Opinion ID: 709209
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: analysis

Text: 9 The decision to revoke supervised release is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard, 2 but the constitutional challenge about the right of confrontation of adverse witnesses is reviewed de novo. 3 10 Revocation hearings are not part of the criminal prosecution, are not formal trials, and the rules of evidence are not applied mandatorily. 4 Because a person's liberty is at stake, however, due process requires that a defendant be given a fair and meaningful opportunity to refute and challenge adverse evidence to assure that the court's relevant findings are based on verified facts. 5 11 The defendant's rights in a revocation hearing include a qualified right to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses. The confrontation of a particular witness may be disallowed upon a finding of good cause. 6 In its determination whether good cause exists, courts must employ a balancing test which weighs the defendant's interest in the confrontation of a particular witness against the government's interest in the matter. A critical consideration is the indicia of reliability of the challenged evidence. 7 12 Grandlund maintains that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to make a specific finding of good cause to abrogate his right of confrontation. That failure may require reversal in most instances, 8 but may be found to be harmless error where good cause exists, its basis is found in the record, and its finding is implicit in the court's rulings. 9 In the case at bar good cause exists, its basis is readily found in the record, and its existence is implicit in the court's relevant rulings. 13 In United States v. Kindred we held that the right of confrontation was not violated by the receipt of a urinalysis report through a probation officer's testimony. In Kindred the government's interest in minimizing the difficulty and expense of procuring witnesses outweighed the defendant's interest, deemed minimal because he neither contested the allegations of drug use nor the accuracy of the drug test. We there recognized that urinalysis reports are routine matters for a company engaged in conducting such tests and generally are considered reliable. 14 In United States v. McCormick we concluded that the right to confront a laboratory technician was not infringed by the introduction of a lab report showing that the defendant's urine specimen tested positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine. The record contained numerous indicia that the urinalysis was reliable, including the recognized reliability of the urinalysis report as a regular business record, the testimony of a probation officer that he took the sample and sent it to the laboratory, and an affidavit from a manager of the laboratory attesting to laboratory procedures, the analysis of the particular specimen, and the virtual impossibility that the positive test result could have been caused by another substance. 15 We also concluded in McCormick that the government's interest in avoiding the difficulty and expense of a personal appearance in a federal court in Texas of the California lab technician(s) who analyzed the specimen outweighed the defendant's marginal interest in confrontation. Although McCormick contended that legal medications he was taking had caused a false positive result, he neither requested retesting nor presented any evidence that his medications could have caused a false positive. Nor did he seek a subpoena for any PharmChem employee or offer evidence impugning the reliability of the laboratory or its testing procedures. Further, because of the high volume of specimens analyzed at PharmChem it is not likely that any lab personnel would be able to remember information about the specimen(s) independent of the lab report. As to PharmChem we characterized it as a substantial laboratory of national prominence, which performs a significant volume of urinalyses for the government and relies substantially on such work for its economic viability [and] values its reputation for accuracy and expertise in the field. 10 16 In the case at bar Grandlund's interest is tenuous and marginal. He offered no exculpatory explanation for the seven positive test results over a period of 15 months. He did not seek retesting, requested no subpoena of PharmChem employees, offered no evidence of weakness in the lab's practices or procedures, when confronted by the probation officer he did not deny ingesting cocaine, and offered no suggestion of the questions he would like to ask the lab personnel, or how that cross-examination could be of relevance and value to him. Under the circumstances of this case, we must conclude that a confrontation with laboratory personnel would have been of little use to Grandlund. 17 By contrast, the government's interests are substantial. Avoiding the delay, difficulty, and expense of securing the appearance of distant witnesses has been recognized as adequate good cause. 11 We must note, however, that the indicia of reliability of the evidence in the case at bar is, in some respects, less than that in McCormick. The lab report was not offered nor was an affidavit from a PharmChem lab specialist attesting to the general reliability of the lab's testing procedures and the results of the tests at issue. 18 On the other hand, in the case at bar we have not one urine sample, as in McCormick, but seven samples taken over a period of 15 months. Further, Grandlund did not object to or challenge the testimony of his probation officer that when she confronted him with the cocaine positive results of the first two tests he did not deny ingesting cocaine and sought to use intoxication as the reason. Nor did he object when she testified that as a result of these two tests the court modified the terms of his supervised release to require his participation in a residential drug treatment program and its aftercare. 19 Mindful that we have before us a close case, we nonetheless must conclude, considering all relevant circumstances, that the record adequately supports a finding of good cause for denying Grandlund's right of confrontation herein, and that the finding thereon is implicit in the trial court's rulings. 20 To avoid reversals and remands, considering the delays and burdens imposed thereby on the defendant, prosecution, and the judicial system, and to assure the reliability of relevant, often essential, evidence, we now invoke our supervisory authority and direct the following procedures for all future revocation hearings involving positive laboratory tests: 21 1. A copy of the report of each relevant laboratory test is to be provided to the court and the defendant at least five days, computed in accordance with Fed.R.Crim.P. 45, before the date for the revocation hearing unless the trial court specifically directs a different period. 22 2. At the same time the court and the defendant are to be provided a copy of the report on the chain of custody of each sample, including the date of collection, name of person(s) collecting and labeling same, and a description of the label. 23 3. At the same time the court and the defendant are to be provided with a copy of an affidavit by a responsible laboratory employee attesting to laboratory procedures, including laboratory chain-of-custody routines, whether all required procedures were followed regarding the subject sample(s), and the result(s) of the testing. 24 4. All of the foregoing instruments are to be made a part of the record in each revocation hearing. 25 These procedures are supplementary to the trial court's responsibility, under controlling precedents, to determine whether good cause exists to disallow the right of confrontation of a particular witness after weighing the interests of the defendant and government and evaluating the reliability of the evidence involved. When good cause is found, the district court shall make a part of the record its findings and conclusions on the issue of good cause to abrogate defendant's right of confrontation of an adverse witness. 26 For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of revocation appealed is AFFIRMED, and the supervisory powers directives are ISSUED.