Opinion ID: 739300
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence of the Thwarted Burglary

Text: 18 Prior to trial, the government sought an in limine ruling from the district court permitting the government to introduce the testimony of George Mascia describing a break-in and burglary attempt at his home, located around the corner from Crowe's residence, at about the time of Crowe's confrontation with the defendants. 19 The district judge granted the government's motion but limited the scope of Mascia's testimony. Mascia was permitted to testify that he heard his alarm go off, saw a person climbing out of a window of his house, and was later unable to identify any of the defendants as the intruder. Following the verdict, both defendants claimed that the district court's error in allowing Mascia to testify warranted a new trial. 20 Defendants argue that the evidence of the attempted burglary was irrelevant under Fed.R.Evid. 401; unfairly prejudicial under Fed.R.Evid. 403; and improperly admitted extrinsic evidence of a prior bad act, in violation of Fed.R.Evid. 404(b). Defendants also argue that the error of admitting this evidence necessitates a new trial because of the likelihood that it unfairly prejudiced the jury by rous[ing] the jury's hostility toward the defendants. See Br. for Appellant Esteban Gonzalez at 44. These arguments are without merit. 21 To be relevant, evidence need only tend to prove the government's case, and evidence that adds context and dimension to the government's proof of the charges can have that tendency. Relevant evidence is not confined to that which directly establishes an element of the crime. As we have said: 22 [T]he trial court may admit evidence that does not directly establish an element of the offense charged, in order to provide background for the events alleged in the indictment. Background evidence may be admitted to show, for example, the circumstances surrounding the events or to furnish an explanation of the understanding or intent with which certain acts were performed. 23 United States v. Coonan, 938 F.2d 1553, 1561 (2d Cir.1991) (quoting United States v. Daly, 842 F.2d 1380, 1388 (2d Cir.1988)); cf. United States v. Inserra, 34 F.3d 83, 89 (2d Cir.1994) (noting that evidence of other bad acts may be admitted to provide the jury with the complete story of the crimes charged by demonstrating the context of certain events relevant to the charged offense). 24 The burglary evidence in this case was relevant both to a possible motive for the defendants' possession of firearms and to provide crucial background evidence that gave coherence to the basic sequence of events that occurred on the night of February 24. Mascia's testimony tended to add meaning to defendants' activities because it tended to show that Gonzalez and Colon were functioning as armed look-outs while Emilio Gonzalez robbed Mascia's house. This theory explained defendants' patrolling activities and other behavior, including their animated discussions, their furtive crouching and apparent monitoring of goings-on on a nearby block. And significantly, evidence of a failed burglary offered an explanation as to why Colon and Gonzalez would have been running down the street toward Crowe, with guns drawn, while looking over their shoulders in the direction of Mascia's home. Based on the testimony of Mascia and Sapienza, the government was able to argue that the time of defendants' flight from the vicinity of Mascia's home corresponded to the time that Sapienza's patrol car arrived at Mascia's home to investigate the break-in. 25 The district judge acted within his discretion by admitting Mascia's testimony to explain defendants' conduct once it was established that there was some basis for believing that defendants had been involved in the burglary. Such a basis plainly existed: the events about which Mascia would testify (as proffered by the prosecutor outside of the jury's presence) were sufficiently corroborated by Crowe's testimony concerning his observations of Colon and Gonzalez and by the testimony of Sapienza. Accordingly, we find that the evidence of the nearby burglary was admissible as having the tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable ... than it would be without the evidence. Fed.R.Evid. 401. 26 We also reject defendants' Rule 403 claim because we do not believe that the district court acted arbitrarily or irrationally in concluding that the probative value of the evidence of the burglary was not substantially outweighed by a danger of unfair prejudice to defendants. See Fed.R.Evid. 403; see also United States v. Thai, 29 F.3d 785, 813 (2d Cir.1994); United States v. Fortenberry, 971 F.2d 717, 721 (11th Cir.1992) (Rule 403 not violated where evidence that defendant committed double murder admitted to establish possession of a firearm). 27 Finally, we reject defendants 404(b) claim. It is well established that evidence of uncharged criminal activity is not considered 'other crimes' evidence under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) if it 'arose out of the same transaction or series of transactions as the charged offense, if it [is] inextricably intertwined with the evidence regarding the charged offense, or if it is necessary to complete the story of the crime [on] trial.'  United States v. Towne, 870 F.2d 880, 886 (2d Cir.1989) (quoting United States v. Weeks, 716 F.2d 830, 832 (11th Cir.1983)).