Opinion ID: 345119
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Hearsay Statements of Co-conspirators.

Text: 46 The appellants next contend that statements made by various co-conspirators on the island of Martinique should not have been admitted, as an exception to the hearsay rule, because the conspiracy had ended before they were made. 14 Appellant Ramirez also argues that the statements made by Gomez and Archbold in Martinique were not in furtherance of the conspiracy which the indictment charges. He contends that the charged conspiracy had as its objective the importation of narcotics upon the request of the Cravero organization but that agent Short, although posing as a narcotics purchaser, was not a member or agent of the Cravero organization and, thus, that the statements made to him were not in furtherance of the conspiracy. In fact, Ramirez argues, Short specifically disclaimed any association with Cravero and any responsibility for Cravero's debts. 47 The Government contends, and we agree, that the appellants' statements to agent Short easily fall into the co-conspirator exception to the hearsay rule. United States v. Crockett, 534 F.2d 589 (5th Cir. 1976); United States v. Martinez, 481 F.2d 214 (5th Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 931, 94 S.Ct. 1444, 39 L.Ed.2d 489 (1974), Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). As indicated by the Government, the statements were made not as idle chatter, but as a means of explaining their operation and to illustrate their ability to deliver the narcotics in the future. Indeed, the statements, which were made prior to indictment, indicated the desire of the appellants to continue in the conspiratorial role of supplier. Furthermore, they were attempting to collect for the previous load of narcotics that they had sent to Cravero. The indictment charges appellants with conspiring to import divers quantities of controlled substances into the United States from April 7, 1974 until the indictment was returned on December 17, 1974. Thus, the statements made by the appellants in Martinique may have been only a small part of the larger conspiracy, but there can be little question that they were in furtherance of the overall conspiracy charged in the indictment. 48 In addition to arguing that the co-conspirator exception to the hearsay rule is inapplicable, appellant Ramirez alleges that there was no evidence, other than the hearsay statements of his co-conspirators, to link him to the conspiracy. The glibness of this allegation is appalling. There is no question that a witness can testify to declarations made to him by a co-conspirator only if the government by independent evidence establishes a prima facie case of the existence of a conspiracy and introduces at least slight evidence to connect with the conspiracy both the declarant and the defendant against whom the statement is introduced. The latter requirement is satisfied if the government makes a showing of a likelihood of an illicit association between the declarant and the defendant, United States v. Cravero, supra at 418-19; United States v. Lawson, 523 F.2d 804, 806 (5th Cir. 1975); Park v. Huff, 506 F.2d 849 (5th Cir. 1975) (en banc), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 824, 96 S.Ct. 38, 46 L.Ed.2d 40 (1975); United States v. Oliva, 497 F.2d 130, 133 (5th Cir. 1974). The independent evidence linking Ramirez to the conspiracy is more than slight; it is overwhelming. 49 During his conversations and negotiations with three of the government's principal witnesses Short, Andries and Donnie Ramirez detailed the extent of his participation in both the importation of narcotics to the Cravero organization and the continuing conspiracy charged in the indictment. His incriminatory admissions, as related at trial in their testimony, were not hearsay. United States v. Hicks, 524 F.2d 1001 (5th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 424 U.S. 946, 96 S.Ct. 1417, 47 L.Ed.2d 353 (1976); McCormick, Handbook on Evidence, § 262 (2d ed. 1972); Fed.R.Evid., 801(d)(2). Ramirez told Short that Cravero had paid him only $6,000, and he told Andries that Cravero had paid him very little money for the last deal. In addition, Short's testimony indicates that Ramirez actively participated in the negotiations with Short for the proposed purchase and sale of Colombian narcotics. 50 Ramirez also told Short that he had been to Miami to attempt to collect the money Cravero owed him. It was on this occasion that Cravero told him that he had only $200,000 and that the money could be used either to pay Ramirez or to bail Chandler out of jail. (Ramirez told Cravero to use the money for Chandler's bail, but Cravero apparently failed to do so). In addition to Ramirez' own statements, there was also independent evidence that Ramirez had been in Miami at approximately the same time that Chandler was arrested in New Jersey. Thus, we find without merit Ramirez' claim that he was not linked to the conspiracy by independent evidence. 51 We also reject appellant Gomez' argument that the admission of certain statements by his co-defendants violated his rights under Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968). In Bruton the Supreme Court was concerned with the prejudice inherent in the introduction of a confession which had been made by one co-defendant and which implicated another, non-confessing co-defendant. In the absence of an established exception to the hearsay rule, the confession could not have been offered against the non-confessor even though the jury had heard the statement as part of the prosecution's case against the confessor. The Supreme Court held that limiting instructions, the normal means of insuring that such inadmissible evidence is not considered by a jury, were insufficient to cure the prejudice created by the co-defendant's confession. 52 Since in this case there is another exception to the hearsay rule applicable to the incriminatory statements of Gomez' co-defendants, namely the co-conspirator exception, Bruton does not apply. 15 That Bruton is inapposite is readily apparent when the alternative to a joint trial is considered. If the trial of Gomez had been severed from the trial of his two co-defendants on the basis of Bruton, the statements in question still would have been admissible against Gomez. Grieco v. Meachum, 533 F.2d 713, 716 (1st Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 858, 97 S.Ct. 158, 50 L.Ed.2d 135 (1976); United States v. Clayton, 450 F.2d 16 (1st Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 975, 92 S.Ct. 1200, 31 L.Ed.2d 250 (1972). 53