Opinion ID: 750721
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The declarant must be unavailable to testify;

Text: 41 (2) The statement must subject the declarant to criminal liability in a real and tangible way; and 42 (3) Corroborating circumstances must clearly indicate the trustworthiness of the statement. 43 Hilliard, supra, at 619, citing United States v. Arthur, 949 F.2d 211, 216 (6th Cir.1991). 44 The District Court denied the admission of Patnett's hearsay statement solely because of the insufficiency of corroborating circumstances. With respect to the other Hilliard factors, the parties agreed that Patnett was unavailable as a witness. 3 Both parties also agreed that at least parts of Patnett's statements tend to subject him to criminal liability. The District Court concluded, however, that Patnett's statements were inadmissible because there were no corroborating circumstances that clearly indicated the trustworthiness of the statement. The District Court, however, failed to appreciate that Rule 804(b)(3) does not require that the information within the statement be clearly corroborated; it requires only that there be corroborating circumstances which clearly indicate the trustworthiness of the statement, itself. As the Seventh Circuit observed in United States v. Garcia, 986 F.2d 1135 (7th Cir.1993), the corroboration requirement of this rule is a preliminary question as to the admissibility of the statement, not an ultimate determination as to the weight to be given to that statement. The Seventh Circuit held in Garcia that the trial court does not need to be completely convinced as a prerequisite to admission that the exculpatory statements are true. Rather, the trial court need only find that sufficient corroborating circumstances exist which indicate the statement's trustworthiness. The jury may then make the ultimate determination concerning the truth of the statements. Id. at 1141. 45 Rule 804 does not describe precisely what type of corroborating circumstances clearly indicate trustworthiness, but case law has identified three circumstances which are particularly relevant. In United States v. Silverstein, 732 F.2d 1338, 1346 (7th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1111, 105 S.Ct. 792, 83 L.Ed.2d 785 (1985), the court found that one important corroborating circumstance exists if the involved parties do not have a close relationship. Two additional factors were identified in United States v. Garcia, 897 F.2d 1413, 1421 (7th Cir.1990): (1) the statement was made after the declarant had been advised of his Miranda rights, and (2) there was no evidence that the declarant made the statement in an effort to curry favor with the authorities. 46 Applying the factors identified in Silverstein and Garcia to the facts in this case, it is clear that there are sufficient corroborating circumstances. There is no evidence that Patnett had any personal interest in exonerating Price. The two men had known each other for only three months and were not friends. Patnett's written statement was presented at trial, and it clearly indicated that he had made the statement voluntarily after having been advised of his Miranda rights. Further, there is no evidence that Patnett made the statement in an attempt to curry favor with the authorities. Based on these proofs, we find that there are sufficient corroborating circumstances that clearly indicate the trustworthiness of Patnett's hearsay statement. 47 Just as importantly, the evidence at trial did independently corroborate a number of parts of Patnett's statement. For example, his statement that he came to Memphis to purchase fifteen kilos of cocaine is corroborated by the testimony of Detective Gerold Blum who was the undercover police officer that had been tipped off by a confidential informant that a drug transaction was going to take place at the Motel 6. Blum testified at trial that he brought the suitcase with 15 kilos of cocaine in it to the motel for purchase by the defendants and that when he opened the suitcase to flash the drugs, Patnett said, Fifteen? to which Blum responded yes. 48 In addition, the price Patnett said he was going to pay for the cocaine, $10,000 per kilogram, matched almost exactly the amount of money Patnett and the others were found with--$151,000 in cash to pay for the 15 kilograms. 49 Evidentiary rulings on the admission of evidence under Fed.R.Evid. 804 are left to the discretion of the trial court. United States v. Garcia, supra, 986 F.2d 1135. However, the court abuses its discretion as to the trustworthiness of a statement under Rule 804(b)(3) when it refuses to allow into evidence statements that are corroborated by other substantial evidence. United States v. Hilliard, supra, 11 F.3d. at 616. The court in United States v. Garcia, specifically said that a trial court's determination of the trustworthiness of an out-of-court statement should be upheld unless the finding is clearly erroneous. 897 F.2d at 1421. 50 Based upon the foregoing discussion, we find, in this case, that the District Court's refusal to admit Patnett's statement for lack of corroborating circumstances of trustworthiness was clearly erroneous. The self-inculpatory portions of the statement should have been admitted. 51 3. The District Court's Error In Not Admitting Patnett's Hearsay Statement Is Harmless Error. 52 Although a district court abuses its discretion as to the trustworthiness of a statement pursuant to Rule 804(b)(3) when it refuses to allow into evidence statements that are corroborated by other substantial evidence, Hilliard, supra, the error in this case was harmless. A trial court's error is harmless only if this Court is convinced that the error did not influence the jury or had a very slight effect, and can say so with fair assurance. United States v. Nagib, 56 F.3d, 798, 805 (7th Cir.1995), quoting United States v. Zapata, 871 F.2d 616, 622 (7th Cir.1989). 53 In Hilliard, this Court held that while the district court abused its discretion in not admitting into evidence a hearsay statement pursuant to Rule 804(b)(3), the defendant's conviction would nevertheless be affirmed because the court's error was harmless: 54 Despite the district court's error in failing to consider the appropriate factors in ruling on the admission of [the 804(b)(3) statement made by Wade], Hilliard's conviction must stand. Hilliard was charged with and convicted of aiding and abetting the possession of cocaine. Wade's claim of ownership of the cocaine, which in no way exculpates Hilliard, is thus not material evidence. Given the extensive testimony at trial supporting Hilliard's guilt on the counts of conviction, this court finds that the district court's exclusion of the hearsay evidence was harmless error. 55 11 F.3d at 620. 56 This case is factually and analytically similar to Hilliard. Price and Patnett were indicted for aiding and abetting each other in the attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Patnett's admissions against his penal interest in his hearsay statements in no way exculpate Price, especially in light of the decision in Williamson to exclude collateral statements that are not self-inculpatory in nature. Rather, they simply inculpate Patnett. For example, Patnett's admission in the hearsay statement that he was the one who was buying the cocaine does not exculpate Price--it merely inculpates Patnett. The fact that this does not help Price is made more evident by Patnett's indication later in the statement that Price was to assist in the driving to Memphis and that Patnett assumed Price knew what they were going to Memphis to do. In another part of the statement, Patnett said he asked Price and Fosten to help drive by making them some sweet offers. Clearly, these statements, if admitted, would not have been helpful to Price. 57 Beyond this, there was ample independent evidence to convict Price: Price carried the money from the minivan to the motel room; Price carried the money to the informant's room; Price was left to keep surveillance and wait for the seller when Patnett left the informant's room; Price, along with Patnett, nodded his head when asked if the cocaine should be tested. In short, irrespective of the improperly excluded statements, the evidence at trial clearly established that Price's involvement in the cocaine transaction was extensive. In light of this substantial evidence of Price's aiding and abetting the attempted drug transaction, the district court's error was harmless.