Opinion ID: 2996077
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence presented during trial

Text: Rapier and Graham were familiar with one another and had engaged in drug transactions in the past. Rapier agreed to cooperate with law enforcement after he was apprehended while purchasing and selling crack cocaine. Late on the evening of August 23, 2000, VMEG agents out- fitted Rapier with several electronic surveillance devices, including a digital cassette recorder to tape his conversations with Graham and a radio frequency transmitter to permit the agents to monitor his interactions with Graham. Shortly past midnight on August 24, 2000, Rapier phoned Graham and asked to purchase two ounces of crack cocaine. Graham told Rapier to meet him at Garfield Park, where several agents followed Rapier to maintain audio monitoring and visual contact. The two conversed in Garfield Park for several minutes, during which time Rapier repeated his request for two ounces of cocaine, and Graham told Rapier to meet him at his uncle’s house nearby. Rapier proceeded to Graham’s uncle’s house, followed by VMEG agents. He waited there for between 15 and 20 minutes, calling Graham in the meantime to inquire when he would arrive. No. 01-4349 3 Upon arriving, Graham entered his uncle’s house and then returned to Rapier, handing him two ounces of crack cocaine in exchange for $1,800. During the tape-recorded conversation, Rapier commented on the high quality of the crack cocaine and attempted to bargain on the purchase price. Graham told Rapier that he would soon “be hollering at me,” meaning that Rapier would enjoy the drugs so much that he would purchase more from Graham. He also instructed Rapier to keep Graham’s drug dealing a secret. When the two parted, agents followed Graham’s ve- hicle, a 1970 Cadillac coupe with distinctive lights in the tailfins, to a nearby gas station, where they recorded the car’s license plate. The agents testified that an investigation of the Cadillac’s license plate number revealed that Graham had purchased the vehicle in February 2000 for $3,000 cash. A separate group of agents met Rapier at a designated location and confiscated the crack cocaine he had obtained from Graham. Illinois State Police forensic officers determined that the substance contained cocaine base and weighed 56.5 grams. At trial the jury heard the tape-recorded interactions as well as testimony from law enforcement personnel who followed Rapier throughout the evening. Rapier and law enforcement officials testified that the second voice heard on the tape recordings presented was Graham’s, while several of Graham’s relatives attested that they could not recognize the voice. The jury also heard evidence that calls made to Rapier’s cell phone were placed from a cell phone registered to Graham’s fiancee. While registered to his fiancee, the cell phone’s call patterns closely resembled Graham’s work schedule. Graham presented alibi evidence that after leaving work at 11:30 p.m. on August 23, 2000, he and Terrence Parker, his coworker and friend, drove ten minutes to a 4 No. 01-4349 local liquor store. Graham and Parker, driving in a 1970 Cadillac coupe, proceeded to the home of Graham’s fiancee, Sheila Walker. Walker testified that the two stayed at her house for only about ten minutes. Graham and Parker claimed that they left Walker’s home at approximately 12:30 a.m., and then drove twenty minutes to Parker’s house, where they socialized until 2 a.m. Graham asserted that he was never in or near Garfield Park on the evening of August 23 and the morning of August 24, 2000. He also claimed that he was never in the gas station where law enforcement personnel claimed to have observed his vehicle and recorded his license plates. Graham further attacked Rapier’s credibility. Finally, he denied using Walker’s cell phone that evening. The jury convicted Graham following a three-day trial. In his post-trial motion, Graham alleged that the government failed to meet its burden in proving his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and that the prosecutor had made improper statements during closing arguments. In a written order, the district court found that “[c]learly there was evidence upon which the jury could have reasonably relied in finding the Defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt” and that the prosecutor’s remarks were not improper.