Opinion ID: 398632
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Appellant Jones' Arguments

Text: 6 Jones' argument that there was insufficient evidence for his conviction rests largely on whether we uphold the ruling of the district court that the statements of coconspirators were inadmissible against him. We therefore begin by considering the admissibility of coconspirators' statements against Jones. 7 Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2)(E) provides that a statement is not excludable as hearsay if offered against a party and made by a coconspirator of the party during the course of and in furtherance of the conspiracy. The former Fifth Circuit in United States v. James, 590 F.2d 575 (en banc), cert. denied, 442 U.S. 917, 99 S.Ct. 2836, 61 L.Ed.2d 283 (1979), has explained how to apply that rule, holding that, if the party against whom the statement is introduced objects to the use of the evidence, the court should determine whether substantial evidence, independent of the statements to be introduced, shows the existence of a conspiracy to which the party belonged. In this case the trial court held a hearing to determine whether coconspirators' statements were admissible under James. The court ruled that they were admissible against all defendants but Jones. The government contests the correctness of the ruling concerning Jones. The trial court's determination is a finding of fact that we can overturn only if clearly erroneous. United States v. Perry, 624 F.2d 29, 30-31 (5th Cir. 1980). 8 The evidence of Jones' participation in the conspiracy is his presence at meetings on May 16 and 25 at which financial and operational details of the smuggling operation were discussed, his departure for South Carolina with several other defendants, his staying at rooms with them, and his travelling to a local airport with another defendant to pick up Lloyd and Bulman. Jones, stating that he never talked at a meeting, provided no money, was merely travelling north to Atlantic City, and only intended to show the co-defendant the way to the local airport, asserts that the evidence, though admittedly showing that he knew of the conspiracy, did not show that he joined in it. We agree. Although we might find the coconspirators' statements admissible against Jones if deciding the matter without a prior ruling by the court below, we are not, after a review of the record, left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed, United States v. United States Gypsum Co., 333 U.S. 364, 395, 68 S.Ct. 525, 542, 92 L.Ed. 746 (1948), that makes it necessary to overturn the district court's determination as clearly erroneous. 5 9 Without the statements of coconspirators available as evidence against Jones, we find, as the government seems to concede, that the jury must necessarily have entertained a reasonable doubt about his guilt. We reverse Jones' conviction. 6 10 II. THE FAILURE OF THE DISTRICT COURT TO RECONSIDER ITS INITIAL RULING ADMITTING COCONSPIRATORS' STATEMENTS AGAINST BULMAN 11 Bulman next asserts that the district judge erred in failing to reconsider his initial James ruling at the end of trial and decide whether a preponderance of the independent evidence introduced at trial sufficiently connected him with the conspiracy. James, he asserts, requires such a redetermination. His conviction, he argues, therefore should be reversed. We disagree. Bulman never made a motion to have the district court reconsider its initial determination that the coconspirators' statements were admissible against him. James itself states that a court need only reconsider its initial determination on proper motion by a defendant. See 590 F.2d at 582; see also United States v. Berry, 644 F.2d 1034, 1038 (5th Cir. 1981); United States v. Ricks, 639 F.2d 1305, 1310 (5th Cir. 1981). 7 In any event, since we have held that there was sufficient evidence to connect Bulman to the conspiracy, any error by the court in failing explicitly to state that it found that the James requirements were met would be harmless.