Opinion ID: 437553
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Foundational Requirement for Co-Conspirator's Statements

Text: 50 A statement by a co-conspirator during the course of and in furtherance of a conspiracy is admissible into evidence under Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). The government, in its petition for a hearing, argues, for the first time, that the entries were made by appellants' co-conspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy. Ordonez and Hernandez-Garcia argue that the entries were not admissible as declarations of a co-conspirator because the declarant was never identified. 51 The government contends that the statement of an unidentified person is admissible under the co-conspirator exception to the hearsay rule. The only authority cited to support this suggestion is United States v. Whitten, 706 F.2d 1000 (9th Cir.1983). This reference is curious since in Whitten the co-conspirator (Loving) was fully identified at trial. The issue before this court in Whitten, was whether the statement was made in furtherance of the conspiracy and not the identity of the declarant. 706 F.2d at 1018. 52 In United States v. Snow, 521 F.2d 730 (9th Cir.1975) we held that otherwise inadmissible hearsay declarations of co-conspirators may be received into evidence when ... there is independent proof of the existence of the conspiracy and of the connection of the declarant and the defendant to it. Id. at 733. 53 At the time an objection was interposed concerning the admissibility of the entries as hearsay, the government did not suggest to the trial court that a proper foundation had been established under the co-conspirator exception. This theory was never advanced before the trial judge at any time during the trial. The trial court was not called upon to consider or to make any findings concerning the weight, sufficiency, and credibility of any foundational facts, independent of the expert's interpretation of the coded ledger entries, to prove the connection of the declarant to the conspiracy. Since this theory was not considered, we cannot now say that such evidence was not available. We decline to speculate on the state of this record that the trial court would have been satisfied that sufficient foundational facts were present to satisfy the co-conspirator exception, if the prosecutor had argued this theory in a timely manner. For us to sustain a theory of admissibility not presented below, would unfairly rob appellants of the opportunity to argue the weight, sufficiency and trustworthiness of the evidence to establish a proper foundation before the trial judge, or to offer proof to controvert the facts now relied upon by the government. See Giordenello v. United States, 357 U.S. 480, 488, 78 S.Ct. 1245, 1251, 2 L.Ed.2d 1503 (1957) (The government cannot support the admissibility of evidence on a theory raised for the first time on appeal because it would unfairly deprive the accused of an adequate opportunity to cross-examine the government's witnesses or adduce rebuttal evidence). See also Sims v. United States, 405 F.2d 1381, 1383 (D.C.Cir.1968) (Consideration of alternative bases for the admissibility of evidence received at trial refused because the argument was not presented to the trial court). 54 We are unable to determine from this record whether appellants would have been able to persuade the trial court, through cross-examination or rebuttal evidence, that a proper foundation could not be presented for admissibility of the entries for the truth of the matter asserted under the co-conspirator exception. Under these circumstances, we cannot sustain the admission of the entries under this theory. Even if we assume arguendo that the entries are admissible under the co-conspirator exception, from the record now before us, the admission of the declarations of unidentified persons for the truth of the matter asserted violated the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment because the government failed to present evidence that the declarants were unavailable. 55 In response to the government's petition for a rehearing, Ordonez and Hernandez-Garcia now argue that admission of the ledger entries for the truth of the matter asserted violated the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. Where an accused claims that an out-of-court statement was received into evidence in violation of the Confrontation Clause, the record must show that the government produced the declarant or presented facts showing that such person was unavailable. Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 65, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 2538, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980). As noted above, the court admitted the ledger entries although the government was not able to identify the person who made the entries for March 4 and June 15. No evidence was offered in support of the admission of the ledger entries that these unidentified persons were not available to testify at trial or that a good faith effort had been made to obtain their testimony. 56 Thus, Ordonez and Hernandez-Garcia were convicted of substantive counts of possession of cocaine for distribution based on the out-of-court assertions of unidentified persons who were never subjected to confrontation or cross-examination and whose unavailability was never demonstrated. The use of this evidence clearly violated the first prong of the test set forth in Ohio v. Roberts. [W]hen a hearsay declarant is not present for cross-examination at trial, the Confrontation Clause normally requires a showing that he is unavailable. 448 U.S. at 66, 100 S.Ct. at 2539. 57 The submission of the ledger entries to the jury under these circumstances also failed to comply with the second aspect of the Supreme Court's test for the admissibility of extrajudicial statements set forth in Ohio v. Roberts. Once the declarant is shown to be unavailable, the government must prove that the declarant's assertions are trustworthy. 448 U.S. at 65, 100 S.Ct. at 2538. Reliability can be inferred without more in a case where the evidence falls within a firmly rooted hearsay exception. 