Opinion ID: 781605
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Review for Plain Error and Harmless Error

Text: 43 Having concluded that the district court erred in admitting parts of Biggs's testimony, we must determine what standards of review apply. We conclude that the appellants failed to preserve their objection to the Confrontation Clause violation, and consequently, we evaluate the district court's admission of testimony in violation of the Confrontation Clause for plain error. See United States v. Aulicino, 44 F.3d 1102, 1110 (2d Cir.1995). We evaluate the erroneous admission of hearsay evidence for harmless error. See Rivera, 22 F.3d at 436 (2d Cir.1994). 44 Defense counsel never mentioned the Confrontation Clause or any Confrontation Clause case law in any of their objections, nor did they offer any similar statement that Biggs's testimony denied the appellants their right to confront their accuser. Even assuming, arguendo, that defense counsel actually offered a proper hearsay objection to Biggs's testimony, such a hearsay objection would not in itself preserve a Confrontation Clause claim. As we have noted in dicta: 45 [A] defendant's claim that he was deprived of a fair trial because of the admission in evidence of a statement objectionable as hearsay would not put the court on notice that the defendant claimed a violation of his constitutional right to be confronted by his accusers. 46 Daye v. Attorney Gen. of New York, 696 F.2d 186, 193 (2d Cir.1982) (en banc). 10 Other circuits have reached similar conclusions. See United States v. LaHue, 261 F.3d 993, 1009 (10th Cir.2001), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 1083, 122 S.Ct. 819, 151 L.Ed.2d 701 (2002) (trial counsel had raised hearsay objection, but [w]here a Confrontation Clause objection is not explicitly made below we will not address the constitutional issue in the absence of a conclusion that it was plain error for the district court to fail to raise [it] sua sponte ) (quoting United States v. Perez, 989 F.2d 1574, 1582 (10th Cir.1993) (en banc)); cf. Greer v. Mitchell, 264 F.3d 663, 689 (6th Cir.2001) (rejecting defendant's argument that trial court's ruling on hearsay objections were significant enough to implicate the Confrontation Clause). 47 We adhere to the principle that, as a general matter, a hearsay objection by itself does not automatically preserve a Confrontation Clause claim. To be sure, an objection to hearsay testimony could be stated in such a way to put a trial court on notice that Confrontation Clause concerns are implicated as well. However, the appellants in this case did not do this. Even after the government noted in its appellate brief that it does not concede that the appellants properly raised either the hearsay or the Confrontation Clause objections below, the appellants failed to point out a single reference to the Confrontation Clause, either in name or in substance, or to a single instance in which trial counsel used the term hearsay or cited any relevant Rule of Evidence or precedent in objecting to the inadmissible portions of Biggs's testimony. We also have not found any such references in the trial record. Although a hearsay objection arguably could be discerned from the objections during Biggs's testimony (which focused mainly on whether Biggs could testify about drug code or on whether Biggs was speculating), these cryptic comments do not remotely yield a Confrontation Clause objection. Defense counsel's failure to put the court on notice that Biggs's testimony infringed the appellants' constitutional rights never gave the government a fair opportunity to reply, to properly limit its questions to Biggs, or, once apprised of these heightened constitutional concerns, to decide to call Leonard Miller, a participant in the conversations, to interpret his taped statements. Because the appellants did not preserve their Confrontation Clause claim for appeal, the admission of evidence in violation of [their] Confrontation Clause rights is ground for reversal only if it constitute[d] plain error. Aulicino, 44 F.3d at 1110 (citing Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b)). 48 The Supreme Court has established the following standard for plain error review: 49 Before an appellate court can correct an error not raised at trial, there must be (1) error, (2) that is plain, and (3) that affects substantial rights. If all three conditions are met, an appellate court may then exercise its discretion to notice a forfeited error, but only if (4) the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. 50 Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 467, 117 S.Ct. 1544, 137 L.Ed.2d 718 (1997) (internal quotation marks and citations removed). First, an error is plain if it is clear or obvious at the time of appellate consideration. Id. at 467-68, 117 S.Ct. 1544. While the appellants' trial counsel objected to Biggs's testimony in general, they did not hint at a Confrontation Clause issue. A major thrust of the objections by defense counsel was that Biggs was speculating, an argument that would have been inconsistent with the argument that Biggs was actually conveying the out-of-court statements of Leonard Miller in violation of the Confrontation Clause. In these circumstances, we do not conclude that the Confrontation Clause violations were obvious. Moreover, while Biggs's testimony obviously veered from the expertise of interpreting drug code, the conclusion that he was relying on hearsay requires an inference that was not so obvious as to be correctable as plain error. 