Opinion ID: 575830
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Tape-Recorded Conversation

Text: 17 Cota appeals Judge Sifton's decision not to suppress a number of her own statements, evidence, and testimony, which she claims unfairly prejudiced her case at trial. She first contends that the tape recorded conversation between her brother and sister-in-law (alleged co-conspirators), which revealed their plan to sell houses purchased with drug proceeds, should not have been admitted into evidence because no outside proof was first introduced to independently establish that there was indeed a conspiracy going on, or that Cota had any connection to it. See United States v. Lyles, 593 F.2d 182, 194 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 972, 99 S.Ct. 1537, 59 L.Ed.2d 789 (1979). 18 As Cota maintains, the tape was an out of court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. But Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2)(E) permits admission of such hearsay if offered against the accused by a co-conspirator during the course of and in furtherance of the conspiracy alleged. While United States v. Bentvena, 319 F.2d 916, 949 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 375 U.S. 940, 84 S.Ct. 345, 11 L.Ed.2d 271 (1963), determined that this type of evidence cannot be admitted absent an independent showing of appellant's participation in the conspiracy, the Supreme Court in Bourjaily v. United States, 483 U.S. 171, 180-81, 107 S.Ct. 2775, 2781-82, 97 L.Ed.2d 144 (1987) found that under Fed.R.Evid. 104 the hearsay statement itself may be considered along with independent evidence in deciding the question of appellant's membership. Moreover, it is accepted practice for a trial judge to admit one disputed piece of evidence subject to receipt of other evidence that, by the end of the government's case, will establish the alleged co-conspirator's involvement. See, e.g., United States v. Ziegler, 583 F.2d 77, 80 (2d Cir.1978). This involvement, and the fact that a conspiracy existed at all, need only be established by a preponderance of the evidence for purposes of admission. See Bourjaily, 483 U.S. at 175-76, 107 S.Ct. at 2778-79. 19 At trial, evidence of the strange nature of the deposits of the proceeds of the sale, Cota's use of a different bank to store the documents from the sale, her initial denial of having participated in the sale, and her attempts to contact the fugitive brother who had originally orchestrated the conspiracy for power of attorney after she had already signed the contracts of sale, all provided Judge Sifton with ample reason to rule to admit the tape. As this court has repeatedly held, once a conspiracy is established, only slight, even circumstantial evidence is needed to link another defendant with it. United States v. Ciambrone, 787 F.2d 799, 806 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1017, 107 S.Ct. 668, 93 L.Ed.2d 720 (1986); United States v. Wilkinson, 754 F.2d 1427, 1436 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 472 U.S. 1019, 105 S.Ct. 3482, 87 L.Ed.2d 617 (1985).