Opinion ID: 708235
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admission of Statements by Coconspirators

Text: 13 Mr. Johnson contends the district court erred in admitting certain out-of-court statements by his coconspirators as non-hearsay pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). 2 Before admitting evidence under this rule,  'The court must determine that (1) by a preponderance of the evidence, a conspiracy existed, (2) the declarant and the defendant were both members of the conspiracy, and (3) the statements were made in the course of and in furtherance of the conspiracy.'  United States v. Urena, 27 F.3d 1487, 1490 (10th Cir.) (quoting United States v. Johnson, 911 F.2d 1394, 1403 (10th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1050, 111 S.Ct. 761, 112 L.Ed.2d 781 (1991)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 455, 130 L.Ed.2d 364 (1994). The district court may make these factual determinations using either of two procedures: (1) It may hold a James hearing, see generally, United States v. James, 590 F.2d 575 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 442 U.S. 917, 99 S.Ct. 2836, 61 L.Ed.2d 283 (1979), outside the presence of the jury to determine whether the predicate conspiracy existed, or (2) it may provisionally admit the evidence with the caveat that the evidence must connect up during trial, i.e., that the party offering the evidence must prove the existence of the predicate conspiracy through trial testimony or other evidence. Urena, 27 F.3d at 1491. The former procedure is strongly preferred in this Circuit. Id. 14 Here the district court chose to hold a James hearing. The government called only one witness, FBI Special Agent John Hersley. Mr. Johnson objected and requested the court require the government to place his coconspirators on the stand and allow him to cross-examine them. The district court overruled the objections and, after hearing Special Agent Hersley's testimony, concluded the government had proven there was a conspiracy between Timothy Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Nick Owens, Chiquita Owens, William Gaines, and others from 1988 to 1994, but the government had not yet proven by a preponderance of the evidence that Chiquita Owens and Kevin Johnson entered into a conspiracy for the entire course alleged in the indictment. However, the district court allowed the government to introduce the coconspirator statements provided they were prefaced by some showing of the time and involvement of [Chiquita Owens and Kevin Johnson] at the time in question and it was obvious from the context at the time [the statement was] offered that it [was] in furtherance of this conspiracy and in the course of it. The district court also expressly stated its finding was based not only on the actual coconspirator statements the government sought to admit, but also on independent proof of the conspiracy. 15 The order of proof the district court applied was consistent with our holding in Urena and we find no abuse of discretion. See United States v. Williamson, 53 F.3d 1500, 1517 (10th Cir.) (order of proof chosen by district court reviewed for abuse of discretion), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 218, 133 L.Ed.2d 149 (1995); United States v. Roberts, 14 F.3d 502, 514 (10th Cir.1993) (we have never constructed a fixed formula to govern the James prophylaxis); Urena, 27 F.3d at 1491. Kevin Johnson contends, however, the district court's finding a predicate conspiracy existed was clear error because it relied solely on Special Agent Hersley's summary of the information his coconspirators provided after entering into plea agreements with the government. See Williamson, 53 F.3d at 1517 (district court's finding a predicate conspiracy existed is reviewed for clear error). According to Mr. Johnson, the government was required to corroborate the information his coconspirators gave Special Agent Hersley with independent evidence, which he defines as evidence from a source other than his coconspirators. 16 Mr. Johnson's contention lacks merit. In Bourjaily v. United States, 483 U.S. 171, 181, 107 S.Ct. 2775, 2781, 97 L.Ed.2d 144 (1987), the Supreme Court held the district court may consider and rely on the actual coconspirator statements the government seeks to admit to determine whether a predicate conspiracy existed within the meaning of Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). We have repeated that holding time and time again in our decisions. See, e.g., United States v. Hernandez, 829 F.2d 988, 993 (10th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 485 U.S. 1013, 108 S.Ct. 1486, 99 L.Ed.2d 714 (1988). However, the Court expressly declined to consider in Bourjaily what, if any, other limitations there might be on types of evidence the district court may consider. Bourjaily, 483 U.S. at 181, 107 S.Ct. at 2781. However, the Supreme Court made it abundantly clear that Fed.R.Evid. 104(a) governs the matter. Id. at 177-81, 107 S.Ct. at 2779-81. That rule provides: Preliminary questions concerning ... the admissibility of evidence shall be determined by the court.... In making its determination it is not bound by the rules of evidence except those with respect to privileges. Thus, although the Supreme Court did not need to reach the issue in Bourjaily, the clear message of that decision is that in deciding whether the offering party has satisfied its burden at a James hearing, the district court has the discretion to consider any evidence not subject to a privilege, including both the coconspirator statements the government seeks to introduce at trial and any other hearsay evidence, whether or not that evidence would be admissible at trial. Applying this conclusion to the case now before us, it appears that even if the out-of-court statements the coconspirators made to Special Agent Hersley during the course of the investigation and which he later summarized at the James hearing were hearsay within the meaning of Fed.R.Evid. 801(c), they were nevertheless admissible at that stage of the proceedings. 