Opinion ID: 492031
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 94 Three appellants, Machaalani, Maktabi, and Sami Annabi, claim that the evidence was insufficient to sustain their convictions on certain counts. We find the claims of appellants Machaalani and Maktabi to be without merit. Sami Annabi's claim as to Counts Twenty-Two and Twenty-Three does have merit. We briefly set forth the reasons for our conclusions. 95 The standards by which we review claims challenging the sufficiency of the evidence are well established. A defendant challenging the sufficiency of the evidence bears a heavy burden. United States v. Losada, 674 F.2d 167, 173 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 457 U.S. 1125, 102 S.Ct. 2945, 73 L.Ed.2d 1341 (1982). A jury's verdict will be sustained if there is substantial evidence, taking the view most favorable to the government, to support it. Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 469, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942). Therefore, a reviewing court must credit every inference that could have been drawn in the government's favor, and ... affirm the conviction so long as, from the inferences reasonably drawn, the jury might fairly have concluded guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Giraldo, 822 F.2d 205, 213 (2d Cir.1987) (citations omitted). If any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, the conviction must be upheld. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) (emphasis in original). These principles apply whether the evidence under review is direct or circumstantial. See Glasser, 315 U.S. at 80, 62 S.Ct. at 469.
96 Appellant Machaalani was convicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 841 and 846 (Count One), and on one count of conspiracy to import heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 952, 955, 960 and 963 (Count Two). The government's evidence against Machaalani included the testimony of Basil Cannata, an accomplice, who testified that he and Nedam Annabi picked up 1300 grams of heroin from Machaalani in Boston. Other evidence of Machaalani's involvement in the conspiracy included intercepted telephone conversations involving appellant and Sami Annabi, interpreted by Agent Nolan to be drug-related, testimony by Jorge Audinot that Sami Annabi referred to Machaalani as one of his couriers, and surveillance of a meeting between appellant and Sami Annabi. In conspiracy cases,  'once a conspiracy is shown, only slight evidence is needed to link another defendant with it....'  United States v. Wilkinson, 754 F.2d 1427, 1436 (2d Cir.) (citation omitted), cert. denied, 472 U.S. 1019, 105 S.Ct. 3482, 87 L.Ed.2d 617 (1985). Therefore, we conclude that the government's evidence was sufficient to permit a rational juror to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Machaalani was a member of the charged conspiracy.
97 Hassan Maktabi, in addition to being convicted under Sec. 371 on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States or conspiracy to conceal material facts (Count Four), see section V, supra, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 841 and 846 (Count One), and on one count of conspiracy to import heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 963 (Count Two). Maktabi claims that there was insufficient independently admissible evidence of his membership in the conspiracy to warrant the admission of co-conspirator hearsay, Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E), under United States v. Geaney, 417 F.2d 1116, 1120 (2d Cir.1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1028, 90 S.Ct. 1276, 25 L.Ed.2d 539 (1970). 4 98 Hearsay statements made by persons alleged to be co-conspirators are admissible if the trial court makes a preliminary finding under Fed.R.Evid. 104(a) that the defendant was a member of the conspiracy and that the statements were made in furtherance of the conspiracy. United States v. DeJesus, 806 F.2d 31, 34 (2d Cir.1986), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 1299, 94 L.Ed.2d 155 (1987). Proof of [a defendant's] membership [in a conspiracy] under Rule 104(a) need only be by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. 99 The government presents us with a number of items of independently admissible evidence to link Maktabi to the conspiracy charged, some of which evidence is admittedly weaker than other evidence. We begin with what we consider to be the weaker evidence of Maktabi's membership in the conspiracy. 100 The government claims that Maktabi's role as a supplier is demonstrated by Sami Annabi's statement in an intercepted phone conversation to Theresa Audinot just before going to meet Maktabi that I'm going to see other people with my kind of brochure  (emphasis added). The government acknowledges that this is a hearsay statement made by a co-conspirator but argues that it is independently admissible in any case. Hearsay statements reflecting a declarant's intentions or future plans are admissible against the declarant to prove subsequent acts under Fed.R.Evid. 803(3). DeJesus, 806 F.2d at 35; United States v. Cicale, 691 F.2d 95, 103-04 (2d Cir.1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1082, 103 S.Ct. 1771, 76 L.Ed.2d 344 (1983). More importantly, declarations of intention or future plans are admissible against a nondeclarant when they are linked with independent evidence that corroborates the declaration. United States v. Sperling, 726 F.2d 69, 74 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1243, 104 S.Ct. 3516, 82 L.Ed.2d 824 (1984). There appears to be independent evidence which would corroborate Sami Annabi's statement. For instance, government agents who surveilled Annabi testified that after this phone call, Annabi picked up Maktabi and drove to a restaurant where they met with Jorge Audinot and his sister. A district judge also could infer, in the overall context of the evidence presented, that Annabi's reference to a brochure in his statement was a code word for narcotics. Accordingly, Annabi's statement would appear to be independently admissible against Maktabi and would tend to prove his membership in the conspiracy. 101 The government also claims that Maktabi's involvement in the conspiracy may be inferred from his possession of approximately $120,000 in cash with which he bought money orders. While possession of large amounts of cash, especially when some is in small denominations, is not proof per se of drug trafficking, it is certainly not unreasonable that it might justify a suspicion, in context, of such trafficking. Cf. United States v. Young, 745 F.2d 733, 762-63 (2d Cir.1984) (large amount of unexplained and unreported wealth highly probative of narcotics trafficking), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1084, 105 S.Ct. 1842, 85 L.Ed.2d 142 (1985). 