Opinion ID: 1306424
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: hearsay testimony of alleged coconspirators

Text: 2. One of defendant's principal assignments of error relates to the admission of the testimony of Morris, Sharp, Ingram, Butler, and Anderson concerning their dealings with Mastrian in his effort to procure someone to kill Mrs. Thompson. It is conceded that the admissibility of hearsay testimony of these witnesses depends upon the establishment of a conspiracy to which Thompson was a party. It must also be conceded that without the hearsay testimony of these witnesses the conviction of Thompson would be difficult to sustain. The rule under which such testimony becomes admissible once a conspiracy is established is probably as well stated in State v. Dunn, 140 Minn. 308, 317, 168 N.W. 2, 6, as anywhere. The facts in that case are strikingly similar to those here so far as execution of the crime is concerned. We there said:    [A] conspiracy being established, the acts and declaration of any one of those in the conspiracy, made thereafter in the furtherance thereof, is proper evidence in the trial of any one of the coconspirators, whether present or absent. [Citations omitted.] The crime for which appellant was being tried was murder and not conspiracy; but the existence of a conspiracy to murder was an evidentiary fact tending to prove appellant's connection with the crime charged. It was not therefore necessary to prove the conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt, prima facie proof was all that was required to let in evidence of a coconspirator's acts and declaration, done or made in furtherance of the common purpose, to implicate any other coconspirator. The same rule is followed in State v. Evans, 88 Minn. 262, 92 N.W. 976; State v. Tennyson, 212 Minn. 158, 2 N.W.2d 833, 139 A.L.R. 987; State v. Connelly, 249 Minn. 429, 82 N.W.2d 489; State v. Guy, 259 Minn. 67, 105 N.W.2d 892. The distinction must be kept in mind between proving a conspiracy as a crime, where proof beyond a reasonable doubt would be required, and establishing a conspiracy as a prerequisite to the admission of statements of alleged coconspirators, where a prima facie showing is sufficient. State v. Guy, 259 Minn. 75, 105 N.W.2d 899. The responsibility for determining whether a conspiracy has been sufficiently established to admit hearsay statements of coconspirators rests in the first instance with the trial court. State v. Guy, supra. The conspiracy need not be, and seldom is, established by direct proof. The existence of the conspiracy may be inferred from other proven facts and circumstances. State v. Kahner, 217 Minn. 574, 15 N.W.2d 105, certiorari denied, 323 U.S. 768, 65 S.Ct. 121, 89 L.Ed. 614. It may be proved by circumstantial evidence. Nathan v. St. Paul Mutual Ins. Co., 251 Minn. 74, 86 N.W.2d 503. See, also, Nilva v. United States (8 Cir.) 212 F.2d 115. The existence of a conspiracy may not be proved by the hearsay statements of the alleged coconspirators, and ordinarily such statements should not be admitted until a prima facie showing of the existence of a conspiracy is made, but some latitude must be allowed the trial court in determining the order of proof. Nathan v. St. Paul Mutual Ins. Co. supra; 3B Dunnell, Dig. (3 ed.) § 1566a. Where an examination of the record as a whole shows facts from which the trial court could reasonably infer the existence of a conspiracy, the case ought not to be reversed because proof of the conspiracy came at the wrong time. Often, as here, the overt acts of the alleged coconspirators may go partly to the establishment of the conspiracy. If inadmissible statements are admitted out of order and it develops that no sufficient showing of a conspiracy has been made, the court ought to strike the statements on motion; and if the case cannot stand without them, proper relief ought to be granted at that time. See, 4 Wigmore, Evidence (3 ed.) § 1079; Annotation, 91 A.L.R.2d 1148, 1197; 16 Am. Jur. (2d) Conspiracy, § 38. Tested by these rules, was the evidence here sufficient to establish prima facie a conspiracy? The term prima facie in this context is rather a nebulous one that defies exact definition. It can probably be defined only in terms of sufficient evidence to permit the trial court reasonably to infer that there existed a conspiracy. It is generally accepted that [w]hen two or more persons agree or combine    to accomplish a criminal or unlawful purpose   , a conspiracy exists. 3 Underhill, Criminal Evidence (5 ed.) § 855. Looking at the evidence in this case, we have, as establishing prima facie a conspiracy, the rather unusual amount of insurance taken out shortly before the murder was committed, of a type that would expire for the most part shortly after the date of the murder, and a large part of which was payable in the event of accidental death of the insured. The policies were all owned by the beneficiary. We have the defendant's affair with Jackie and his apparent desire to continue it, if we believe her testimony; his numerous contacts and telephone conversations with Mastrian; removal of a dog that might have sounded a warning, shortly before the commission of the crime; removal of a telephone that made it necessary for Mrs. Thompson to go downstairs to answer the telephone; the early appearance of defendant at his office on the fatal day and the previous day when the crime could have been committed; his stock transactions with Mastrian, resulting in a substantial loss to defendant and quite a gain to Mastrian; the locking of the front door, which was unusual; defendant's intention to withdraw $5,000 from his bank account, and the prior possession of a large amount of cash, of which $2,500 was returned to Mastrian by Mr. Connolly, without deduction of any portion thereof for the services rendered by Thompson. There is much evidence explaining many of these actions. The removal of the dog was quite satisfactorily explained by showing that new carpeting had been placed in the hall and that the dog had stained the former carpeting. Removal of the telephone was also quite satisfactorily explained by showing that due to redecorating of the home another type of telephone was desired. While there are many things that cast doubt upon some of the evidence that would go to establish conspiracy, there is enough, we think, to permit the admission of hearsay statements of the witnesses involved for the purpose of connecting defendant with the conspiracy. These statements came from the mouths of individuals who, to say the least, left much to be desired as contemplated conspirators, even in crime, but the weight and credibility of their testimony was for the jurors, who had the chance to observe them and to evaluate the truth of what they were saying.