Opinion ID: 763758
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Passports

Text: 28 Pluta also argues that the contents of the Polish passports found in the women's luggage, identifying Wicijewska and Dyblik as Polish citizens, should have been excluded from evidence both because those contents were hearsay and because the passports were not properly authenticated pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 902(3) and 18 U.S.C. § 3505. We conclude that these provisions were not controlling and that if there was any error in the court's receipt of the passports, it too was harmless. 29 Pluta's reliance on § 3505 is misplaced because, inter alia, that section deals with business records. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 3505(a)(1)(B) (foreign record[s] of regularly conducted activity that were kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity); H. Rep. No. 98-907, at 3, reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3578, 3580 (purpose of § 3505 is to create a simple, inexpensive substitute for the cumbersome and expensive procedures presently required for the admission of foreign business records). Passports qua passports are more properly characterized as public records than business records, see generally 31 M. Graham, Federal Practice and Procedure § 6759, at 404 n. 2 (interim ed.1997) ([p]ublic records and reports of foreign governments, including passport records, are within scope of Rule 803(8)). Cf. United States v. Doyle, 130 F.3d 523, 546-47 (2d Cir.1997) (distinguishing between foundation requirements for a business record under § 3505 or Fed.R.Evid. 803(6) and those for a public record under Fed.R.Evid. 803(8)). 30 In order to be admissible, physical evidence must, of course, be properly authenticated. See Fed.R.Evid. 901(a); United States v. Maldonado-Rivera, 922 F.2d 934, 957 (2d Cir.1990), cert. denied, 501 U.S. 1211, 111 S.Ct. 2811, 115 L.Ed.2d 984 (1991). The authentication prerequisite simply requires the proponent to submit evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims. Fed.R.Evid. 901(a). This requirement is satisfied  'if sufficient proof has been introduced so that a reasonable juror could find in favor of authenticity or identification.'  United States v. Ruggiero, 928 F.2d 1289, 1303 (2d Cir.) (quoting 5 J. Weinstein & M. Berger, Weinstein's Evidence § 901(a) (1990)), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 938, 112 S.Ct. 372, 116 L.Ed.2d 324 (1991). [T]he burden of authentication does not require the proponent of the evidence to rule out all possibilities inconsistent with authenticity, or to prove beyond any doubt that the evidence is what it purports to be. Rather, the standard for authentication, and hence for admissibility, is one of reasonable likelihood. United States v. Holmquist, 36 F.3d 154, 168 (1st Cir.1994), cert. denied, 514 U.S. 1084, 115 S.Ct. 1797, 131 L.Ed.2d 724 (1995). The trial court has broad discretion to determine whether a document has been properly authenticated, and we review its ruling only for abuse of discretion. See, e.g., United States v. Maldonado-Rivera, 922 F.2d at 957; United States v. Ruggiero, 928 F.2d at 1303. 31 Rule 902 provides that certain types of documents are self-authenticating, i.e., they do not require any extrinsic evidence for authentication. A foreign public document that purports to be executed by an official empowered to execute it is self-authenticating if it is accompanied by an appropriate certification of genuineness made by a diplomatic or consular official of the United States or the foreign country. See Fed.R.Evid. 902(3); United States v. Doyle, 130 F.3d at 545. A document which is of a type that could be self-authenticating but which does not meet all the requirements of Rule 902 may nonetheless be authenticated by any means appropriate under Rule 901. See, e.g., United States v. Childs, 5 F.3d 1328, 1336 (9th Cir.1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1011, 114 S.Ct. 1385, 128 L.Ed.2d 60 (1994); 5 J. Weinstein & M. Berger, Weinstein's Federal Evidence § 902.02 (1997). 32 Pluta's contention that the passports were not properly authenticated qua passports under Rule 902(3) is wide of the mark for two reasons. First, the fact that documents in the names of Wicijewska and Dyblik were found in the luggage transported by Pluta was admissible simply to show that Pluta had a connection with the women whom Backhaus found hiding in the bushes. In this respect, neither the nature of the documents as passports nor the truth of their contents was material; regardless of whether the women's names really were Wicijewska and Dyblik, a connection between Pluta and the women was shown by the fact that the names that appeared on the documents were the same as the names the women used. For the purpose of establishing that connection, the only authentication that was required was testimony by McMillan establishing that these were the documents that he had found while searching the luggage carried by Pluta. 