448 U.S. at 66, 100 S.Ct. at 2539. In Dutton v. Evans, 400 U.S. 74, 91 S.Ct. 210, 27 L.Ed.2d 213 (1970), the Supreme Court [did] not question the validity of the co-conspirator exception applied in the federal courts. 400 U.S. at 80, 91 S.Ct. at 215. The Court found no violation of the Confrontation Clause in the use of a co-conspirator's statement under Georgia's rule, which admits assertions that evidence an attempt to conceal the offense. In determining whether the Confrontation Clause has been violated where a co-conspirator's statement is offered, a trial court must find that the circumstances under which the statements were made present a sufficient indicia of reliability so that the trier of fact [has] a satisfactory basis for evaluating the truth of the prior statement. California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 161, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 1936, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970). 58 In Dutton v. Evans, the Court tested the reliability of a co-conspirator's statement under four indicia: 59 1. Did the statement contain assertion of past fact?2. Did the declarant have personal knowledge of the facts he related? 60 3. Did the government's evidence exclude the possibility that declarant acted upon a faulty recollection? 61 4. Did the circumstances under which the assertion was made provide any reason to believe that the declarant misrepresented the truth? 400 U.S. at 88-89, 91 S.Ct. at 218-219. 62 In the instant matter, the government failed to present any evidence to demonstrate the reliability of the entries in the ledger under the criteria set forth in Dutton. 63 First. We cannot determine from the ledger entry whether the declarant recorded past fact or present fact. 64 Second. The government failed to present any evidence from which it can be determined whether the declarant had personal knowledge of the facts he recorded. 65 Three. Because the declarant was not identified, the trier of fact could not determine whether the entries reflected clear or faulty recollection. 66 Four. No evidence was offered by the government to show that the declarant's statements were truthful. 67 The government correctly notes that in other circuits [o]nce a statement falls within a well-known accepted exception to the hearsay rule, such as the co-conspirator's exception, it is per se admissible without violating the Confrontation Clause. Among the cases cited for this principle is Ottomano v. United States, 468 F.2d 269, 273 (1st Cir.1972), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1128, 93 S.Ct. 948, 35 L.Ed.2d 260, reh. denied, 410 U.S. 948, 93 S.Ct. 1383, 35 L.Ed.2d 616 (1973). This court expressly refused to adopt the Ottomano rule in United States v. Snow, 521 F.2d 730, 734 n. 2 (9th Cir.1975) and in United States v. Perez, 658 F.2d 654, 660 n. 5 (9th Cir.1981). 68 The rule followed in this circuit was first expressed in United States v. Adams, 446 F.2d 681 (9th Cir.1971). In Adams we stated: 69 While the Sixth Amendment's Confrontation Clause and the evidentiary hearsay rule stem from the same source, the Supreme Court has never equated the two. It follows that application of a recognized hearsay exception does not necessarily evidence compliance with the Confrontation Clause. 70 Id. at 683. 71 Recently, we summarized the reliability inquiry which must be undertaken by the trial court prior to determining admissibility as follows: 72 The factors considered include (1) whether the statements or assertions of past fail, (2) whether the declarant had personal knowledge concerning the crime, (3) the possibility of faulty recollection, and (4) whether the circumstances suggest that the declarant misrepresented the defendant's role. 73 United States v. Tille, 729 F.2d 615 at 621 (9th Cir.1984). 1 74 We noted in Perez that [a]ll four [Dutton ] elements need not be present in order to satisfy the confrontation clause. In some circumstances, a statement may be admitted over confrontation clause objections even if it does not pass scrutiny under each prong of the Dutton test. See Snow, 521 F.2d at 734-35. Perez at 661. 75 In Snow we concluded that the co-conspirator's statements were trustworthy because two of the four Dutton factors were applicable. In the matter before us, because of the absence of a proper objection, no evidence was presented to the trial court to show that any of the Dutton factors were applicable or that other indicia of reliability were present. 76 The government, in its petition for a rehearing and suggestion for rehearing en banc, states that [t]he recent decision of United States v. DeGudino, 722 F.2d 1351 (7th Cir.1983) supports the admissibility of drug ledgers under the reliability standard. This statement is quite misleading. The issue of reliability under the Confrontation Clause was not before the court in DeGudino. There is no discussion in DeGudino of the admissibility of the statements for the truth of the matter asserted under the Confrontation Clause. It should also be noted that the only case cited in DeGudino is United States v. Wilson, 532 F.2d 641 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 846, 97 S.Ct. 128, 50 L.Ed.2d 117 (1976). In Wilson, in holding that the authenticity of certain documents had been established, the court observed that the notebooks were not offered to prove the truth of the facts asserted therein. Id. at 645. 77 The government also failed to point out to this court that the Seventh Circuit follows the Ottomano per se rule i.e., the Dutton factors are inapplicable if the evidence consists of the declaration of a co-conspirator. United States v. Papia, 560 F.2d 827, 836 n. 3 (7th Cir.1977). As set forth above, this circuit has repeatedly rejected the Ottomano rule. Until Perez and Snow are overturned by this court, sitting en banc, we must apply the Dutton factors. The court in DeGudino was simply not required to consider reliability under the Confrontation Clause according to the law of the Seventh Circuit. The views expressed in DeGudino are of no value to us under these circumstances. 78 Based solely on the record before us, we conclude that, even if we assume that the statements were admissible as the declarations of a co-conspirator, they were inadmissible under the Confrontation Clause. 79