Opinion ID: 792738
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admissibility of prior theft evidence; intricately related doctrine

Text: 21 Brown argues that the district court abused its discretion by admitting the taped conversation about his prior theft of a watch while conducting a search as a CHA police officer. We review a trial court's evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion and will order a new trial only if we discover error that had a substantial and injurious effect or influence on the determination of a jury and the result is inconsistent with substantial justice. CERAbio LLC v. Wright Med. Tech., Inc., 410 F.3d 981, 994 (7th Cir.2005) (citations omitted). 22 The district court admitted this evidence as intricately related to the charged conspiracy and also as permissible other acts evidence under Rule 404(b) on the issues of intent and absence of mistake. We find the first of these grounds sufficient to sustain the court's evidentiary ruling and need not address the second. 23 Under the intricately related doctrine, evidence of uncharged criminal activity like that at issue here may be admitted if that evidence is `intricately related to the facts of the case' before the court. United States v. Ramirez, 45 F.3d 1096, 1102 (7th Cir.1995) (quoting United States v. Hargrove, 929 F.2d 316, 320 (7th Cir.1991)). Whether instances of uncharged conduct are intricately related to the case at hand depends on whether they complete the story of the crime on trial; their absence would create a chronological or conceptual void in the story of the crime; or they are so blended or connected that they incidentally involve, explain the circumstances surrounding, or tend to prove any element of, the charged crime. United States v. Senffner, 280 F.3d 755, 764 (7th Cir.2002); see also United States v. Spaeni, 60 F.3d 313, 316 (7th Cir.1995). The intricately related doctrine essentially recognizes that evidence of other acts that relate to the chronological unfolding of events or otherwise explain the circumstances surrounding the charged crime is not offered to show propensity and therefore does not implicate the character/propensity prohibition of Rule 404(b). Ramirez, 45 F.3d at 1102 (citing cases). 24 The district court viewed the taped conversation about Brown's prior watch theft as intricately related to the charged crimes because it tended to explain Brown's participation in the conspiracy and his relationship with two of his three coconspirators. We see no abuse of discretion in this determination. The coconspirators' cavalier discussion of Brown's prior theft—committed while he, Polk, and Kuykendoll were working together as CHA police officers—demonstrated a longstanding relationship of trust based in part upon previous participation in misconduct in public office. As the district court observed, this evidence helped explain how the relationship among the coconspirators evolved and became conspiratorial. See Spaeni, 60 F.3d at 316 (evidence of how a conspiratorial relationship began and developed, including evidence of defendant's uncharged criminal activities predating the period covered by the indictment was properly admitted under intricately related doctrine). 25 Brown contends that his prior watch theft was too tenuously connected to the present charges to be considered intricately related, noting that stealing a watch is different than entering into a conspiracy or attempting to possess drugs. 4 That the current conspiracy was broader than its members' previous on-the-job exploits does not diminish the explanatory value of the prior theft evidence. Uncharged criminal activity need not be identical to the charged crime in order to be admitted under the intricately related doctrine. United States v. Bogan, 267 F.3d 614, 622 (7th Cir.2001). Brown was recruited as a potential coconspirator at least in part because of his previous participation with Polk and Kuykendoll in an on-duty theft of property while a member of the CHA police force. Although the object of the present conspiracy was drugs and money, the watch theft evidence helped explain the nature of the coconspirators' previous relationship and Brown's readiness to participate in the conspiracy with Polk. 26 Brown also argues that the prior theft evidence was unduly prejudicial and therefore inadmissible under Rule 403. Evidence that is admissible under the intricately related doctrine is subject to exclusion if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Ramirez, 45 F.3d at 1103; FED. R. EVID. 403. Brown contends that the prior theft evidence was unnecessary and unhelpful in establishing his guilt on the two drug counts and was therefore inherently prejudicial. For reasons already explained, however, the watch theft evidence was helpful in establishing Brown's participation in the conspiracy. It was indeed prejudicial to Brown's defense, but [t]he vast majority of the government's evidence against a defendant is prejudicial to him. That's the idea. United States v. Rutledge, 40 F.3d 879, 885 (7th Cir.1994). To warrant exclusion under Rule 403, its probative value must be insignificant compared to its inflammatory nature so that the evidence unfairly prejudices the defendant. Id. (emphasis added). Not so here. The prior theft evidence was significant to an understanding of the nature of the coconspirators' preexisting relationship and helped explain Brown's participation in the present conspiracy with Polk and Kuykendoll. The evidence, while damaging, was not more inflammatory than probative, and its admission was not an abuse of discretion.