Opinion ID: 664628
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Balance of Probative Value Against Prejudice

Text: 47 It is true, as the Government contends, that, in some instances, information possessed by investigating agents is received at trial not for the truth of the matter, but as background to explain the investigation, or to show an agent's state of mind so that the jury will understand the reasons for the agent's subsequent actions. See, e.g., United States v. Lubrano, 529 F.2d 633, 637 (2d Cir.1975), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 818, 97 S.Ct. 61, 50 L.Ed.2d 78 (1976); United States v. Valencia, 957 F.2d 1189, 1198 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 254, 121 L.Ed.2d 185 (1992); United States v. Love, 767 F.2d 1052, 1063 (4th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1081, 106 S.Ct. 848, 88 L.Ed.2d 890 (1986). Such evidence can be helpful in clarifying noncontroversial matter without causing unfair prejudice on significant disputed matters. In other instances, it can constitute appropriate rebuttal to initiatives launched by the defendant. See United States v. Hawkins, 905 F.2d 1489, 1495 (11th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1038, 111 S.Ct. 707, 112 L.Ed.2d 696 (1991). However, neither circumstance obtained here. At trial and on this appeal, the Government has displayed so egregious a misunderstanding of the circumstances that will justify such evidence that the subject requires some explanation. 48 The proffer of such evidence generally raises two questions: first, whether the non-hearsay purpose by which the evidence is sought to be justified is relevant, i.e., whether it supports or diminishes the likelihood of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action, see Fed.R.Evid. 401, and second, whether the probative value of this evidence for its non-hearsay purpose is outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice resulting from the impermissible hearsay use of the declarant's statement. See Fed.R.Evid. 403. See also United States v. Tussa, 816 F.2d 58 (2d Cir.1987); United States v. Martin, 897 F.2d 1368 (6th Cir.1990); United States v. Mancillas, 580 F.2d 1301, 1309 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 958, 99 S.Ct. 361, 58 L.Ed.2d 351 (1978). Thus, contrary to the government's contention, the mere identification of a relevant non-hearsay use of such evidence is insufficient to justify its admission if the jury is likely to consider the statement for the truth of what was stated with significant resultant prejudice. The greater the likelihood of prejudice resulting from the jury's misuse of the statement, the greater the justification needed to introduce the background evidence for its non-hearsay uses. 49 Questions involved in the determination of the relevance and importance of such evidence include: (i) Does the background or state of mind evidence contribute to the proof of the defendant's guilt? 2 (ii) If so, how important is it to the jury's understanding of the issues? (iii) Can the needed explanation of background or state of mind be adequately communicated by other less prejudicial evidence or by instructions? (iv) Has the defendant engaged in a tactic that justifiably opens the door to such evidence to avoid prejudice to the Government? 3 50 Questions involved in the assessment of potential prejudice include: (v) Does the declaration address an important disputed issue in the trial? 4 Is the same information shown by other uncontested evidence? 5 (vi) Was the statement made by a knowledgeable declarant so that it is likely to be credited by the jury? (vii) Will the declarant testify at trial, thus rendering him available for cross-examination? If so, will he testify to the same effect as the out-of-court statement? Is the out-of-court statement admissible in any event as a prior consistent, or inconsistent, statement? (viii) Can curative or limiting instructions effectively protect against misuse or prejudice? 6 51 In this case, virtually every variable argues against receipt of this evidence. 52 First, as to the relevance and importance of the asserted non-hearsay purpose: Agent Caggiano's state of mind as her investigation progressed was probably not relevant 7 and was certainly not important to any issue properly in the trial. Her state of mind may be relevant to the history of the investigation, but the history of the investigation was not relevant to the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Prosecutors sometimes adopt a tactic of structuring the evidence in the form of the history of the investigation, because it makes the evidence more exciting and perhaps also because it suggests a guilty verdict as a logical, satisfying conclusion. It is not improper for prosecutors to use this tactic in presenting relevant evidence. But the fact that the prosecutor chooses this narrative device does not enlarge the scope of relevant evidence. The investigating agent's state of mind, although perhaps important to the story of the investigation, nonetheless remains irrelevant to the issue being tried: The question of the defendant's guilt. 53 Even if there had been sufficient reason to explain to the jury why the agent investigated Stein, that explanation was amply provided by the fact that his address had been used by the Reyeses in renting the red van and appeared again on Fernando's matchbook cover. 