although admitting the evidence under Rule 804(b)(5) would have violated Thevis' confrontation rights under the sixth amendment, the government had established by clear and convincing evidence that Thevis had caused Underhill's death; hence, Thevis had waived his confrontation rights. United States v. Thevis, 84 F.R.D. 57 (N.D.Ga.1979). 35 In contending that the trial court erred in admitting the Underhill evidence, appellants make three arguments. First, appellants claim that the evidence did not have the circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness required to meet Rule 804(b)(5). Appellants also contend that the trial court erred in applying the clear and convincing standard to the proof of Thevis' waiver, arguing instead that the beyond a reasonable doubt standard should apply. Finally, appellants argue that even if Thevis waived his confrontation rights, Underhill's statements were so untrustworthy that their admission violated due process. 36 The issue of admissibility of a witness' hearsay statements in the face of a defendant-caused absence of that witness from trial is a question of first impression in this circuit, although other circuits have faced this problem under slightly different circumstances. In United States v. Balano, 618 F.2d 624 (10th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 840, 101 S.Ct. 118, 66 L.Ed.2d 47 (1980), the Tenth Circuit confronted a situation in which the defendant had coerced the witness into silence by threatening the witness' life. The court held that the defendant had waived his confrontation rights and without further explanation stated that such a waiver was a fortiori a waiver of any hearsay objection. In United States v. West, 574 F.2d 1131 (4th Cir. 1978), a key government witness had been murdered prior to trial, but that murder had not been connected to the defendants. Nevertheless, the Fourth Circuit found that the witness' grand jury testimony met the reliability standards of Rule 804(b) (5) and was sufficiently trustworthy that its admission did not violate the confrontation clause. Finally, United States v. Carlson, 547 F.2d 1346 (8th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 914, 97 S.Ct. 2174, 53 L.Ed.2d 224 (1977), the case the trial court primarily relied on here, involved facts similar to those in Balano. After determining that the witness' grand jury testimony met the standards of Rule 804(b)(5), the Eighth Circuit held that, even assuming admitting the evidence would violate the confrontation clause, the defendant had waived his confrontation rights by intimidating the witness into silence. 37 We reject both the West and Carlson approaches to this issue, based upon our reading of Rule 804(b)(5) and relevant Supreme Court precedent. As to Carlson, we are convinced that Rule 804(b)(5) does not require finding a confrontation clause waiver once a court has concluded that the proffered evidence has met the reliability standards of the Rule. Both the wording of the Rule 8 and the legislative history 9 indicate that Congress intended evidence to be admitted under 804(b)(5) only if the reliability of the evidence equals or exceeds that of the other exceptions in Rule 804(b). The Supreme Court has held that as to two of the other exceptions, dying declarations and prior testimony where cross-examination has already occurred, the reliability of the admitted evidence satisfies the confrontation clause. See Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 2540-41, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980) (prior testimony); Mattox v. United States, 156 U.S. 237, 243-44, 15 S.Ct. 337, 340, 39 L.Ed. 409 (1895) (dying declarations). See also, Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. 400, 407, 85 S.Ct. 1065, 1069-70, 13 L.Ed.2d 923 (1965) (citing Mattox for the proposition that the Court has recognized the admissibility of dying declarations despite lack of confrontation). Hence we find that imposing on 804(b)(5) admissibility the additional condition of a waiver of confrontation rights is contrary to the express wording of the Rule, congressional intent, and Supreme Court precedent. 10 38 A more fundamental disagreement with both West and Carlson is the conclusion in those cases that corroborated grand jury testimony in fact meets the reliability standards of Rule 804(b)(5). The Senate Judiciary Committee's report on the Federal Rules of Evidence stated that the 804(b)(5) residual exception was to be used only rarely, in truly exceptional circumstances. 11 Corroborated grand jury testimony which for one reason or another is unavailable at trial is neither rare nor exceptional, and in our opinion its general admission under this theory would constitute a major revision of the hearsay rule that, as the Senate Judiciary Committee admonished, is for the legislature, not the judiciary. Grand jury testimony, although given under oath, is not subjected to the vigorous truth testing of cross-examination, as is prior testimony. Grand jury testimony, moreover, is often given under a grant of immunity which might encourage a witness to embellish his story. We need not determine whether grand jury testimony ever meets the stringent reliability standards of Rule 804(b)(5), 12 however, because we conclude other grounds support the admission of the Underhill statements. Thus while we agree with the trial court's application of the clear and convincing standard to the admissibility question, we find the evidence admissible on a different basis than did the trial court: adopting the Tenth Circuit's approach in Balano, we hold that Thevis' waiver of his right to confrontation in these circumstances also constituted a waiver of any hearsay objection.