51 Second, we have explained that an error affects a defendant's substantial rights if it is prejudicial and it affected the outcome of the district court proceedings. United States v. Gore, 154 F.3d 34, 47 (2d Cir.1998) (citing Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 734-35, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993)). Moreover, reversal for plain error is to be used sparingly, solely in those circumstances in which a miscarriage of justice would otherwise result. United States v. Frady, 456 U.S. 152, 163 n. 14, 102 S.Ct. 1584, 71 L.Ed.2d 816 (1982) (citations omitted). As we discuss below, the error here did not affect the outcome of the proceedings. Thus, the error did not affect substantial rights. Nor did it affect the fairness and integrity of the proceedings or yield a miscarriage of justice. Accordingly, we find that the district court's admission of testimony in violation of the Confrontation Clause did not amount to plain error. 52 Assuming arguendo that a proper hearsay objection was made, we now consider whether the non-constitutional evidentiary errors were harmless. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(a) (Any error, defect, irregularity, or variance which does not affect substantial rights shall be disregarded.). In order to uphold a verdict in the face of an evidentiary error, it must be highly probable that the error did not affect the verdict. United States v. Forrester, 60 F.3d 52, 64 (2d Cir.1995). Reversal is necessary only if the error had a substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury's verdict. United States v. Castro, 813 F.2d 571, 577 (2d Cir.1987) (internal quotation marks omitted). The principal factors for such an inquiry are the importance of the witness's wrongly admitted testimony and the overall strength of the prosecution's case. Wray v. Johnson, 202 F.3d 515, 526 (2d Cir.2000). As the Supreme Court has explained, [i]f, when all is said and done, the [court's] conviction is sure that the error did not influence the jury, or had but very slight effect, the verdict and the judgment should stand.... Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 764, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946). 53 In this case, the error in admitting the improper aspects of Biggs's testimony did not have a substantial influence on the jury's verdict. Id. at 765, 66 S.Ct. 1239. First, as noted above, three cooperating witnesses — Keith Miller, Raymond Fuller, and Linda Fuller — testified extensively that both McGee and Griffin were significant participants in the heroin production and distribution conspiracy. Second, the taped conversations, interpreted in light of Biggs's admissible expert testimony regarding drug code, were particularly incriminating for both McGee and Griffin. For example, the tapes contain McGee's references to B-licks and spider, which Biggs explained were coded references to heroin. Even if Biggs's testimony interpreting the taped conversations had been excluded entirely, the jurors could have interpreted the recorded conversations as involving narcotics based on the testimony of other witnesses. Co-conspirator Keith Miller, for example, explained the meaning of the taped narcotics conversations in which he participated (raising no hearsay concerns), and these conversations implicated both appellants. Independent of Biggs's testimony, Miller explained the drug code terminology, such as spider, that he, McGee, and Griffin each used in their recorded conversations. Once Keith Miller provided this admissible explanation of such jargon, it was apparent that McGee and Griffin were discussing the details of heroin production and distribution. Third, a search of Griffin's residence turned up both drugs and drug paraphernalia, and he was arrested with a handgun which, according to taped discussions by the Miller brothers, he purchased for protection against robbery of either drugs or drug money. 54 The inadmissible aspects of Biggs's testimony, viewed in relation to the prosecution's formidable array of admissible evidence, was merely corroborative and cumulative. See Wray, 202 F.3d at 526 ([W]here the wrongly admitted evidence was cumulative of other properly admitted evidence, it is less likely to have injuriously influenced the jury's verdict.). The appellants claim that the prosecution emphasized the wrongly admitted evidence in its closing argument. See id. We disagree. The government's summation focused mostly on the co-conspirator testimony, the tapes themselves, and Miller's and Biggs's admissible interpretation of drug code, such as the terms B-licks and spider. Considering that the co-conspirators' testimony already had properly established that background and context, Biggs's inadmissible hearsay testimony played only a minor role in the government's arguments. Examining the proceedings in their entirety, we conclude that the error did not affect the jury's verdict. Kotteakos, 328 U.S. at 762; see also United States v. Check, 582 F.2d 668, 684 (2d Cir.1978).