Opinion ID: 770541
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Simmons's Testimony

Text: 3 Not long after cooperating with the government and testifying at Reed's first trial, Simmons pleaded guilty and was sentenced. Once in jail, Simmons refused to continue cooperating with the government and declined to testify at Reed's second trial. The district judge admitted Simmons's testimony from Reed's first trial under the hearsay exception provided at Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(1). 1 Simmons's prior testimony was read by a government agent and Reed maintains that this lent Simmons's testimony more credibility than it was due. Now Reed argues that even though the government made no attempt to compel Simmons's presence, the trial judge found Simmons unavailable and admitted his testimony from Reed's first trial. We review the district judge's ruling on the admission of prior testimony for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Curry, 79 F.3d 1489, 1494 (7th Cir. 1996). 2 4 Under Rule 804(b)(1), once a declarant has been deemed unavailable, his former testimony may be admitted into evidence, as long as the party against whom the testimony is admitted had an opportunity and a similar motive to develop the testimony. According to Reed, Simmons was not really unavailable because the government procured Simmons's unavailability and that neither the government nor the court made any attempt to actually compel Simmons's testimony at the second trial. Specifically, Reed theorizes that the government purposely worked to ensure that Simmons would be sentenced before Reed's second trial so that it would lose any leverage it had to compel Simmons's continued cooperation. A review of the facts and the law suggests that the district judge's decision to admit Simmons's prior testimony was proper. 5 First, Simmons was unavailable. The definition of unavailability is provided in Federal Rule of Evidence 804(a)(1), which states that a declarant is unavailable if the declarant persists in refusing to testify concerning the subject matter of the declarant's statement despite an order of the court to do so. However, Reed suggests that the government somehow procured Simmons's unavailability. A declarant is not unavailable as a witness if exemption, refusal, claim of lack of memory, inability, or absence is due to the procurement or wrongdoing of the proponent of a statement for the purpose of preventing the witness from attending or testifying. Fed. R. Evid. 804. 6 The government bears the responsibility of proving that Simmons was unavailable. See Burns v. Clusen, 798 F.2d 931, 937 (7th Cir. 1986). If there is a possibility, albeit remote, that affirmative measures might produce the declarant, the obligation of good faith may demand their effectuation. Id. (quoting Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 74 (1980)). However, we have recognized that under Rule 804(a)(1) a testimonial privilege, such as the privilege against self- incrimination, is an independent ground of unavailability. See United States v. Kehm, 799 F.2d 354, 361 (7th Cir. 1986). Therefore, the rule is not that the government must do everything it can to get a witness to testify, only that it make a reasonable, good faith effort to get the witness into court. Furthermore, 'the lengths to which the prosecution must go to produce a witness . . . is a question of reasonableness.' Roberts, 448 U.S. at 74 (citing California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 189 & n.22 (1970)). The ultimate question is whether the witness is unavailable despite good-faith efforts undertaken prior to trial to locate and present that witness. Id. 7 There is nothing in the record to suggest that the government acted in bad faith or sought to procure Simmons's unavailability. In fact, from the record, it appears that the government made a good faith effort to get Simmons to testify. The government located Simmons, brought him to court, and asked him to testify at the second trial. Simmons was called to the stand to testify, but he refused to do so. Even though the government offered him additional credit toward his sentence to re-testify, Simmons stood firm in his refusal. Reed argues that the government should have either prevented Simmons from being sentenced before Reed's second trial or threatened to move the court to set aside Simmons's plea agreement. Neither Rule 804 nor reasonableness required the government to exercise either one of these options. 8 Additionally, the district judge, not the government, retained control over the date and time of Simmons's sentencing. And while the government could have found Simmons in violation of his plea agreement, it is not clear what this would have accomplished. 3 Reed asks this court to believe that if the government had threatened Simmons with setting aside his plea agreement, this would have compelled Simmons to cooperate. This is pure speculation. Given that Simmons refused to testify despite the court's threatened sanctions, which could have resulted in the imposition of unknown penalties, it seems unlikely that he would have succumbed to the government's threats. 