Opinion ID: 2775033
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Agent Sargent’s Testimony

Text: On appeal, defendants Holt, Barnes, Lewis, and Barbary argue that the district court abused its discretion in admitting Agent Sargent’s expert testimony concerning drug code words and jargon as used in their intercepted phone calls. We review for abuse of discretion the district court’s decisions regarding the admissibility of expert testimony and the reliability of an expert opinion. United States v. Frazier, 387 F.3d 1244, 1258 (11th Cir. 2004) (en banc). We will not reverse a district court’s evidentiary ruling in the absence of manifest error. Id. As we have explained, “a district court enjoys considerable leeway” in its evidentiary rulings. Id. Federal Rule of Evidence 702, which controls the admission of expert testimony, provides: A witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise if: (a) the expert’s scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue; (b) the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data; 54 Case: 13-10453 Date Filed: 01/30/2015 Page: 55 of 67 (c) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods; and (d) the expert has reliably applied the principles and methods to the facts of the case. We have observed that, as the Supreme Court made clear in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S. Ct. 2786 (1993), Rule 702 requires district courts to serve an important gatekeeping function concerning the admissibility of expert scientific evidence and technical expert evidence. Frazier, 387 F.3d at 1260. Thus, district courts must engage in a threepart inquiry in determining the admissibility of expert testimony under Rule 702, considering whether: (1) the expert is qualified to testify competently regarding the matters he intends to address; (2) the methodology by which the expert reaches his conclusions is sufficiently reliable as determined by the sort of inquiry mandated in Daubert; and (3) the testimony assists the trier of fact, through the application of scientific, technical, or specialized expertise, to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue. Id. (quoting City of Tuscaloosa v. Harcros Chems., Inc., 158 F.3d 548, 562 (11th Cir. 1998)). “The operations of narcotics dealers are a proper subject for expert testimony under Rule 702,” and “an experienced narcotics agent may testify as an expert to help a jury understand the significance of certain conduct or methods of operation unique to the drug distribution business.” United States v. Garcia, 447 55 Case: 13-10453 Date Filed: 01/30/2015 Page: 56 of 67 F.3d 1327, 1335 (11th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks omitted). We have affirmed the admission of expert testimony by law enforcement officers interpreting drug codes and jargon. See, e.g., United States v. Emmanuel, 565 F.3d 1324, 1335-36 (11th Cir. 2009); United States v. Brown, 872 F.2d 385, 392 (11th Cir. 1989). We cannot say that the district court erred, much less manifestly erred, in admitting Agent Sargent as an expert witness and permitting her to testify as to the meanings of coded language used by the defendants in intercepted communications. See Frazier, 387 F.3d at 1258. First, as the district court found, Agent Sargent was qualified to testify competently regarding the coded language. See id. at 1260-61. Agent Sargent was qualified based on, most notably, her extensive involvement in this particular investigation, including review of more than 99 percent of the intercepted communications in this case, as well as her training, experience in previous wiretaps, and general investigative experience during her six years as a DEA Agent. Second, Agent Sargent explained the reliable methods by which she reached her conclusions. Specifically, she formed her opinions as to the defendants’ use of certain terminology in the intercepted phone calls based on her training, experience, discussions with cooperating co-conspirators, general knowledge of 56 Case: 13-10453 Date Filed: 01/30/2015 Page: 57 of 67 common drug prices and quantities, review of nearly all of the communications in this case, and the context of each particular communication. Third, Agent Sargent’s testimony assisted the jury to understand the intercepted phone calls because her testimony, if accepted by the jury, helped the jurors understand the meaning of the defendants’ coded language. Contrary to the defendants’ suggestion that Agent Sargent admitted that her testimony would not assist the jury, Agent Sargent testified that, although a lay person might be able to guess the meanings of code words used in the intercepted communications, she could—based on her training and experience—interpret the meaning of the words more accurately than a lay person or the prosecutor. As a final matter, the record does not support the defendants’ contention that allowing Agent Sargent to testify as an expert permitted her to invade the province of the jury and give her opinion as to the defendants’ ultimate guilt. The record shows that Agent Sargent’s testimony largely was focused on specific words and language used in the intercepted communications, and does not show that she offered overall conclusions as to the defendants’ guilt or acted as a summary prosecution witness. B. Rule 404(b) Evidence of Barnes’s Prior Drug Convictions Defendants Barnes, Barbary, and Lewis contend that the district court erred in admitting evidence of Barnes’s 2002 felony drug convictions pursuant to Rule 57 Case: 13-10453 Date Filed: 01/30/2015 Page: 58 of 67 404(b). Barnes claims that, because there was a “lack of any real substantive evidence” against him, the Rule 404(b) evidence essentially served as a