Opinion ID: 658545
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Hearsay as to the Burglary of Melendez's Apartment

Text: 60 Defendants also contend that the district court improperly admitted hearsay evidence of a theft from Melendez's apartment. Melendez testified that, at the time of his arrest, he had approximately $3.5 million in cash in the apartment but that the police reported finding only $2.38 million. In order to explain the discrepancy, the government sought to elicit testimony from Melendez that he had learned that his apartment had been burglarized after his arrest. After a defense objection, the matter was discussed out of the hearing of the jury. The prosecutor expressed concern that defendants would allege that law enforcement agents had stolen the money. During this discussion, it transpired that Melendez did not have personal knowledge as to how much money was in his apartment just prior to his arrest; the money had been counted by his 16-year-old cousin Harold, who told Melendez how much there was. After the arrest, Melendez was told that Harold or somebody had been told by a security guard at Melendez's apartment building that a man matching the description of another Organization member, Arthur Boyce, had carted numerous items out of the apartment. 61 To the extent that Harold's statement to Melendez repeated what Harold or somebody had been told by a security guard, it was at the very least hearsay as to the content of the security guard's statement. The trial court nonetheless ruled that [u]nless all defense counsel agree not to cross-examine on this point, I think the government is entitled to account for the money. (Tr. 3226.) Defense counsel declined, and the court permitted Melendez to testify as to what he had been told as to the amount of money in his apartment prior to his arrest and as to the burglary following his arrest. Although the court took the precaution of advising the jury that the testimony was hearsay and that the jury could thus discount it, we see no proper basis for allowing Melendez's testimony that there had been a burglary. 62 The government contends that defendants' refusal to forgo cross-examination regarding the discrepancy (1) bars them from challenging the court's ruling on appeal and (2) opened the door to the hearsay evidence. These contentions are frivolous. A defendant does not waive one right merely by refusing to waive another. Defendants had the right to cross-examine on the testimony that had been given. Their refusal to cede that right cannot be a ground for barring them from objecting to the introduction of the inadmissible evidence that the government wished to add. 63 Nor does the refusal to forgo cross-examination open the door to inadmissible evidence. Indeed, the government's invocation of the opening the door principle is far wide of the mark. The rule of opening the door, or curative admissibility, gives the trial court discretion to permit a party to introduce otherwise inadmissible evidence on an issue (a) when the opposing party has introduced inadmissible evidence on the same issue, and (b) when it is needed to rebut a false impression that may have resulted from the opposing party's evidence. See, e.g., United States v. Rea, 958 F.2d 1206, 1225 (2d Cir.1991); United States v. Brown, 921 F.2d 1304, 1307 (D.C.Cir.1990); United States v. Whitworth, 856 F.2d 1268, 1285 (9th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1084, 109 S.Ct. 1541, 103 L.Ed.2d 846 (1989); 1 J. Wigmore, Evidence Sec. 15 (Tillers rev. 1983). To be admissible under this doctrine, the evidence that allegedly opened the door must in fact have been inadmissible. Properly admitted evidence does not open the door to inadmissible evidence. United States v. Rea, 958 F.2d 1206, 1225 (2d Cir.1991); United States v. Brown, 921 F.2d 1304, 1307 (D.C.Cir.1990). These preconditions were not present here. 64 First, Melendez's testimony as to how much money Harold had told him was in the apartment was undoubtedly a coconspirator statement in furtherance of the conspiracy, see Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). Thus, it was properly admissible as nonhearsay and could not open the door to inadmissible hearsay. Second, and more importantly, even if the testimony as to Harold's statement had been inadmissible, it was introduced by the government itself. A party is not allowed to introduce inadmissible evidence in order to explain other inadmissible evidence that it, rather than its adversary, has introduced. The mere fact that the government wanted to present a satisfactory explanation for the missing money provided no justification for permitting Melendez to testify to what was plainly excludable as hearsay. 65 Nonetheless, the admission of this testimony provides no basis for reversal, for the error was surely inconsequential. See, e.g., Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 764-65, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 1247-48, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946) (erroneous admission of evidence must be deemed harmless if appellate court can conclude with fair assurance that the evidence did not substantially influence the jury); United States v. Rea, 958 F.2d at 1220. The amount of money in Melendez's apartment just prior to his arrest was an entirely collateral matter. The person identified as the probable burglar was not one of these appellants. And even in the absence of any testimony by Melendez as to what might have happened to the supposedly missing funds, his silence on that point would not have led the jury to discredit the evidence of any government agent who testified at trial as to the crimes with which defendants were charged. Thus, any error by the district court in admitting the hearsay evidence of a burglary provides no basis for reversal. 66