Opinion ID: 1940768
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Admissibility of Hearsay Statements Alleged to have been Uttered by Co-conspirators.

Text: In order to determine the admissibility of certain evidence sought to be offered by the State, the trial court held a hearing in advance of trial pursuant to Iowa Rule of Evidence 104(a). The subject of the hearing was whether statements made by Burrows and Hall were excluded by the hearsay rule. The State contended that the statements in question were those of a coconspirator of a party during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy so as to be excluded from the definition of hearsay by Iowa Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2)(E). Defendant urges that the district court erred in its conclusion that the State offered sufficient evidence of a conspiracy at this hearing to permit introduction of statements to third persons by Burrows and Hall. The court of appeals rejected that contention. The State urges that to sustain the admissibility of statements of co-conspirators under rule 801(d)(2)(E) it is only necessary that substantial evidence be found in the record which would support a finding that the declarant was a co-conspirator with the person on trial. In support of this contention, it relies on statements indicating a substantial evidence test in State v. Kidd, 239 N.W.2d 860, 864 (Iowa 1976), and State v. Blyth, 226 N.W.2d 250, 269 (Iowa 1975). We believe that a substantial evidence test is more appropriately a standard for appellate court review of a trial court's determination of whether a conspiracy has been shown. It is not a standard to be applied in determining that issue at the trial court level. It is ultimately the responsibility of the trial judge in such situations to find the facts necessary for the admissibility of the evidence. That task is not satisfied by merely noting that evidence has been presented from which a conspiracy might be found to exist. This approach to the issue is the one which has been applied by the federal courts in dealing with Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2)(E) which is similar to our Iowa rule. See Bourjaily v. United States,  U.S. , , 107 S.Ct. 2775, 2778-81, 97 L.Ed.2d 144, 151-56 (1987); United States v. Roe, 670 F.2d 956, 963-64 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 856, 103 S.Ct. 126, 74 L.Ed.2d 109 (1982); United States v. James, 590 F.2d 575, 581 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 442 U.S. 917, 99 S.Ct. 2836, 61 L.Ed.2d 283 (1979); United States v. Bell, 573 F.2d 1040, 1044 (8th Cir.1978). The standard of proof applied by federal courts for determination of this preliminary issue of fact by the trial judge is a preponderance of evidence. Bourjaily,  U.S. at , 107 S.Ct. at 2778-79, 97 L.Ed.2d at 151-53; United States v. Terry, 702 F.2d 299, 320-21 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 931, 103 S.Ct. 2095, 77 L.Ed.2d 304 (1983); United States v. Radseck, 718 F.2d 233, 235-36 (7th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1029, 104 S.Ct. 1291, 79 L.Ed.2d 693 (1984); Bell, 573 F.2d at 1044. We agree that this should be the standard of proof under Iowa Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2)(E). Our decisions in Kidd and Blyth are not necessarily contrary to that belief. Trial court findings of conspiracy by a preponderance of the evidence were implicit in the trial court's rulings in those cases admitting the challenged evidence. On our appellate review, we upheld those implicit findings based on our conclusion that they were supported by substantial evidence in the record. The trial court's carefully prepared ruling in the present case which was issued subsequent to the rule 104 hearing demonstrates that it admitted the challenged statements because it believed it was more likely than not a conspiracy existed. [4] Several of the challenged statements relate entirely to the concealment of evidence after the murder had been committed. In State v. Elam, 328 N.W.2d 314, 319 (Iowa 1982), it was determined that a conspiracy after the fact to conceal a crime or to further the escape of a perpetrator will support the admissibility of co-conspirator statements under rule 801(d)(2)(E) tending to establish the existence of the after-the-fact activities. Those activities constituted evidence relevant to the primary crime because they reveal guilty knowledge of the accused. Elam does not stand for the proposition that proof of a conspiracy by accessories after the fact, without more, can serve to render admissible statements made by the after-the-fact conspirators concerning the primary crime. In order for statements of that type to be admissible under rule 801(d)(2)(E), a conspiracy to commit the primary crime must first be established. In our review of the district court's rulings on evidence, we believe it so limited the application of Elam. Evidence relied on in determining the existence of a conspiracy must include some proof independent of the co-conspirator's statement which is the subject of the evidentiary ruling. Kidd, 239 N.W.2d at 864; Blyth, 226 N.W.2d at 269. As a leading commentator has observed, however, [a] conspiracy mounted and carried on without words is difficult to imagine. McCormick, Evidence § 267, at 792 n.37 (E. Cleary ed. 1984). Many times these statements will be uttered under circumstances making the act of communication an integral part of the concerted action which constitutes the conspiracy. United States v. Hassell, 547 F.2d 1048, 1052 (8th Cir.1977). Exclusion of such evidence would deny the prosecution the right to prove the conspiracy by means of the very acts of which it is comprised. The authoritative case under Federal Rule of Evidence 801(b)(2)(E) is Bourjaily in which the Court holds it is not necessary to completely ignore the co-conspirator's statements in considering whether a conspiracy has been sufficiently established for purposes of admitting the statement in evidence as to the primary crime charged. Viewing the record in accordance with these considerations, we conclude that it is sufficient to sustain the trial court's conclusion that Burrows, Hall and defendant were co-conspirators in carrying out the primary crime.