9 The district judge attempted to compel Simmons's testimony as well. Simmons was already in jail, and while a criminal contempt finding may not have posed a very serious threat to him, it was the court's only option. The court warned Simmons that if he refused to testify, he could be subjected to civil and criminal contempt, for which the penalty could include jail time. 4 Simmons still refused to testify. Contrary to what Reed thinks, neither the government nor the court ultimately controlled Simmons's situation. Simmons made it clear that he would rather give up the possibility of a reduced sentence, be held in criminal contempt, and face the possibility of additional jail time, than testify for the government at Reed's second trial. The only weapons the government had available to it, in its attempt to compel Simmons's testimony, were the threat of more jail time or the possibility of less. It used one of those weapons and good faith requires nothing more. 10 Second, during the first trial Reed had ample opportunity to cross-examine Simmons and to impeach his credibility, and during the second trial he had the same motive to examine Simmons as he did during the first trial. Reed maintains that he did not have a similar motive to develop Simmons's testimony during the second trial since Simmons pled guilty and was sentenced between the first and second trial. Before a court can admit prior testimony under Rule 804(b)(1), it must find that the adverse party has a similar motive to develop the testimony by direct, cross, or redirect examination as it did when the testimony was originally given. Id. at 385. When considering whether this requirement has been met, courts look to the similarity of issues and the purpose for which testimony was given. Id. Circumstances or factors which influence motive to develop testimony include '(1) the type of proceeding in which the testimony [was] given, (2) trial strategy, (3) the potential penalties or financial stakes, and (4) the number of issues and parties.' Id. (citation omitted). 11 At the first trial, (1) Simmons testified and was cross-examined by Reed's counsel; (2) Reed's principal strategy was to impeach Simmons's credibility and to establish Reed's alibi; and (3) Reed was being tried for bank robbery and was subject to imprisonment. While the second trial initially included charges against a third co- defendant, the parties and issues remained essentially the same as during the first trial. The fact that Simmons was actually sentenced and received a downward departure after the first trial, does not really change Reed's motives on cross. Simmons had entered into the plea agreement well before the first trial and Reed knew that Simmons would be getting a substantial reduction in his sentence in exchange for his cooperation. He used this information to impeach Simmons on cross-examination. In addition, at the second trial, Reed admitted additional evidence in an attempt to impeach Simmons's testimony. As such, we conclude that the district judge acted reasonably in admitting Simmons's testimony under Rule 804(b)(1). 12 Having found that Simmons's testimony was properly admitted under Rule 804(b)(1), we need only briefly address Reed's Confrontation Clause argument. Reed asserts that because Simmons did not testify during the second trial, but the jury heard Simmons's testimony, Reed was denied his Sixth Amendment right to be confronted with one of the principal witnesses against him. The Confrontation Clause operates to restrict the range of admissible hearsay. When a hearsay declarant is not present for cross-examination at trial, the Confrontation Clause normally requires a showing that he is unavailable. Even then, his statement is admissible only if it bears adequate 'indicia of reliability.' Roberts, 448 U.S. at 66. 13 Confrontation Clause requirements are met when the prosecution can show (1) necessity (or unavailability of declarant) and (2) indicia of reliability. See id. at 65. In essence, to be lawful under the Confrontation Clause, the admitted prior testimony must come from an unavailable witness and be the type of hearsay that is marked with such trustworthiness that 'there is no material departure from the reason of the general rule.' Id. (citation omitted). The government has shown that Simmons was unavailable and since reliability can be inferred without more in a case where the evidence falls within a firmly rooted hearsay exception, the second requirement, reliability, has been met as well. Id. at 66. Reed's rights under the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause were not violated by the admission of Simmons's prior testimony. We therefore reject Reed's argument that the district judge wrongly admitted Simmons's testimony under either Rule 804(b)(1) or the Confrontation Clause.