Opinion ID: 2994298
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Citric-Acid Conspiracy Evidence

Text: Defendant Andreas objected to the admission of Cox’s testimony regarding the citric-acid conspiracy as unduly prejudicial. Andreas contends that no evidence showed he had been involved in the citric-acid conspiracy, and therefore it could not be admitted against him under Rule 404(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which allows evidence of other crimes or bad acts to be used to show a defendant’s motive, plan or intent in the instant crime. Rule 404(b) strictly prohibits the evidence of other crimes or bad acts to support the inference that the defendant has a propensity to commit that type of crime, but we do not believe that happened here. First, Andreas contends vigorously that the evidence of the citric-acid conspiracy fails to implicate him in any crime, including the citric-acid conspiracy, so it follows that the potential for an impermissible inference regarding his character must be nil. However, we find an alternative basis for allowing Cox’s testimony. Rule 404(b) guards against the impermissible inference that because a defendant committed Crime A at some time in the past, he is more likely to have committed Crime B, the crime charged in the present. The risk that the jury may improperly comprehend and weigh evidence of prior bad acts looms so large that courts in this country have long forbidden the government from invoking it. See Victor J. Gold, Federal Rule of Evidence 403: Observations on the Nature of Unfairly Prejudicial Evidence, 58 Wash. L. Rev. 497, 524-30 (1983). Yet we have carved out two important categories of cases where the rule does not apply. The first, and most common, is expressly stated in the rule itself, and that allows the use of other crimes evidence for purposes other than to show a propensity to commit the crime, such as to show the defendant’s motive, plan or intent. See Fed. R. Evid. 404(b) (Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts . . . may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident . . . .). The second exception, which applies here, covers acts that are so intricately interwoven with the facts of the charged crime that to omit the evidence relating to it would lead to confusion or leave an unexplainable gap in the narrative of the crime. See United States v. Akinrinade, 61 F.3d 1279, 1285-86 (7th Cir. 1995). While not an express exception to Rule 404(b), this type of evidence is permitted by virtue of not being included within the province of the rule. Other crimes or acts does not include those acts that are part and parcel of the charged crime itself; they simply are not other. To omit the evidence would leave unanswered some questions regarding the charged offense. Such evidence includes acts that although not charged as crimes, are directly related to the charged offense. United States v. Adames, 56 F.3d 737, 742 (7th Cir. 1995). [T]he question is whether the evidence is properly admitted to provide the jury with a complete story of the crime . . . . United States v. Ramirez, 45 F.3d 1096, 1102 (7th Cir. 1995) (internal quotation omitted). Andreas’ situation mirrors Adames. That case involved a drug conspiracy in which one of the defendants, Adames, had been caught in a drug sting operation in Texas (the Texas sting) unrelated to his co-defendants in the charged offense. Adames, 56 F.3d at 741. However, the Texas sting prevented Adames from delivering the promised amount of marijuana and caused other changes in the conspirators’ plan. The co- defendants moved to exclude evidence of the Texas sting on the ground that it was a separate, extraneous conspiracy that did not implicate them at all. Like Andreas, they also moved to exclude on the basis that even if allowable under Rule 404(b), it would be unduly prejudicial and should be barred by Rule 403. The trial court found, and we agreed, that the Texas sting was sufficiently linked to the charged offense to be admitted notwithstanding Rule 404(b). Id. at 742. The Texas sting provided direct evidence of the crime charged and therefore could not be considered other crimes evidence. Furthermore, the Texas sting was not so shocking, repulsive or emotionally charged that its probative value was outweighed by its prejudicial effect. We noted that probative evidence is always prejudicial, but the question remains whether it is unfairly prejudicial. Id. The evidence of the citric-acid conspiracy answered at least three relevant questions. First, the jurors heard the conspirators in tape- recorded meetings discussing the citric-acid conspiracy, and they heard Wilson explaining that certain aspects of the lysine conspiracy, such as the bogus trade association, would operate in the same way. The evidence of the citric-acid conspiracy was relevant to explain these references in the conspirators’ conversations. Second, testimony at trial showed that in the halls of ADM’s Decatur headquarters, the lysine and citric-acid conspiracies were closely related parts of a master plan to control prices and product supply through collusion with competitors. The citric-acid conspiracy, of which Andreas was aware, provided the blueprint for and motivating force behind the nascent lysine scheme. Many of the lysine cartel’s meetings revolved around the need to allocate sales volume, a lesson dictated by the experience in the citric-acid conspiracy. Finally, omitting the citric-acid evidence would leave Wilson’s participation in the lysine conspiracy unexplained. Wilson--head of the corn division--was called in to work on the bioproducts project solely because he had experience with cartels that he gained from the citric-acid conspiracy. Wilson was to tutor Whitacre in running a citric-acid type conspiracy. The inference cannot be missed that since Wilson reported directly to Andreas, Andreas must have known why his corn processing chief was working so closely and traveling so much with the bioproducts chief. Because Wilson’s entire reason for getting involved in lysine was to share his criminal experience with Whitacre, it takes little imagination to see how evidence of the citric-acid conspiracy implicated Andreas. To omit this evidence would, as in Adames, leave an unexplained gap in the narrative of the crime. We find the evidence of the citric-acid conspiracy was relevant to Andreas’ guilt and not unfairly prejudicial.