Opinion ID: 777745
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Testimony about the Alleged Code

Text: 86 We long have recognized that drug dealers seldom negotiate the terms of their transactions with the same clarity as business persons engaged in legitimate transactions. [D]rug dealers rarely speak openly about their trade; instead, they often engage in a so-called `narcotics code.' United States v. Cancelmo, 64 F.3d 804, 808 (2d Cir.1995) (quoting United States v. Sisca, 503 F.2d 1337, 1343 (2d Cir.1974)); United States v. Velasquez, 271 F.3d 364, 372 (2d Cir.2001), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 1382, 152 L.Ed.2d 373 (2002). Given the attempts of drug dealers to disguise the content of their discussions as legitimate subject matters, courts may allow witnesses to decipher the codes drug dealers use and testify to the true meaning of the conversations. Testimony about the meaning of alleged code is admissible as lay opinion testimony under Fed.R.Evid. 701, or as expert testimony under Fed.R.Evid. 702. Fed.R.Evid. 701 stated at the time of Garcia's trial: 87 If the witness is not testifying as an expert, the witness' testimony in the form of opinions or inferences is limited to those opinions or inferences which are (a) rationally based on the perception of the witness and (b) helpful to a clear understanding of the witness' testimony or the determination of a fact in issue. 8 88 Fed.R.Evid. 702 states, in relevant part, If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion.... In this case, the government did not present Toro Balcarcel as an expert, and it offered his testimony interpreting the conversation on the basis of his status as a participant. Thus, the court admitted Toro Balcarcel's testimony about the conversation and the code as a lay opinion pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 701. 9 We review a district court's decision to admit evidence for abuse of discretion. See Tubol, 191 F.3d at 95; United States v. Rivera, 971 F.2d 876, 885 (2d Cir.1992). 89 As a preliminary matter, the government argues that Garcia's challenge is subject to plain error review because Garcia raised this objection to Toro Balcarcel's testimony for the first time on appeal. This is incorrect. Garcia's counsel objected to portions of Toro Balcarcel's testimony about the alleged code at trial. In addition, Ceron's counsel objected to the testimony numerous times at trial. We presume that the objection of a co-defendant is an objection for all defendants, and it is sufficient to preserve the issue for appeal. See United States v. Dinome, 86 F.3d 277, 282 & n. 4 (2d Cir.1996). Thus, Garcia's objection is properly preserved for our consideration. We discuss whether the disputed lay opinion testimony met each of Rule 701's requirements.
90 Rule 701(a) states that a lay witness only may offer opinions that are rationally based on [his or her] perception. The rational-basis requirement `is the familiar requirement of first-hand knowledge or observation.' United States v. Rea, 958 F.2d 1206, 1215 (2d Cir.1992) (quoting Fed.R.Evid. 701 advisory committee notes on the 1972 proposed rules). Contrary to the government's assertion, this foundational requirement goes to the admissibility of evidence, not merely its weight, because a witness may not testify to a matter unless evidence is introduced sufficient to support a finding that the witness has personal knowledge of the matter. Fed.R.Evid. 602 (emphasis added). Of course, the proponent of any evidence, not just lay opinion testimony, must establish a proper foundation for the evidence before a court may admit it. See Lurie v. Wittner, 228 F.3d 113, 134 (2d Cir.2000), cert. denied, 532 U.S. 943, 121 S.Ct. 1404, 149 L.Ed.2d 347 (2001) (The requirement that a proper foundation be laid for the admission of evidence serves that purpose [of preventing the confusion of issues] among others, and is well established.); see also Fed.R.Evid. 402 (discussing the admissibility of relevant evidence); Fed.R.Evid. 602 (A witness may not testify to a matter unless evidence is introduced sufficient to support a finding that the witness has personal knowledge of the matter.); Fed.R.Evid. 701(a) (requiring that lay opinion testimony be rationally based on the perception of the witness); see, e.g., United States v. Fuentes, 563 F.2d 527, 532 (2d Cir.1977) (discussing the foundation necessary to admit tape recordings). Thus, a witness offering a lay opinion must base his opinion on his own personal knowledge, which must be established to the court and jury. When a witness has not identified the objective bases for his opinion, the proffered opinion obviously fails completely to meet the requirements of Rule 701 ... because there is no way for the court to assess whether it is rationally based on the witness's perceptions.... Rea, 958 F.2d at 1216. 91 In this case, Toro Balcarcel testified about what he meant when he said certain things and what he understood Garcia to mean by certain words. Clearly, Toro Balcarcel had personal knowledge of what he meant when he spoke to Garcia, and his status as a participant in the conversation is sufficient to demonstrate the basis of this opinion. See United States v. Urlacher, 979 F.2d 935, 939 (2d Cir.1992) ([The witness], as a participant in the conversations, had first hand knowledge of the conversations.); see also United States v. Estrada, 39 F.3d 772, 773 (7th Cir.1994) (per curiam) (holding that a participant in the conversation may testify as to his understanding of the conversation to satisfy Rule 701(a)'s requirement that the testimony be rationally based on the witness's perceptions). However, to the extent that Toro Balcarcel offered an opinion about what he understood Garcia to mean, he was indirectly offering his opinion about what Garcia knew. This evidence in itself is not impermissible. [T]here is no theoretical prohibition against allowing lay witnesses to give their opinions as to the mental states of others, Rea, 958 F.2d at 1215, provided that the proponent of the testimony first establishes a proper foundation. 