Opinion ID: 71441
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admission of the 1987 Conviction

Text: 14 Campbell argues that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence of his 1987 conviction for possession of cocaine for the purpose of proving intent. Under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), evidence of a prior criminal act is admissible if the evidence (1) is relevant to an issue other than the defendant's character; (2) is sufficient to support a finding that the defendant actually committed the extrinsic act; and (3) if its probative value is not substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice. United States v. Miller, 959 F.2d 1535, 1538 (11th Cir.) (en banc) (applying the Fifth Circuit's Beechum test), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 942, 113 S.Ct. 382, 121 L.Ed.2d 292 (1992). Intent is always at issue when a defendant pleads not guilty to a conspiracy charge. United States v. Hernandez, 896 F.2d 513, 523 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 858, 111 S.Ct. 159, 112 L.Ed.2d 125 (1990). Campbell argues that whereas prior possession of a commercial quantity of drugs is relevant to prove intent to distribute under Rule 404(b), evidence of prior possession of drugs for personal drug use is inadmissible to establish the intent to conspire to distribute narcotics. 15 Although this court has not addressed whether prior personal drug use evidences an intent to distribute drugs, it previously has admitted evidence of personal drug use where the use was tied to the offenses being prosecuted. Accordingly, in United States v. Lehder-Rivas, 955 F.2d 1510, 1517 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 924, 113 S.Ct. 347, 121 L.Ed.2d 262 (1992), this court affirmed a district court's decision to admit evidence of a defendant's personal drug use that took place during the course of a conspiracy, concluding that such information was relevant to explain other events that occurred during the conspiracy. Similarly, in United States v. Alonso, 740 F.2d 862, 869 (11th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1166, 105 S.Ct. 928, 83 L.Ed.2d 939 (1985), we held that evidence that the defendants had used cocaine with an informer was relevant to demonstrate the relationship and trust that developed between the defendants and the informer during the course of the conspiracy. In the instant case, Campbell's 1987 conviction for possession of cocaine took place more than three years prior to the events underlying the conspiracy for which he was convicted. As such, the events that led to the 1987 conviction were not intimately related to the instant conspiracy. Thus, we must determine the relevance of prior personal drug use in a subsequent, unrelated prosecution for the distribution of drugs. 16 The circuits are not unanimous on this issue. In United States v. Gadison, 8 F.3d 186, 192 (5th Cir.1993), the Fifth Circuit noted that a defendant puts his intent at issue when he pleads guilty to a conspiracy charge. Id. at 192 (citing United States v. Prati, 861 F.2d 82, 86 (5th Cir.1988)). There the defendant, convicted of distributing crack cocaine, argued on appeal that his prior state court conviction for unlawful possession of cocaine should have been excluded. The court, however, concluded that the conviction was admissible because [a] prior conviction for possession of cocaine is probative of a defendant's intent when the charge is conspiracy to distribute. Id. 17 As indicated, other circuits have reached a contrary decision. See United States v. Ono, 918 F.2d 1462, 1464-65 (9th Cir.1990); United States v. Monzon, 869 F.2d 338, 344-45 (7th Cir.), cert. denied 490 U.S. 1075, 109 S.Ct. 2087, 104 L.Ed.2d 650 (1989); United States v. Marques, 600 F.2d 742, 751 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 858, 100 S.Ct. 119, 62 L.Ed.2d 77 (1979); Enriquez v. United States, 314 F.2d 703, 717 (9th Cir.1963). 18 After considering the rationales enunciated by the various courts of appeals, we conclude that the logical extension of our current jurisprudence is to admit evidence of prior personal drug use to prove intent in a subsequent prosecution for distribution of narcotics. Intent is clearly at issue in a conspiracy prosecution; thus, we follow the Fifth Circuit's conclusion that evidence of prior use is relevant to proof of intent. Were we to decide otherwise than as indicated in the Gadison case, the decision below would still be affirmed, for the record below is replete with other evidence, principally unchallenged, to demonstrate to a reasonable jury the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Evidence was introduced that Campbell repeatedly supplied Noble with cocaine and that Noble either paid Campbell directly or wired Campbell's girlfriend the money via Western Union. In addition, Howell testified that Campbell supplied him with powdered cocaine and paid him to process it into crack cocaine. Furthermore, a search of a car in which Campbell was riding resulted in the seizure of almost $6,000 in currency packaged in dealer folds. Finally, a search of Campbell's house led to the discovery of an electronic scale with crack cocaine residue, $10,000 in currency packaged in dealer folds, and evidence of numerous cash expenditures that vastly exceeded Campbell's income over a three year period. Thus, we conclude that any alleged error in admitting Campbell's conviction would be harmless. Accordingly, admission of the prior conviction does not present as grounds for reversal of conviction. 19