Opinion ID: 603578
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: dreier's testimony

Text: 49 Larry Dreier, who had been arrested for distribution of cocaine, testified pursuant to a plea agreement about obtaining quantities of cocaine and crank from Allen both prior to and during the period of the conspiracy, charged as July through December of 1990. Dreier also described how he met Williams through Allen late in the summer of 1990 when purchasing cocaine and saw Williams again when he returned some bad crank to Allen in Casper, Wyoming. Dreier testified that he spoke with Allen about repayment for the bad crank on numerous occasions during the fall of 1990. A few weeks before he was arrested, Williams attempted to deliver six ounces of crank to Dreier at Dreier's residence. 50 Williams and Allen object that Dreier's testimony was improperly admitted because the trial court did not adequately weigh the prejudicial effects of admitting evidence of transactions that predated the charged conspiracy as well as uncharged cocaine transactions. Whether the testimony was other crimes evidence within the meaning of rule 404(b) is a question of law we review de novo. United States v. Soliman, 813 F.2d 277, 278 (9th Cir.1987). If it was other crimes evidence, we review the district court's decision to admit it for abuse of discretion. United States v. Mundi, 892 F.2d 817, 820 (9th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1119, 111 S.Ct. 1072, 112 L.Ed.2d 1178 (1991). 51 Evidence should not be considered other crimes evidence when  'the evidence concerning the [other] act and the evidence concerning the crime charged are inextricably intertwined.'  Soliman, 813 F.2d at 279 (quoting United States v. Aleman, 592 F.2d 881, 885 (5th Cir.1979)) (alteration in original). The policies underlying rule 404(b) are inapplicable when offenses committed as part of a single criminal episode become other acts simply because the defendant is indicted for less than all of his actions. Id. 52 The uncharged transactions with Allen and later Williams to which Dreier testified were closely linked to the events charged in the Williams/Allen drug conspiracy. Dreier was an established cocaine customer of Allen who began purchasing crank from the conspirators in July 1990 in addition to the usual cocaine. This represented an important development in the Williams/Allen conspiracy; Dreier was a fairly substantial outlet for drugs since he himself was a distributor. Dreier's brief testimony regarding earlier cocaine transactions focused mainly on his and Allen's usual mode of doing business at a motel in Casper. It was during such a transaction that Dreier met Williams. 53 In view of these facts, Dreier's testimony regarding uncharged conduct was inextricable from and provided necessary context for Dreier's testimony about the charged conduct. Even if portions of Dreier's testimony could be categorized as other crimes evidence, the district court would not have abused its discretion in admitting it. The additional acts predating the conspiracy pertained to Allen only, and the court issued a cautionary instruction as to Allen. As for uncharged cocaine transactions with Dreier during the conspiracy period, because they were linked to and essentially part of the same conduct as the crank sales, Dreier's references to them during his testimony were not unfairly prejudicial.