Opinion ID: 790118
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: IRS Memorandum

Text: 19 Defendant also argues that the district court abused its discretion in excluding from evidence a July 13, 1999 memorandum prepared by IRS Agent Alfonso Herrera regarding an interview with the CI. The memo reported that the CI had told Herrera that Arroyo was believed to have ripped two kilograms of cocaine during a drug sale. The district judge concluded that the CI's statement was hearsay and could not be offered for its truth, but indicated that he would consider allowing it in for some other purpose. Defendant then sought the admission of the memo in order to establish the state of mind of the investigating officers. During a voir dire of IRS Agent Christopher Carlson outside the presence of the jury, defense counsel read aloud the portion of the memo in which Herrera reported: 20 On July 13, 1999, [the CI] ... informed that the word on the street is that there is a contract out on Ruben Arroyo's head. There is a $100,000 reward for anyone that kills Ruben Arroyo. Allegedly Arroyo ripped two kilograms of cocaine from ... a[n] unknown individual during a drug deal. 21 (Tr. at 111-12.) 22 Carlson testified that he was aware of the information in the memo but that it did not affect the way in which he conducted the investigation. The testimony of several other officers also revealed that they were either unaware of the contents of the memo or that it did not influence their investigation. The district court therefore found the memo irrelevant and excluded it. 23 Defendant argues that the district court abused its discretion in concluding that the officers' state of mind was irrelevant. He contends that, because some of the officers were aware of the possibility that the heroin he and Gamboa attempted to sell was fake, they should have conducted a field test on the scene to determine the true identity of the substance. Arroyo also contends for the first time on appeal that the memo was admissible pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2) as a statement by a party-opponent and as character evidence under Rule 803(21). Finally, defendant asserts that not admitting the IRS Memo denied [him] a critical piece of background information and allowed the jury to reach its verdict based on a partial and incomplete version of the facts. 24 We review the trial court's evidentiary rulings for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Gant, 396 F.3d 906, 908 (7th Cir.2005). The district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the memo. Arroyo offered only two potential bases for admission at trial: (i) to prove the truth of the matter asserted—that he had in fact ripped two kilograms of cocaine from someone in another drug deal; and (ii) to show that the information contained in the memo affected the way the officers conducted the investigation. Because defendant offered the statements in the memo for their truth, the trial court was correct in concluding that the memo contained hearsay. Moreover, defendant has not explained how the officers' state of mind was relevant. Arroyo was permitted to elicit testimony that the officers did not conduct a field test on the heroin; he has not shown why admission of the CI's out-of-court statements regarding defendant ripping the cocaine was necessary to further explain the officers' actions. 25 Defendant raises the arguments that the memo should have been admitted as an admission by a party-opponent and as character evidence for the first time on appeal. Accordingly, defendant has forfeited these arguments, and we review the trial court's decision for plain error. See Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 466-67, 117 S.Ct. 1544, 137 L.Ed.2d 718 (1997). Before we can correct any forfeited error, we must find: (1) error; (2) that is plain; (3) affects substantial rights; and (4) seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Id. 26 Both of defendant's newly-presented arguments fail. This Court has held that government agents are not party-opponents for purposes of Rule 801(d)(2). See United States v. Prevatte, 16 F.3d 767, 779 n. 9 (7th Cir.1994) (quoting United States v. Kampiles, 609 F.2d 1233, 1246 (7th Cir.1979)) (Because the agents of the Government are supposedly disinterested in the outcome of a trial and are traditionally unable to bind the sovereign, their statements seem less the product of the adversary process and hence less appropriately described as admissions of a party.). Nor did the memo fall within the reputation exception to the hearsay rule. The statements defendant sought to admit were not related to his character, but rather to a rumor about a specific prior act and others' intentions to harm him. This information does not establish the [r]eputation of [defendant's] character among associates or in the community. Fed.R.Evid. 803(21).