54 Nor had the defendant engaged in tactics that would justify rebuttal through the state of mind evidence, such as imputing bias, or likelihood of fabrication of evidence, to the Government agent. Where this happens, it can be important for the Government to show the jury that the agent had a valid reason to investigate the defendant. Such tactics by the defendant can result in opening the door to the receipt of even prejudicial declarations for the non-hearsay purpose of explaining the agent's actions. The Government makes no contention that any tactic of Stein called for such response at trial. 55 As to the capacity for prejudice: The co-conspirators' statements addressed the most important disputed issue in the trial; they directly implicated the defendant in the crime. 8 In addition, the declaration implicating the defendant in the crime came from a highly credible source. Caggiano's testimony conveyed that Fernando and Francisco admitted their complicity in the cocaine conspiracy, and immediately implicated their relative Rafael and the defendant Stein. Under the circumstances, the hearsay declaration communicated to the jury a powerful message that the defendant was guilty. 56 Fernando and Francisco did not testify at the trial. Accordingly, the defendant had no opportunity to discredit their declarations to Agent Caggiano by cross-examination. 9 57 Ordinarily we assume that juries will follow limiting and curative instructions. There are, however, occasions where the prejudice is so severe that such instructions are unlikely to be effective. Given the high potency of these declarations, their determinative significance for the only important issue in the trial, and their lack of significance for any other purpose, the limiting instructions given by the court were unlikely to prevent the jury from considering the declarations for their truth. The instructions given, furthermore, did not clearly explain the difficult mental task of considering information for one purpose but not for another. In our view, they did not effectively guard against the prejudicial impact of the declarations as highly persuasive evidence of the defendant's guilt. No limiting instruction was given, furthermore, with respect to the matchbook evidence. 58 In conclusion, the resulting prejudice from the receipt of such incriminating declarations was considerable and far exceeded the minimal or non-existent probative value of the non-hearsay uses of this evidence. We conclude that the receipt of this evidence was error. 59 Whether these errors should be considered harmless is a closer question. The evidence against Stein was unquestionably strong, but was not overwhelming. And even to the extent the evidence tended to show Stein's involvement in the planned diving operation, this did not necessarily show his knowledge that the dive was for cocaine. The evidence against Stein came primarily from Rafael Reyes, whose credibility was undermined by his motive to obtain a reduction of sentence through cooperation. The Government contends he was rehabilitated by the fact that he had made a pre-arrest statement implicating Stein to a police officer in Chicago. This attempted rehabilitation, however, suffered from two flaws. First, the only evidence that Rafael named Stein in his pre-arrest statement to the Chicago police officer came through Rafael's testimony. If the jury doubted Rafael's truthfulness in implicating Stein, it could equally doubt the veracity of his testimony that he had told the Chicago policeman about Stein. Secondly, even if Rafael made a prior consistent statement to a Chicago policeman before his arrest, that was not necessarily prior to his motive to fabricate. At the time, Rafael knew that Francisco and Fernando had been arrested and that he would probably soon be arrested; the reason he spoke to the Chicago police officer was to explore the possible benefits of cooperation; thus the motive to provide evidence against Stein already existed. 60 We cannot conclude that it was  'highly probable' that the[se] error[s] did not contribute to the verdict, Tussa, 816 F.2d at 67 (citations omitted), or that these errors had a very slight effect on the jury. United States v. Zackson, 12 F.3d 1178, 1184 (2d Cir.1993). These errors do not pass the harmless error test. The judgment of conviction must be reversed. Because the case will likely be retried, we note for guidance on retrial that we found no merit to Stein's other contentions. 61 We add a note of caution to criminal prosecutors. Because in criminal cases there has been little prior discovery, and the defense lawyers often do not know in advance what will be the testimony of prosecution witnesses, trial judges have little ability to prevent error if prosecutors act without due caution. The need for retrial of this case could easily have been avoided if the Assistant U.S. Attorney, recognizing that he was about to elicit potentially incendiary evidence as to which there are arguable grounds for exclusion, had begun by a proffer, preferably in writing, explaining the issues in full, so that the defendant had the chance to object and the judge to rule before the harm was done.