17 In Bourjaily, the Supreme Court left open the question whether the district court may rely solely on the coconspirator statements the government seeks to admit, or whether the government must also produce other, independent evidence of conspiracy. Bourjaily, 483 U.S. at 181, 107 S.Ct. at 2781. We have since held Bourjaily requires at most, there ... be some independent evidence linking the defendant to the conspiracy. United States v. Martinez, 825 F.2d 1451, 1453 (10th Cir.1987). However, such independent evidence may be sufficient even though it is not substantial. United States v. Rascon, 8 F.3d 1537, 1541 (10th Cir.1993). 18 Contrary to Mr. Johnson's contention, there is nothing in Bourjaily to suggest the independent evidence must come from some source other than a member of the conspiracy or that it cannot be an out-of-court statement by a coconspirator to a government agent during an investigation. To the contrary, we have defined independent evidence as simply evidence other than the proffered [coconspirator] statements themselves. Martinez, 825 F.2d at 1451. In addition, we have held a coconspirator's testimony regarding direct observations and contacts with defendant qualifies as independent evidence. Hernandez, 829 F.2d at 995; see also United States v. Doran, 882 F.2d 1511, 1526 (10th Cir.1989). 19 In this case, Special Agent Hersley did more than summarize the coconspirator statements the government sought to introduce against Kevin Johnson at trial pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). Special Agent Hersley testified Kevin Johnson's coconspirators told him they had firsthand knowledge that (1) Mr. Johnson introduced his brother Timothy to the organization's Los Angeles supplier, Ramon Cartznes, in 1991, (2) Mr. Johnson wired money from Oklahoma to Mr. Cartznes in Los Angeles, and (3) Mr. Johnson put one-half kilogram of cocaine into a car in Los Angeles so that Ronnie Johnson and Devin Prince could transport it to Oklahoma. Ostensibly, this is the independent evidence to which the district court referred when it made its finding. In light of this evidence and the other evidence introduced at the James hearing, the district court did not clearly err. 20 Despite the conclusion we reach in this case, we do not suggest there are no limits of any kind on the use of summary testimony or other summary evidence during a James hearing. Our decision in United States v. Roberts, 14 F.3d 502, 513-14 (10th Cir.1993) is instructive on this point. In Roberts, the district court ordered the government to submit a written proffer summarizing 911 telephone calls it had intercepted. It denied the defendants' request for an oral proffer because that procedure would be inefficient given the volume of the evidence. We made it clear we were reluctant to approve or condone the district court's reliance on the government's written proffer because this summary procedure undermined the district court's ability to evaluate the telephone conversations in context or even identify the speakers and because the written proffer did not adequately specify the particular coconspirator statements the government planned to introduce at trial. Id. at 514. We concluded, however, the district court did not abuse its discretion by using this written summary procedure because the potential unwieldiness of a hearing, [the district court's] invitation to the parties to press continuing objections, and its contemporaneous rulings and limiting instructions during trial outweighed its shortcomings. Id. Just as in Roberts, we decline to broadly and unequivocally endorse the summary procedure used in this case. Instead, we will continue to entrust the matter to the discretion of the district court to be decided in light of the particular circumstances of each case. 21 Kevin Johnson also contends the district court erred by admitting two coconspirator statements during trial because the government failed to show they were made in the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy. The first is coconspirator Arthur Westerbrook's testimony that coconspirator Timothy Johnson's right-hand man Charles Watson told him Kevin Johnson was the person Timothy Johnson was dealing with from California. The second is Charles Watson's testimony that coconspirator Ramon Cartznes was a major drug dealer from the west coast area, he supplied Timothy Johnson with cocaine, and Timothy Johnson met Mr. Cartznes through his half-brother Kevin Johnson. These statements were in furtherance of the conspiracy under our case law. See Williamson, 53 F.3d at 1520 (statements identifying other members of the conspiracy and statements describing their roles in the conspiracy are in furtherance of the conspiracy). They were also made during the course of the conspiracy. A coconspirator statement is made during the course of the conspiracy if it is made before  'the objectives of the conspiracy have either failed or been achieved.'  United States v. Perez, 989 F.2d 1574, 1579 (10th Cir.1993) (en banc) (quoting the Advisory Committee Note to Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E)). The objective of the conspiracy in this case, to distribute cocaine in the Musgrave Addition area of Oklahoma City, was being vigorously pursued at the time both of these coconspirator statements were made. 22