Opinion ID: 450644
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Admission of Prior Acts Evidence Against Alfonso

Text: 40 Alfonso objects to the trial testimony of special agent Lopez, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent. Lopez had met Alfonso and one Esposito in November 1978, in New York. According to Lopez, Alfonso had sought Esposito's help in offloading some stuff from a pier after it arrived by ship. Lopez also testified that Alfonso indicated that the stuff was cocaine, and that it had come from the boat or was to be gotten off the boat. The trial judge admitted the Lopez testimony to show intent, knowledge, and perhaps modus operandi. 5 A limiting instruction emphasized that the evidence was not admitted to prove Alfonso's character, but solely as it might bear upon Alfonso's intent and knowledge because it was conduct similar to Alfonso's conduct in January, 1983. 6 Alfonso challenges similarity and claims that the prejudicial effect of the testimony outweighed any probative value it had. 41 Evidence of specific wrongful conduct is not admissible to prove the character of a person or to show that he acted in conformity with such alleged character. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. Fed.R.Evid. 404(b). 42 Admission of evidence of prior similar acts is within the trial judge's discretion. United States v. Cutler, 676 F.2d 1245, 1249 (9th Cir.1982). If admitted, we review for abuse of that discretion. United States v. Winters, 729 F.2d 602, 604 (9th Cir.1984); United States v. Espinoza, 578 F.2d 224, 228 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 849, 99 S.Ct. 151, 58 L.Ed.2d 151 (1978). Rule 404(b) is a rule of inclusion, United States v. Young, 573 F.2d 1137, 1139-40 (9th Cir.1978). Thus, evidence of past wrongful acts is admissible if it is relevant to an issue other than the defendant's character or criminal propensity. United States v. Bowman, 720 F.2d 1103, 1105 (9th Cir.1983). 43 Nevertheless, evidence of prior crimes or wrongful conduct is potentially prejudicial and may only be admitted if (1) it is similar enough, and close enough in time to be relevant; (2) the evidence concerning the prior crime or act is clear and convincing; and (3) the probative value of the evidence outweighs the potential prejudice to the defendant. United States v. Herrera-Medina, 609 F.2d 376, 379 (9th Cir.1979); United States v. Brashier, 548 F.2d 1315, 1325 (9th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1111, 97 S.Ct. 1149, 51 L.Ed.2d 565 (1977). 7 The burden of showing that such evidence meets these requirements of relevance rests with the government, United States v. Herrera-Medina, 609 F.2d 376, 379 (9th Cir.1969); the government must articulate precisely the evidential hypothesis by which a fact of consequence may be inferred from other acts evidence. United States v. Mehrmanesh, 689 F.2d 822, 830 (9th Cir.1982). 44 The evidence here did not show that Alfonso's conversation with Agent Lopez resulted in his arrest or conviction, although that does not automatically preclude admissibility. E.g., United States v. Nadler, 698 F.2d 995, 1000 (9th Cir.1983) (evidence of a previous counterfeiting operation permitted). But the fact that Alfonso was not shown to have been arrested or prosecuted for the 1978 incident raises questions of probative value, that is, whether that discussion somehow tends to prove that Alfonso's highly ambiguous conduct amounted to commission of the crimes charged here. United States v. Herrera-Medina, 609 F.2d 376, 380 (9th Cir.1979). 45 Nor does the five year gap between the 1978 conversation and the present charges automatically require excluding the evidence. Courts have sanctioned the admission of evidence of equal vintage under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b), United States v. Zeidman, 540 F.2d 314, 319 (7th Cir.1976), and even older (to show motive, intent, plan and absence of mistake or accident). United States v. Reilly, 456 F.Supp. 211, 221 (E.D.Pa.1978) aff'd, 601 F.2d 577 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 903, 100 S.Ct. 216, 62 L.Ed.2d 140 (1979). 46 The troubling question is whether Alfonso's 1978 statement was really probative of his relevant knowledge or intent with respect to the charges of possession and conspiracy in January of 1983. In the 1978 conversation Alfonso asked assistance in offloading from a pier a quantity of cocaine which had been on a ship, or which would be on a ship at some future time. That would have been probative of Alfonso's intent in 1978. But such evidence seems not at all to illuminate the facts of his rental of motel rooms, his possession of a large amount of money, or his possession of identification papers of others, nearly five years later. 47 The government hypothesized that he was the probable purchaser of cocaine which was on the Santa Marta. We do not see how the ancient conversation tends to prove that theory. Proof of an intent to do one thing on an earlier occasion proves little about an intent to execute a dissimilar act at a later time. Alfonso was not shown to have done the same thing on both occasions. Evidence of that kind could well resolve ambiguity as to the real nature of the act to be proved--the probandum. See United States v. Hernandez-Miranda, 601 F.2d 1104, 1108 (9th Cir.1979). The only real inference which the fact trier could draw here is that Alfonso once talked about removing something from a ship, and therefore was likely a sometime smuggler. This says no more than that a person with Alfonso's history has the propensity to become involved in smuggling contraband from a ship. 48 If that be its purpose, Rule 404(b) denies admission. The evidence against Alfonso was tenuous. Over $50,000 was found in Alfonso's hotel room. His wallet held papers bearing Antonio Tellez' name, and he had a wallet with Mora's identification. Alfonso had already been seen in the company of defendants Rayo, Mora and Serrano-Tellez. The paper evidence of Alfonso's acquaintance with his co-defendants was admissible, but highly equivocal. The evidence, however, that five years earlier he had propositioned a longshoreman to help him get cocaine from a ship or pier did not tend logically to prove--without more--that his association with the co-defendants amounted to guilt of conspiracy to smuggle or of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. We conclude that the testimony should have been disallowed. Under these close circumstances, we cannot say that it is more probable than not that such erroneous admission of Agent Lopez's testimony did not materially affect the verdict. United States v. Bettencourt, 614 F.2d 214, 218 (9th Cir.1980). Hence Alfonso's conviction must be reversed.