33 Second, although the passports were also offered qua passports to show that Wicijewska and Dyblik were Polish citizens, the fact that the passports were not accompanied by official certifications, and hence were not self-authenticating under Rule 902(3), is not dispositive because the record shows that the court indicated that the passports would be admissible under Rule 901. Thus, when the first of the passports was offered in evidence during the testimony of McMillan, the court stated that the passport was a reliable source of information, which ... if not self-authenticating, can be authenticated by this witness. (March 24 Tr. 118.) 34 As to authentication under Rule 901, there may be some question as to whether McMillan's testimony sufficed. McMillan testified with respect to, inter alia, his training as an INS supervisory inspector, his familiarity with immigration law and procedures, his extensive experience conduct[ing] inspections to determine admissibility for [sic ] excludability into the United States (March 24 Tr. 110), and his recognition of the documents as official passports issued by Poland. The reason he gave for that recognition, however, seems superficial: 35 Q Now, based on your training, knowledge and experience in this area, do you know what those documents are? 36 A They're Polish passports. 37 Q And how do you know that, sir? 38 A They're identified as such right on the document. 39 (March 24 Tr. 120.) 40 Q Based upon your training and expertise in this area, sir, what citizenship do those passports establish? 41 A Polish citizenship. 42 Q How do you know that, sir? 43 A It's identified as such on the passport. 44 (March 24 Tr. 121.) Thus, while McMillan's qualifications appear to be adequate, his answer to the last question in each series seems arguably to reflect only his ability to read. 45 We have less hesitation in rejecting Pluta's contention that, even if the passports were properly authenticated, their contents stating that Wicijewska and Dyblik were citizens of Poland were inadmissible hearsay. Except in certain circumstances not present here, the hearsay rule, regardless of the declarant's availability, does not exclude [r]ecords, reports, statements, or data compilations, in any form, of public offices or agencies, setting forth ... matters observed pursuant to duty imposed by law as to which matters there was a duty to report. Fed.R.Evid. 803(8). Cf. United States v. Eltayib, 88 F.3d 157, 169 (2d Cir.) (passports of nine defendants admissible to show that all nine entered Venezuela on same date), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 1045, 117 S.Ct. 619, 136 L.Ed.2d 543 (1996); United States v. Brown, 770 F.2d 768, 771 (9th Cir.) (in prosecution for narcotics smuggling, passports showing international travel carried circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness within meaning of former Fed.R.Evid. 803(24) (the residual exception now in Fed.R.Evid. 807)), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1036, 106 S.Ct. 603, 88 L.Ed.2d 581 (1985). Although a United States passport may not be admissible in a United States court to prove United States citizenship, see, e.g., Urtetiqui v. D'Arcy, 34 U.S. 692, 699, 9 Pet. 692, 9 L.Ed. 276 (1835); Peignand v. INS, 440 F.2d 757, 760 (1st Cir.1971), inasmuch as a passport is, in a sense, a letter of introduction in which the issuing sovereign vouches for the bearer and requests other sovereigns to aid the bearer, Haig v. Agee, 453 U.S. 280, 292, 101 S.Ct. 2766, 69 L.Ed.2d 640 (1981), a foreign passport may be admissible in a United States court to prove foreign citizenship. 46 We need not resolve this question, however, for even if the passports of Wicijewska and Dyblik were not properly admitted to show their Polish citizenship, either for lack of authentication or for some other reason, we would conclude that any error in their admission was entirely harmless given the record in this case. As discussed above, Pluta himself had described Wicijewska and Dyblik to Migas as citizens of Poland. Further, for purposes of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)'s prohibition against the smuggling of aliens, an alien is defined simply as any person not a citizen or a national of the United States. 8 U.S.C. § 1101. Migas's testimony as to Pluta's statements, the attempts of the two women to obtain United States visas (see, e.g., March 24 Tr. 80 (They applied [for visas] before in Poland and they didn't get.)), and the ultimate decision to have them enter the United States surreptitiously because they lacked visas, was ample to permit the inference that, whether or not the women were citizens of Poland, they surely were not citizens or nationals of the United States.