Opinion ID: 462585
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: New Trial for Newly Discovered Evidence

Text: 24 Appellants assert that the trial court erred by denying their motions for a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence, and by denying Hernandez's motion for reconsideration of that ruling. The newly discovered evidence at issue consists of two affidavits indicating that, contrary to his testimony at trial, Price did not live at an apartment at 1324 27th St., S.E. During the trial the government consistently claimed that the arrest took place within a short distance of the residence of appellants' putative victim. Tr. 57-58, 505-506. Appellants therefore assert that this newly discovered evidence both eviscerates the link between the afternoon fight and the evening arrest and demonstrates that a key government witness perjured himself. 25 In denying the motions for a new trial the District Court found that Price lived at the 27th Street address as much as he lived anywhere. 12 The District Court based its conclusion on its reading of the testimony in the separate trial of Rolando Funes, the driver of the Toyota on the night of the arrest. The District Court therefore concluded that Price did not commit perjury and that the essential link between the afternoon fight and the evening arrest was unbroken: appellants had reason to believe that Price lived at that address, whether or not he actually maintained a legal residence at that site. Memorandum Opinion and Order filed March 12, 1985 at 6-7. 26 Appellants now argue that the District Court erred in taking judicial notice of the testimony in the Funes trial when it ruled on their new trial motions. Although we are troubled by the District Court's broad use of its power to take judicial notice of matters outside the record, 13 we cannot consider this argument as appellants have raised it for the first time on appeal. 14 Nor was the District Court's alleged error so obvious or so detrimental to the integrity of the judicial process as to qualify as a plain error that may be considered on appeal even though it was not raised in the District Court. See United States v. Atkinson, 297 U.S. 157, 160, 56 S.Ct. 391, 392, 80 L.Ed. 555 (1936); United States v. McCord, 509 F.2d 334, 341 n. 10 (D.C.Cir.1974) (en banc ). 27 Putting the issue of judicial notice to one side, we have no basis for disputing the District Court's conclusion that Price did not commit perjury. We therefore 15 review the denial of the motion for a new trial under the five-prong test of Thompson v. United States, 188 F.2d 652, 653 (D.C.Cir.1951): 28 To obtain a new trial because of newly discovered evidence (1) the evidence must have been discovered since the trial; (2) the party seeking the new trial must show diligence in the attempt to procure the newly discovered evidence; (3) the evidence relied on must not be merely cumulative or impeaching; (4) it must be material to the issues involved; and (5) of such nature that in a new trial it would probably produce an acquittal.    29 (Emphasis added; citations omitted). 30 The affidavits introduced by appellants arguably satisfied the first two prongs of the Thompson test, but they do not pass muster under the third, fourth, and fifth requirements. As the District Court noted, the mere fact that Price did not maintain a legal residence at the 27th Street apartment could not possibly affect the jury's verdict. The fact that Price lived at that apartment for all practical purposes, combined with testimony that appellants' associate Funes knew that Price lived in that area, Tr. 258, linked the arrest site to a place that appellants might think was close to Price's home. As the District Court concluded, evidence of Price's mischaracterization of the manner in which he lived at the 27th Street apartment was therefore merely impeaching evidence; it could not reverse the jury's verdict on a material issue. We therefore affirm the District Court's denial of appellants' motions for a new trial and of Hernandez's motion for reconsideration of that ruling.