substitute for substantive evidence and allowed the jury to convict him based on a propensity to deal in cocaine. We review for an abuse of discretion a district court’s admission of evidence of a defendant’s prior bad acts under Rule 404(b). United States v. Jernigan, 341 F.3d 1273, 1280 (11th Cir. 2003). Rule 404(b) provides: Evidence of a crime, wrong, or other act is not admissible to prove a person’s character in order to show that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character. . . . This evidence may be admissible for another purpose, such as proving motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident. . . . Fed. R. Evid. 404(b). We use a three-part test to determine whether other bad acts are admissible under Rule 404(b): (1) “the evidence must be relevant to an issue other than the defendant’s character”; (2) “the act must be established by sufficient proof to permit a jury finding that the defendant committed the extrinsic act”; and (3) “the probative value of the evidence must not be substantially outweighed by its undue prejudice.” United States v. McNair, 605 F.3d 1152, 1203 (11th Cir. 2010) (internal quotation marks omitted). “There is ample precedent in this circuit finding that a not guilty plea in a drug conspiracy case makes intent a material issue and opens the door to admission of prior drug-related offenses as highly probative, and not overly prejudicial, 58 Case: 13-10453 Date Filed: 01/30/2015 Page: 59 of 67 evidence of a defendant’s intent.” Smith, 741 F.3d at 1225 (internal quotation marks omitted and alterations omitted). We have affirmed such Rule 404(b) evidence “even where the prior conviction is many years old.” Id. We find no abuse of discretion in the district court’s admission of evidence of Barnes’s 2002 felony drug convictions. Barnes’s prior convictions for possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and trafficking in cocaine both occurred during the timeframe of the conspiracy alleged in the present case and involved the same drug—cocaine—as the present conspiracy. By pleading not guilty in this case, Barnes opened the door to the admission of prior drug-related offenses as highly probative, and not overly prejudicial, evidence of his intent. See id. Moreover, contrary to Barnes’s suggestion that the jury convicted him based on a propensity to deal in cocaine because there was a “lack of any real substantive evidence” against him, the numerous intercepted phone calls between Barnes and Barbary in which they discussed procuring and distributing cocaine and oxycodone overwhelmingly supported his convictions. C. Bennett’s Hearsay Testimony On appeal, defendant Lewis and Barbary argue that the district court erred in admitting hearsay testimony by Bennett that Barbary told him that Lewis “was across the street,” which Bennett took to mean that Lewis was on the west coast of Florida delivering drugs. Lewis and Barbary contend that no explanation was 59 Case: 13-10453 Date Filed: 01/30/2015 Page: 60 of 67 offered as to how this statement was made in furtherance of the conspiracy and that “the time span of the Indictment was after Bennett was in prison, so there was no possible way the statement could have been made during that time.” 21 District courts have the discretion to admit co-conspirator statements made during and in furtherance of the conspiracy under Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2)(E). United States v. Siegelman, 640 F.3d 1159, 1180 (11th Cir. 2011). We apply a liberal standard in determining whether a statement was in furtherance of a conspiracy. Id. at 1181. The statement needs only to have furthered the interests of the conspiracy in some way. Id. For example, “if the statement could have been intended to affect future dealings between the parties, then the statement is in furtherance of a conspiracy.” Id. (internal quotation marks and alteration omitted). Additionally, a statement that was necessary to keep a co-conspirator abreast of the conspiracy’s current status is in furtherance of the conspiracy. United States v. Monroe, 866 F.2d 1357, 1363 (11th Cir. 1989). Finally, we have held that “statements between conspirators which provide reassurance, serve to maintain trust and cohesiveness among them, or inform each other of the current status of the conspiracy further the ends of the conspiracy.” Siegelman, 640 F.3d 1181 (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted). 21 Because no defendant contemporaneously objected to the testimony at issue, we review for plain error. See United States v. Turner, 474 F.3d 1265, 1271-72, 1275 (11th Cir. 2007). 60 Case: 13-10453 Date Filed: 01/30/2015 Page: 61 of 67 We find no plain error in the district court’s admission of Bennett’s testimony under Rule 801(d)(2)(E). Viewing the statement liberally, Barbary’s statement to Bennett that Lewis “was across the street” furthered the interests of the conspiracy. See id. This statement, which Bennett understood to mean that Lewis was on the west coast of Florida delivering drugs, served to keep Bennett abreast of the conspiracy’s status and to maintain trust and cohesiveness between Bennett and Barbary and the other conspirators. See id.; see also Monroe, 866 F.2d at 1363. The record belies Lewis’s claim that Barbary could not have made this statement to Lewis during the timeframe alleged in the indictment because of Bennett’s incarceration, as testimony established that Bennett was not incarcerated from 2000 to 2011. In any event, even if we assume that plain error occurred, Lewis and Barbary have offered no argument that their substantial rights were affected or that the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. See Dortch, 696 F.3d at 1112.