Opinion ID: 781722
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Exclusion of Evidence of Government's Inconsistent Theories

Text: 390 During the course of the trial, Ismoil sought to introduce various items of evidence from the first World Trade Center trial, United States v. Salameh, in which defendant Salameh and others were convicted, on the ground that the evidence demonstrated that the Government had presented inconsistent theories with respect to Ismoil's involvement in the bombing. See generally Salameh I, 152 F.3d 88. Specifically, Ismoil sought to introduce (1) an FBI affidavit used to obtain a search warrant at the outset of the investigation that stated that defendant Abdul Rahman Yasin had told the FBI that up until two days before the bombing, he had been teaching defendant Salameh how to drive a van; (2) the testimony of Willie Moosh from the first trial stating that he had seen Yousef, Salameh, and others drive in to his New Jersey gas station in a van and towncar at 3 a.m. the morning of the bombing and that Salameh had been driving the Ryder van; (3) the Government's summation at the first trial repeating Moosh's testimony; and (4) the affidavit submitted to Jordanian authorities in support of Ismoil's extradition, which also referred to Moosh's testimony that Salameh had been seen driving the van in the early morning hours of the day of the bombing. 391 The District Court precluded Ismoil from introducing any of the above evidence on the ground that the use of prior jury arguments, which would ordinarily be hearsay but might be admissible as an admission by a party-opponent, see Fed R. Evid. 801(d)(2)(A), is to be narrowly circumscribed. See United States v. Yousef, No. S12 93 Cr. 180(KTD), slip op. at 2-3 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 31, 1997) (citing United States v. McKeon, 738 F.2d 26, 31-32 (2d Cir.1984)). The District Court found that circumstances in this case did not warrant the introduction of prior jury arguments. Id. We review a district court's evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion, and will not reverse unless the district court's decision was manifestly erroneous. United States v. SKW Metals & Alloys, Inc., 195 F.3d 83, 87-88 (2d Cir.1999) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Moreover, even if the district court errs in admitting or excluding evidence, harmless error analysis applies in determining whether reversal is required. See United States v. Khalil, 214 F.3d 111, 122 (2d Cir.2000). 392 We are free to affirm an appealed decision on any ground which finds support in the record, regardless of the ground upon which the trial court relied. Millares Guiraldes de Tineo v. United States, 137 F.3d 715, 719 (2d Cir.1998) (quoting Leecan v. Lopes, 893 F.2d 1434, 1439 (2d Cir.1990) (internal quotation marks omitted)). Here, we affirm the District Court's exclusion of the evidence from the Salameh trial on the ground that it was irrelevant, and hence inadmissible, under Federal Rule of Evidence 402. 70 On the one hand, if Ismoil sought to offer the evidence for the truth of the matters asserted, i.e., that Salameh had been learning to drive the van in the days preceding the bombing, and had been seen by Moosh driving the van at 3 a.m. the day of the bombing, such evidence was irrelevant because it did not have the tendency to make the existence of any fact that [was] of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. Fed.R.Evid. 401 (defining relevancy). Ismoil's defense at trial was never that he was not the driver of the bomb-laden van, but only that he lacked criminal knowledge, having been duped by Yousef. On the other hand, if Ismoil sought to use the evidence to undermine the Government's credibility by pointing to prior inconsistent theories (and therefore not for the truth of the matters asserted), the evidence was also irrelevant because an assertion that Salameh was seen driving the van in the early morning hours of February 26, 1993 was not inconsistent with the Government's theory at the instant trial that Ismoil drove the van into the World Trade Center later that same day. Thus, whether proffered as hearsay or non-hearsay, the evidence that Ismoil sought to introduce was irrelevant and, hence, inadmissible under Rule 402. Accordingly, we find no fault with the District Court's ruling. 393