92 The government did not lay a proper foundation explaining the basis for Toro Balcarcel's opinion of Garcia's knowledge. Toro Balcarcel explained his participation in the conversation, why he spoke in code, and what he meant by the code he used. However, Toro Balcarcel did not offer any explanation for how Garcia could know that they were speaking in code. For example, he did not testify that they had spoken in code before; he did not testify that the code he used was a common one; and he did not testify that Garcia and he had a prior agreement to speak in code or that they had discussed this possibility. This lack of foundation is crucial, especially considering Toro Balcarcel's testimony that he used terms from the asbestos industry as his code and that both Garcia and he worked in the asbestos industry. There existed a real possibility that Garcia believed they spoke about asbestos, not drugs. 93 Evidence of a preexisting agreement is not always necessary for a witness to testify about his use of coded language. In this case, however, where there is a logical, coherent conversation with a plain meaning, the government must establish some foundation to support Toro Balcarcel's testimony that the conversation was not what it appeared to be. The government needed to elicit some testimony explaining how Garcia would have known that they were speaking in code about drugs and not about an asbestos job. When a conversation has a legitimate purpose understandable to a lay person, testimony about a code without some evidence of prearrangement or some other foundation is inappropriate. Further emphasizing the lack of foundation for Toro Balcarcel's testimony is his inconsistency regarding whether he ever had attempted to work on an asbestos project with Garcia. Originally, Toro Balcarcel testified that he never had worked or tried to work on an asbestos project with Garcia. However, he later testified that he tried to solicit work on an asbestos project and requested Garcia to supervise him. Toro Balcarcel admitted that Garcia and he had discussed asbestos in the past. Thus, it is plausible that they were discussing an asbestos job in the July 10 phone conversation. Without establishing some foundation to explain the source of Toro Balcarcel's opinion on Garcia's knowledge of the code, the testimony concerning what Toro Balcarcel understood Garcia to mean was erroneous. Unless courts require the proponents of such testimony to lay a proper foundation concerning personal knowledge, every conversation could be interpreted as coded. 10 Because the government did not lay a foundation for Toro Balcarcel's testimony expressing his lay opinion of Garcia's knowledge and understanding, the court abused its discretion in allowing the testimony. We analyze whether this error was harmless in Section III below.
94 The second prong of Rule 701 requires that the lay witness's opinion testimony be helpful to the jury in understanding the witness's testimony or determining a fact in issue. Fed.R.Evid. 701(b). In this case, the government did not establish a foundation for Toro Balcarcel's opinion testimony. Therefore, we need not decide whether the testimony met the helpfulness requirement of Rule 701. However, we offer a brief analysis of the conversation to provide guidance to the district court in the event of a retrial. 95 The July 10 conversation between Garcia and Toro Balcarcel is relatively clear, understandable, and logical. On its face, it concerned a legitimate topic — a potential asbestos job. Both Toro Balcarcel and Garcia worked in the asbestos industry. They discussed an upcoming meeting, the licenses required to complete the job, and several of the necessary positions. Both Toro Balcarcel and Garcia speak clearly and in full sentences, and they use words that make sense contextually. On the surface, the conversation is not confusing and disjointed, Urlacher, 979 F.2d at 939, it does not involve unusually short or cryptic statements for a casual phone conversation, and it does not contain sharp and abbreviated language, unfinished sentences, or ambiguous references, United States v. Aiello, 864 F.2d 257, 265 (2d Cir.1988) (internal quotations omitted). In order to allow lay opinion testimony interpreting a facially coherent conversation such as this, the government would have to establish a foundation that called into question the apparent coherence of the conversation so that it no longer seemed clear, coherent, or legitimate. Without a foundation creating doubt about what seemed to be obvious, it is unlikely that opinion testimony would be helpful to the jury. Rather, the testimony then would serve to direct the jury what to conclude on a matter that it should decide in the first instance. See Rea, 958 F.2d at 1216 (rejecting lay opinion testimony that does not help the jury but only tells it in conclusory fashion what it should find). 96 The apparent meaning of a conversation is not devoid of context, and the foundational testimony may provide a background that makes interpretative testimony helpful. This interaction between foundation and coherence can influence whether opinion testimony is helpful. A proper foundation may provide a framework through which a seemingly clear, coherent conversation becomes unclear so that the opinion testimony interpreting the conversation would be helpful to the jury. Determining the potential helpfulness of testimony is not a science, and the clarity of a conversation is not subject to a formulaic analysis. The trial court must consider the facial clarity of the conversation, along with the foundational testimony, and determine whether the conversation would benefit from opinion testimony. As is true of the admissibility of all evidence, the trial court must act within its discretion in determining the degree of coherence of a conversation and the helpfulness of opinion testimony.