102 We acknowledge that while these items of evidence are independently admissible against Maktabi, they only weakly link him to the conspiracy charged. However, we are more impressed with another piece of evidence offered by the government. That piece alone, and certainly in conjunction with the items mentioned above, is sufficient, in our view, to show Maktabi's membership in the conspiracy by a preponderance of the evidence. The government points to a phone call made by Maktabi from Syria on November 11, 1984 to Maysoun Annabi. In that call Maktabi can be heard demanding payment from Maysoun. The government argues that it may be inferred that the demand was for payment for heroin. Although such an inference is neutralized somewhat because the demand was made in relation to gold jewelry, more to the point is that portion of the call in which Maktabi asks Maysoun if any problems arose from Um Tony. The district judge, who had heard the government's evidence, was free to consider who Um Tony was, and there was evidence from which a conclusion could be drawn that she was really Angeel Abdouch, one of the conspiracy's alleged couriers. Moreover, the call also contained a reference which the district judge could have interpreted as a code for narcotics. Maktabi is heard explaining, [t]here's not a house that I have, but I sold it. Although Agent Nolan, the government's expert, could not interpret the call as drug-related, his testimony was not binding on the district court. The district judge was free to conclude, and in fact did conclude, that the call related to the charged conspiracy and was sufficient to show Maktabi's link to it for Geaney purposes. Even if we were to disagree with the district judge's preliminary interpretation for purposes of a Geaney ruling, which we emphasize we do not, as a reviewing court, we may not substitute our judgment for the district court's where the evidence reasonably lends itself to the conclusion that the district court reached. 103 Having concluded that there was sufficient independent evidence to establish Maktabi's membership in the conspiracy for the purpose of a Geaney determination, hearsay statements of co-conspirators were properly admissible under Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). Those statements included, inter alia, Sami Annabi's statements to Cannata about the relations among the conspiracy's three alleged suppliers, Maktabi, Siropian, and Abu Hamadah, and Annabi's statement to Audinot that Maktabi had delivered ten kilograms of heroin to Annabi and that Annabi needed to pay Maktabi. Those co-conspirator hearsay statements plus the other evidence which was independently admissible, provided a sufficient basis, in our view, for a rational jury to convict Maktabi beyond a reasonable doubt of conspiracy to distribute and conspiracy to import heroin.
104 Sami Annabi asserts that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions on two counts which charged him with using a telephone to facilitate the commission of a felony, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 843(b). Count Twenty-Two of the indictment charged Sami Annabi and Murad Nersesian with participation in a phone conversation on or about November 30, 1984 in order to facilitate the conspiracy to distribute heroin as charged in Count One. Count Twenty-Three charged Sami Annabi and Chicky D'Agostino, wife of Basil Cannata, with such a violation on or about November 25, 1984. In the November 30 phone call, Nersesian calls Annabi from a phone booth and, expressing disappointment, says [e]verything, ah bad. Annabi expresses surprise at Nersesian's disappointment. At the end of the conversation, the two arrange to meet later that day. In one November 25 phone call, Annabi speaks to Chicky D'Agostino and demands to know where her husband, Basil Cannata is. In another phone call on November 25, Annabi complains to D'Agostino that he does not need her husband anymore and that after today that's it ... I'm ... giving him an opportunity; I mean, I'm trying to make him and he treats me like a[n] ... idiot. 105 To sustain Annabi's conviction the government must have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Annabi knowingly and intentionally used the telephone on these occasions to cause or facilitate the conspiracy to distribute heroin as set forth in Count One of the indictment. The district court so charged the jury. We believe that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction under Sec. 843(b) based on the evidence of these phone calls on these dates. None of the calls contained any direct reference to the distribution of narcotics. The government argues that circumstantial evidence permits the inference that these calls were related to the charged distribution conspiracy. We agree that circumstantial evidence may be used to prove that a phone call is narcotics-related and was made in furtherance of a conspiracy, but, in this case, there was a dearth of such evidence to suggest that the calls facilitated the narcotics distribution conspiracy charged. With regard to the November 30 phone call, in which a meeting was arranged, there is evidence that a meeting occurred, but none to indicate that the business of the charged conspiracy was discussed. With regard to the November 25 phone calls, in which Sami Annabi inquired as to Cannata's whereabouts and expressed frustration at his inability to locate him, the government argues that the jury could have inferred that the calls facilitated the distribution conspiracy by pressuring Cannata to improve his drug sales efforts. But there is no evidence to tie these conversations to heroin, that Cannata even knew of the calls, or that the calls in any way facilitated the alleged scheme for heroin distribution. There is no appearance of any codes in the calls, nor is there expert testimony which addresses the content of these calls as being drug-related. We are simply unable to conclude that a rational juror could have concluded beyond a reasonable doubt based on the evidence that these calls facilitated the distribution conspiracy as charged. Accordingly, Sami Annabi's convictions on Counts Twenty-Two and Twenty-Three are reversed.