Opinion ID: 683531
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: district court's failure to make explicit findings

Text: 73 REGARDING THE ADMISSIBILITY OF CO-CONSPIRATOR STATEMENTS. 74 Jensen, relying on United States v. Powell, 973 F.2d 885 (10th Cir.1992), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 1598, 123 L.Ed.2d 161 (1993), contends that the district court erred in failing to make explicit findings regarding the admissibility of the co-conspirator statements. 75 The government does not deny that the district court failed to make any findings as to the predicate facts pursuant to Rule 801(d)(2)(E). Instead, the government argues that the omission was harmless. In United States v. Fragoso, 978 F.2d 896, 900-01 (5th Cir.1992), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 1664, 123 L.Ed.2d 282 (1993), we determined that, in denying the defendant's motion for directed verdict of acquittal, the district court implicitly had found sufficient evidence to establish a conspiracy. We therefore reasoned that the error was harmless. Likewise, in the case at bar, the court denied Jensen's motion for directed verdict of acquittal. We must follow the decision of the prior panel in Fragoso and accordingly, reject Jensen's claim. 76