39 The sixth amendment to the Constitution provides in part that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to be confronted with the witnesses against him .... All parties to this appeal agree that this right may be waived in a proper case. Brookhart v. Janis, 384 U.S. 1, 86 S.Ct. 1245, 16 L.Ed.2d 314 (1966). Whether a waiver existed in this case requires analyzing two separate questions: whether a defendant's murder of a witness for the purpose of preventing his testifying at trial constitutes a valid waiver, and what standard of proof the government must bear in proving that waiver. 40 A waiver of a constitutional right is ordinarily valid only if there is an intentional relinquishment of a known right or privilege. Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 1023, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938). A variety of actions by the accused constitute an express waiver of the right to confrontation. Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969) (guilty plea); United States v. Stephens, 609 F.2d 230 (5th Cir. 1980) (stipulations to evidence). The accused, however, may also waive his confrontation rights indirectly, such as by absenting himself from trial, Taylor v. United States, 414 U.S. 17, 94 S.Ct. 194, 38 L.Ed.2d 174 (1973), or engaging in contumacious conduct which requires his removal from the courtroom. Illinois v. Allen, 397 U.S. 337, 90 S.Ct. 1057, 25 L.Ed.2d 353 (1970). 41 We conclude that a defendant who causes a witness to be unavailable for trial for the purpose of preventing that witness from testifying also waives his right to confrontation under the Zerbst standard. A defendant who undertakes this conduct realizes that the witness is no longer available and cannot be cross-examined. Hence in such a situation the defendant has intelligently and knowingly waived his confrontation rights. 42 The policy interests underlying the confrontation clause, moreover, mandate this result. We recognize that the right of confrontation is so fundamental to our concept of a fair trial that it is a privilege specifically guaranteed by the Constitution. Nevertheless, both Taylor and Allen indicate that the right is not absolute, and must give way at times to stronger state interests. Similarly, when confrontation becomes impossible due to the actions of the very person who would assert the right, logic dictates that the right has been waived. The law simply cannot countenance a defendant deriving benefits from murdering the chief witness against him. To permit such subversion of a criminal prosecution would be contrary to public policy, common sense, and the underlying purpose of the confrontation clause, United States v. Carlson, 547 F.2d 1346, 1359 (8th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 914, 97 S.Ct. 2174, 53 L.Ed.2d 224 (1977), and make a mockery of the system of justice that the right was designed to protect. 43 The question of the proper burden of proof to apply to the waiver question presents a more difficult issue. Appellants claim that the reasonable doubt standard should apply, relying in part on the Supreme Court decision In Re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970). 13 As the Court later noted in Lego v. Twomey, 404 U.S. 477, 92 S.Ct. 619, 30 L.Ed.2d 618 (1972), however, Winship was not concerned with the standards for determining the admissibility of evidence; rather, Winship merely affirmed the necessity for the prosecution, in order to secure a conviction, to prove every essential element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Here the trial court's decision to admit Underhill's statements was purely an evidentiary ruling, not a decision on Thevis' substantive guilt. Hence we reject appellants' reasonable doubt standard on the basis of the Supreme Court's analysis in Lego. 44 Because of the intimate association between the right to confrontation and the accuracy of the fact-finding process, however, we also reject the government's suggestion that the preponderance standard accepted by the Supreme Court in Lego (to judge the voluntariness of a confession) and United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 94 S.Ct. 988, 39 L.Ed.2d 242 (1974) (to judge whether a warrantless search was consensual) is also adequate to protect confrontation rights. 45 The Supreme Court repeatedly has noted the importance of confrontation rights in testing the reliability of evidence. Indeed, the Court in its most recent confrontation clause case declared that the role of confrontation in testing accuracy is so important that the absence of confrontation at trial calls into question the ultimate integrity of the fact-finding process. Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 64, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 2538, 65 L.Ed.2d 579 (1980) (quoting Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 295, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 1046, 35 L.Ed.2d 297 (1973) and Berger v. California, 393 U.S. 314, 315, 89 S.Ct. 540, 541, 21 L.Ed.2d 508 (1969)). The Court, moreover, has stated that a primary interest secured by (the confrontation clause) is the right to cross-examination, Ohio v. Roberts, supra at 63, 100 S.Ct. at 2537 (quoting Douglas v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 415, 418, 85 S.Ct. 1074, 1076, 13 L.Ed.2d 934 (1965)), which has been described as the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth. J. Wigmore, Evidence § 1367 (3d ed. 1940). As we have previously noted: 46 (T)he right of cross-examination is more than a desirable rule of trial procedure. It is implicit in the constitutional right of confrontation, and helps assure the accuracy of the truth-determining process. It is, indeed, an essential and fundamental requirement for the kind of fair trial which is this country's constitutional goal. 47 Smith v. Estelle, 569 F.2d 944, 946 (5th Cir. 1978) (quoting Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 35 L.Ed.2d 297 (1973) (citations omitted)). 48 Where reliability of evidence is a primary concern, the Supreme Court has conditioned admissibility on the clear and convincing standard. The prosecution, for example, must prove by clear and convincing evidence that an in-court identification that follows a tainted identification has a reliable independent basis before the identification can be admitted into evidence. United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 240, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 1939, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967); Cannon v. Alabama, 558 F.2d 1211, 1218 (5th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1087, 98 S.Ct. 1281, 55 L.Ed.2d 792 (1978). In contrast, judicial determinations of the admissibility of evidence under the exclusionary rule normally do not relate to the reliability of the evidence, but instead are aimed at deterring police misconduct. Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S. 465, 486-87, 96 S.Ct. 3037, 3048-49, 49 L.Ed.2d 1067 (1976); United States v. Brookins, 614 F.2d 1037, 1046-47 (5th Cir. 1980). See Lego v. Twomey, 404 U.S. 477, 484-85 & nn. 12 & 13, 92 S.Ct. 619, 624-25 & nn. 12 & 13, 30 L.Ed.2d 618 (1976) (purpose of voluntariness hearing is not to decide reliability of confession). 14 Thus because confrontation rights are so integral to the accuracy of the fact-finding process and the search for truth, in contrast to the exclusionary rule, we conclude that the trial court was correct in requiring clear and convincing evidence of a waiver of this right.
