Opinion ID: 581360
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admissibility of Saban's Statement

Text: 10 Appellants Perez and Robinson contend that the district court erred in admitting co-defendant Saban's inculpatory statement allegedly made to Officer Villamil. They argue that the district judge should have assured himself that Saban had understood his right to refuse to answer any questions and that Villamil should have advised Saban of his rights again before talking to him. The government correctly points out that the privilege against self-incrimination is personal to a defendant. See Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 433 n. 4, 106 S.Ct. 1135, 1147 n. 4, 89 L.Ed.2d 410 (1986). Therefore, a co-defendant cannot object to the admission of a confessing defendant's inculpatory statement on the ground that the confessing defendant's Fifth Amendment rights were violated. Accordingly, appellants cannot object on that ground to the admissibility of Saban's statement. 2 11 Appellants also argue that Saban's statement was unduly prejudicial because the jury probably assumed that if one of the crewmembers knew that the Delfin was transporting marijuana, the other two crewmembers must have known as well. Therefore, they maintain, the statement was more prejudicial than probative and should have been excluded under Fed.R.Evid. 403. Appellants did not explicitly object to the statement based on Rule 403 at trial although counsel for Robinson, objecting on behalf of Robinson and Perez, stated that we are trying this case with the three [defendants] together and we would oppose that type of statement as to my client. Counsel for appellants thereafter only pursued their objection to Saban's statement on Fifth Amendment grounds. Accordingly, the district court did not make an explicit ruling based on Rule 403 considerations. Nevertheless, we note that Saban's statement did not refer to appellants in any way. Moreover, the district court immediately gave a curative instruction that the statement should only be considered as to Saban and repeated this instruction in the jury's final charge. Under the circumstances, we find that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the statement, especially in light of the curative instruction. See United States v. Wood, 924 F.2d 399, 401 (1st Cir.1991). We further note, as the government informs us and appellants do not dispute, that before trial appellants were provided with a copy of Villamil's statement containing Saban's admission. Despite having this information, appellants did not move for a severance. 12 Appellants claim that the district court's instruction should have been given prior to Villamil's testimony as to Saban's statement and that the instruction was insufficient because it did not explain why the statement should only be applied to Saban. As noted above, appellants failed to object to the court's instruction at the time it was given and also failed to object to that portion of the court's final charge which reiterated the instruction. At the completion of the charge to the jury, appellants did request a special instruction regarding Saban's admission but the court properly responded that it had already given such an instruction in its charge. In the absence of an objection to the court's instructions, we review the instructions only for plain error. See United States v. Campbell, 874 F.2d 838, 841 (1st Cir.1989). We do not think that the district court was required to explain why Saban's statement could not be used against appellants and we note that the instruction was clear and a correct statement of the law. We therefore find that the instruction certainly did not amount to plain error. 13 As a last attack with regard to Saban's statement, appellants argue that they are entitled to a reversal and a new trial because of the district court's determination after trial that Saban's mental capacity was so limited as to justify a new trial for him. See supra note 1. Appellants claim that they should now have the opportunity to present evidence of Saban's limited mental capacity to the jury. The argument is without merit. As already discussed, the jury was adequately instructed during appellants' trial that Saban's statement should only be considered as evidence against Saban and therefore Saban's perceived mental state had no bearing on the outcome of appellants' trial.