Opinion ID: 526470
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Hennington: Prosecutorial Misconduct

Text: 7 Hennington, like Fouche and several of the other participants, served as a courier. At trial, he admitted that he had made numerous trips from Los Angeles to New Orleans during the period in question. However, he emphatically denied that he had ever transported drugs and maintained that each trip was for purely social reasons (primarily to see his sister, Crystal, who lived with Lou in New Orleans). The government, while conceding that Hennington was not in possession of drugs at the time of his arrest, produced three witnesses who testified that Hennington was involved in the movement of cocaine and PCP. The testimony of these witnesses, combined with circumstantial evidence, formed the basis of the government's case. 3 8 Hennington took the stand in his own defense. The essential thrust of his testimony was that the prosecution's witnesses had lied, and that he was a law-abiding citizen with no motive to deal in drugs. He continued to assert that he made the trips to New Orleans to visit Crystal and other relatives. Hennington's father, Noblin Hennington (Noblin), also testified in support of his son. He testified that he had supervised Hennington strictly after a California conviction, and subsequent sentence of probation, for cocaine possession, and that Hennington was not involved in drugs because Noblin would have been aware of such activity and would have taken action to stop it. 4 9 The alleged prosecutorial misconduct is based upon the Assistant United States Attorney's cross examination of Hennington. In this cross examination, the government produced two controversial items. The first was a tape-recorded conversation between Hennington and Crystal. In this conversation, which occurred on November 7, 1987, Hennington discussed a recent arrest and his use of the alias Robert Montgomery in that respect. Hennington's attorney objected to the mention of the arrest. This objection was sustained by the district court, which also issued a cautionary instruction to the jury. The court, however, denied Hennington's motion for a mistrial. The second instance of alleged misconduct was the prosecutor's questions concerning a notebook/diary, kept by Crystal, in which the prosecutor asked Hennington, Do you know why your sister would write in her notebook one of her aims for the year was to get Mario [Hennington] to stop making his trips. 5 As with the November 1987 arrest, Hennington's attorney properly objected to the introduction of the notebook and requested a cautionary instruction. After further argument, Hennington's counsel repeated his objection, but did not repeat his request for a cautionary instruction. The trial court then said, I sustained the objection. No further request for a cautionary instruction was made, nor was any motion for mistrial ever made in this respect. Thereafter, neither side pursued the matter any further. 10 Hennington concedes, as he must, that to warrant a new trial, prosecutorial misconduct must be so pronounced and persistent that it permeates the entire atmosphere of the trial. United States v. Blevins, 555 F.2d 1236, 1240 (5th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1016, 98 S.Ct. 733, 54 L.Ed.2d 761 (1978). In United States v. Lichenstein, 610 F.2d 1272 (5th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Bella v. United States, 447 U.S. 907, 100 S.Ct. 2991, 64 L.Ed.2d 856 (1980), we observed that [t]his court condemns prosecutorial attempts to influence a jury improperly by reference to more flamboyant, but extrinsic and unproved, activities of defendants. Id. at 1282. Nevertheless, we held that in light of the relatively strong evidence of guilt ..., coupled with the [district] court's curative instructions, ... [the alleged misconduct did not taint] the proceedings to a degree requiring the grant of a new trial. Id. We reach the same conclusion here. Contrary to Hennington's claim that his was a close case, the evidence of his guilt is strong indeed. Several eyewitnesses testified that Hennington had made numerous trips to New Orleans carrying drugs. The circumstantial evidence against Hennington is also strong, and Hennington's own testimony contains numerous self-contradictions. For instance, Hennington denied using the alias Robert Montgomery but later admitted that he had, in fact, used that false name; and Hennington's claim that he made the trips to New Orleans primarily to visit Crystal was contradicted by the fact that he often stayed in a motel because he found Crystal's residence boring. Hennington also contradicted his (and Noblin's) claim that Noblin supervised him strictly, for on several occasions he stated that his parents often did not know he had gone to New Orleans. While use of the conversation recorded on November 7, 1987 and the mention of Crystal's notebook may have been improper, the strength of the government's case, combined with the district court's sustaining the objections made, its curative instruction regarding the arrest, and the context of and lack of complaint respecting its ruling on the notebook, lead us to conclude that the cumulative effect of these two instances over the course of a five-day trial was at most very slight and that the error, if any, was harmless. 6 11