Opinion ID: 2809264
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Falsely Dating the N-17 Recording

Text: Among the evidence that was entered against Webb in his criminal trial was a phone conversation between Webb and Bray, titled N-17 and dated October 13, 2005, that was monitored and recorded by Metcalf. While DEA policy requires that a recorded call begin with a time-and-date header, that procedure was not followed in this case, and the recording was dated after the fact. The transcript of the recorded call does not contain any overt indications that Webb and Bray had arranged a drug deal. Instead, the two spoke about buying cars. Bray ended the conversation by telling Webb that he was going to “have a couple stacks tomorrow.” Lucas wrote in his DEA-6 report that “two stacks” tomorrow was code for $2,000 to purchase crack and testified the same to the grand jury. Webb, 2013 WL 1303776, at  (internal quotation marks omitted). Webb argues that Metcalf and Lucas fabricated evidence against him by misdating the call as occurring on October 13, 2005, so that it could be used as evidence of arranging the October 14, 2005, drug deal. Webb acknowledges that he had this conversation with Bray but denies that they discussed arranging a drug deal or that the conversation occurred on October 13, 2005. Bray indicated that the N-17 call was made on a Nextel phone given to him by the DEA, which is consistent with the recording’s transcript. He also insisted that the recorded Nos. 14-3443/3444 Webb, et al. v. United States, et al. Page 26 conversation did not occur on October 13, 2005. The DEA examined phone records and found no evidence of a call between Webb and Bray on that date. The district court granted summary judgment to Metcalf and Lucas on this issue because “it is undisputed that the date of the alleged October 13, 2005 conversation was not an issue or even disputed at Lucas’s criminal trial.” Webb, 2013 WL 1303776, at  (emphasis added). The fact that the United States did not contest the date of the call at a trial against its codefendant in this case, however, does not establish the date of the call or its materiality. Lucas and the United States also point out that the transcript is labeled “10-13-05.” United States’s Br. (14-3443) at 29; Lucas’s Br. (14-3443) at 39. This argument is circular and only establishes that the Defendants labeled the recording as such after the fact because it is undisputed that they did not follow standard protocol to create a time-and-date header at the time the recording took place. Webb demonstrates a genuine issue of material fact as to the date of the recording because phone records and Bray’s statements indicate that the recording did not occur on October 13, 2005. This factual dispute is material because, if the call did not occur on October 13, 2005, it would be unreasonable for anyone to believe that the participants planned to engage in a drug deal on October 14, 2005, even if Webb had unequivocally agreed to sell drugs in exchange for “two stacks” tomorrow. See Gregory, 444 F.3d at 757-58.