Opinion ID: 169028
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Motion to Grant a Mistrial

Text: 40 At trial, a government agent offered limited testimony of information he obtained by listening to radio surveillance during a controlled narcotics buy. The testimony placed Herrera at the scene of the buy. Herrera contends that the district court erred by denying his motion to grant a mistrial after the court allowed this hearsay testimony in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to confront his accusers. This claim is the same argument made by a co-defendant in United States v. Chavez, 05-2209. 41 In Chavez, we concluded that the admission of the evidence was harmless error since (1) substantial eyewitness evidence at trial disclosed that the defendants, including Herrera, dealt drugs; (2) the FBI captured many of the transactions on tape; (3) the testimony was of limited value to the case as a whole in light of the eyewitness testimony; and (4) the trial court provided a curative instruction immediately following the hearsay testimony. For the same reasons, we agree that any error was harmless as to Herrera. 42 Accordingly, we incorporate our holding in Chavez on this issue and affirm the district court's denial of the motion for mistrial.