49 In United States v. Balano, 618 F.2d 624 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 840, 101 S.Ct. 118, 66 L.Ed.2d 47 (1980), the Tenth Circuit faced a situation in which the defendant had coerced the witness into silence. The court stated that waiver of one's right to confrontation was a fortiori a waiver of one's right to raise a hearsay objection. Id. at 626. We agree, basing our decision on an analysis of the interests served by both the confrontation clause and hearsay rule. 50 Although the Supreme Court explicitly has held that the confrontation clause and the hearsay rule are not coterminous, California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 155-56, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 1933-34, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1976), the Court recently has stated that it is a truism that both provisions protect the same values. Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 2539, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980). Both the confrontation clause and the hearsay rule seek to balance the need for relevant, probative evidence against the defendant's interest in testing the accuracy of evidence through personal confrontation and cross-examination. 15 See id. Cf. Fed.R.Evid. Advisory Committee's Note on the Hearsay Problem, quoted in 4 J. Weinstein, Evidence 800-02 to 800-03 (1979). As noted by the Supreme Court in Mattox v. United States, 156 U.S. 237, 242-43, 15 S.Ct. 337, 339, 39 L.Ed.2d 409 (1895), the confrontation clause envisions: 51 a personal examination and cross-examination of the witness, in which the accused has an opportunity, not only of testing the recollection and sifting the conscience of the witness, but of compelling him to stand face to face with the jury in order that they may look at him, and judge by his demeanor upon the stand and the manner in which he gives his testimony whether he is worthy of belief. 52 Similarly, the hearsay rule envisions testimonial evidence given under the ideal conditions of a witness under oath, in the personal presence of the trier of fact, and subject to cross-examination. Advisory Committee Note, supra at 800-02. The reason that the hearsay rule and confrontation clause are not coterminous is not because the two provisions protect different interests, but because the two may balance the relevant interests differently. Thus a particular hearsay rule may admit evidence which offends confrontation rights because the rule favors the need for evidence and its probable reliability over the defendant's confrontational rights. Conversely, a particular hearsay rule may restrict evidence which nevertheless satisfies the confrontation clause because the rule favors increased protection for the defendant. California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 156, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 1934, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970). See Barber v. Page, 390 U.S. 719, 88 S.Ct. 1318, 20 L.Ed.2d 255 (1968). 16 In either case, however, the key interest offsetting the need for evidence is the defendant's interest in confrontation; if this interest is removed by a waiver of confrontation rights, the balance must necessarily fall in favor of the need for evidence. We hold, therefore, that under the circumstances of this case, Thevis' waiver of his confrontation rights also acted as a waiver of the right to raise a hearsay objection once the prosecution demonstrated a need for the evidence. 17
53 We also reject appellants' contention that admitting the Underhill testimony, even if otherwise proper, violated due process by permitting a conviction based on unreliable evidence. While a case may exist in which the evidentiary base is so totally lacking in reliability that a conviction would violate due process, California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 163 n.15, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 1938 n.15, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970), this is not such a case. Other evidence sufficiently corroborated Underhill's testimony that the trial court concluded that the statements met the stringent reliability standards of Fed.R.Evid. 804(b)(5). 18 While we do not decide if the trial court correctly ruled on the 804(b) (5) issue, we find that the corroborative evidence indicated that Underhill's statements were not totally lacking in reliability, and that a conviction based upon this evidence did not violate appellants' due process rights.