Opinion ID: 216023
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admission of Tape Recordings

Text: Holmes next challenges the district court’s decision to admit the tape recordings of conversations between him and Pena, arguing that the evidence―offered to establish Holmes’ 4 involvement in a drug transaction―was unfairly prejudicial and should have been excluded as propensity evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) which prohibits admission of “other crimes, wrongs, or acts . . . to show action in conformity therewith.” The government contends that the district court properly admitted the tape recordings under Rule 404(b) as background to the charged conduct and as proof of motive for carrying the firearm at issue in this case and that any potential prejudice was mitigated by the court’s limiting instructions. We review evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. Mercado, 573 F.3d at 141. A district court abuses its discretion when it makes evidentiary rulings that are “arbitrary and irrational.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Finally, harmless error analysis applies to evidentiary rulings so that even an erroneous evidentiary ruling is “harmless” where “the evidence did not substantially influence the jury.” Id. (quoting United States v. Jackson, 301 F.3d 59, 65 (2d Cir. 2002)). Rule 404(b) permits the admission of evidence to demonstrate a proof of motive. The government sought admission of the tapes to establish Holmes’ motive for carrying a firearm with him, i.e., that he was traveling to engage in a drug transaction and was carrying a large amount of cash with him, thus giving him a motive for carrying a gun for protection. Accordingly, the evidence was admitted for a permissible purpose. The testimony adduced at trial from the DEA agents sufficiently established that the tape recordings referred to a drug transaction―Holmes and Pena discussed times to meet; the availability of a “whip” (a car with a hidden compartment); Pena’s need for “cheddar” (i.e., money) and Holmes statement that he would be “paying for all of them”; and specific quantities of drugs, i.e., “five” plus an “extra five,” taken to mean Holmes would be paying for five kilograms of cocaine and Pena would be bringing an additional five kilograms to sell on his own. The DEA agent further testified that 5 Holmes was carrying the street value of five kilograms of cocaine at the time of his arrest, i.e., $95,000 in cash. Moreover, the district court properly gave a limiting instruction which, inter alia, informed the jurors that “the defendant is not charged with drug dealing in this case,” that the “evidence related to drugs” had been admitted “for a limited purpose” and should be considered only for “background to the charged firearm crime” and as “relevant to . . . the defendant’s motive for allegedly possessing the charged firearm,” and that the recordings could not be considered “as evidence that the defendant is of a bad character or that he has a propensity to commit crime.” Accordingly, any potential for prejudice was drastically reduced. The district court, therefore, did not abuse its discretion in admitting the tapes pursuant to Rule 404(b).