Opinion ID: 692321
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of Good Luck evidence

Text: 45 Puentes challenges on relevancy grounds the admission of Inspector Valdomoro's testimony concerning his participation in a 1990 conspiracy to smuggle cocaine from Colombia into Spain. The government contends the evidence was inextricably intertwined with the same transactions as the charged offense, or, alternatively, was admissible in order to complete the story of the crime for the jury. 46 The district court abused its discretion when it allowed the evidence to be admitted. Puentes was charged with conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. We are unable to see how evidence that Puentes may have conspired to import cocaine into Spain has any tendency to make any fact that is of consequence to the allegation that he conspired to import cocaine into this country more probable. Fed.R.Evid. 401. 6 Nor do we believe that the Good Luck episode was inextricably intertwined evidence of Puentes's criminal activity in the United States. Nevertheless, in light of the overwhelming evidence of Puentes's participation in an ongoing conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, we find that the district court's error was harmless. 4. Batson claim 47 Puentes argues that the government peremptorily challenged two African-American jurors whose backgrounds were almost identical to those of unchallenged white jurors, in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). He also contends that the district court approved this action without inquiry. The government contends that Puentes has not made out a prima facie case and that the district court was, therefore, justified in not holding a hearing to determine the basis for the prosecutor's striking of the jurors. 48 This claim is meritless. Puentes's jury contained four African-Americans. Although the presence of African-American jurors does not dispose of an allegation of race-based peremptory challenges, it is a significant factor tending to prove the paucity of the claim. See United States v. Allison, 908 F.2d 1531, 1537 (11th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 500 U.S. 904, 111 S.Ct. 1681, 114 L.Ed.2d 77 (1991). The district court did not err in failing to conduct a hearing after Puentes raised the Batson claim. 5. New trial motion 49 Puentes argues that newly discovered evidence entitles him to a new trial. He contends that following the completion of his trial, cooperating government witness Gabriel Taboada informed a journalist that he would recant his testimony. Puentes argues that without Taboada's testimony, the government's umbrella conspiracy theory falls apart. The government contends that Taboada, in a December 21, 1992 affidavit, recanted his recantation, thereby reaffirming his prior testimony. The government also contends that the allegedly new evidence would not have produced a different result in a new trial. 50 A motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence is committed to the sound discretion of the district court and will not be upset absent an abuse of discretion. United States v. Espinosa-Hernandez, 918 F.2d 911, 913 n. 5 (11th Cir.1990). This court has held that a retraction of an earlier recantation of trial testimony does not qualify as newly discovered evidence. United States v. Santiago, 837 F.2d 1545, 1550 (1988). Furthermore, the district court found that even if the proffered evidence were credible, it would not result in a change in the verdict. The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Puentes's new trial motion. 51 Puentes also argues that the district court committed reversible error when it: allowed the prosecution to cross-examine defense witnesses through the use of guilt assuming hypothetical questions; allowed the admission of hearsay evidence; allowed the prosecution to rehabilitate one of it's witnesses through the use of a hearsay statement of the declarant in violation of Federal Rules of Evidence 801(d)(1)(B); and, allowed the prosecution to impermissibly impeach the credibility of a defense witness. Our review of these claims demonstrates that they are meritless and do not warrant discussion.