Opinion ID: 760944
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Admission of Coconspirator Testimony

Text: 26 Gigante contends that Judge Weinstein admitted substantial prejudicial testimony by misconstruing the proper scope of Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E), which provides that a statement is not hearsay if ... [it] is offered against a party and is ... a statement by a coconspirator of a party during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy. Gigante argues that these evidentiary rulings constituted reversible error. 27 To admit a statement under the coconspirator exception to the hearsay definition, a district court must find two factors by a preponderance of the evidence: first, that a conspiracy existed that included the defendant and the declarant; and second, that the statement was made during the course of and in furtherance of that conspiracy. See Orena, 32 F.3d at 711; United States v. Maldonado-Rivera, 922 F.2d 934, 958 (2d Cir.1990) (citing Bourjaily v. United States, 483 U.S. 171, 175, 107 S.Ct. 2775, 97 L.Ed.2d 144 (1987)). We will not disturb a district court's findings on these issues unless they are clearly erroneous. Moreover, any improper admission of coconspirator testimony is subject to harmless error analysis. See Orena, 32 F.3d at 711. 28 The conspiracy between the declarant and the defendant need not be identical to any conspiracy that is specifically charged in the indictment. See id. at 713. In addition, while the hearsay statement itself may be considered in establishing the existence of the conspiracy, there must be some independent corroborating evidence of the defendant's participation in the conspiracy. United States v. Tellier, 83 F.3d 578, 580 (2d Cir.1996); see also Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2). The identities of both the declarant and the witness who heard the hearsay evidence, however, are non-hearsay evidence that may be considered in assessing the reliability of the statement and finding the existence of a conspiracy. See Tellier, 83 F.3d at 580 n. 2; Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2) advisory committee's note to 1997 Amendment. 29 As to the second requirement, statements made during the course and in furtherance of a conspiracy must be such as to prompt the listener ... to respond in a way that promotes or facilitates the carrying out of a criminal activity. Maldonado-Rivera, 922 F.2d at 958. This can include those statements that provide reassurance, or seek to induce a coconspirator's assistance, or serve to foster trust and cohesiveness, or inform each other as to the progress or status of the conspiracy. Id. at 959. In addition, while idle chatter among conspirators does not satisfy the in furtherance requirement of Rule 801(d)(2)(E), often these statements are admissible as declarations against penal interest or under the state of mind hearsay exception. See United States v. Paone, 782 F.2d 386, 390-91 (2d Cir.1986). 30 A conspiracy may involve only two or three individuals. In the context of a RICO prosecution of organized criminals, however, the relevant conspiracy may grow quite large. For example, the Windows conspiracy, of which Gigante was a part, was a sprawling criminal enterprise involving both the Genovese and Colombo crime families and enveloping an entire industry. See United States v. Gigante, 39 F.3d 42, 44 (2d Cir.1994) (describing Windows scheme). The conspiratorial ingenuity of La Cosa Nostra expands the normal boundaries of a criminal enterprise, and Rule 801(d)(2)(E) must expand accordingly to encompass the full extent of the conspiracy. 31 However, even in the context of organized crime, there is a limit to the proper use of Rule 801(d)(2)(E) to admit coconspirator testimony. The district court in each instance must find the existence of a specific criminal conspiracy beyond the general existence of the Mafia. And when a RICO conspiracy is charged, the defendant must be linked to an individual predicate act by more than hearsay alone before a statement related to that act is admissible against the defendant under Rule 801(d)(2)(E). See Tellier, 83 F.3d at 581. 32 Early in Gigante's trial, Judge Weinstein announced his finding that there is a general overriding conspiracy among all of these alleged Mafia groups. He then admitted some evidence under Rule 801(d)(2)(E) based solely on this finding of a general conspiracy. This was error. The district court's rationale would allow the admission of any statement by any member of the Mafia regarding any criminal behavior of any other member of the Mafia. This is not to say that there can never be a conspiracy comprising many different Mafia families; however, it must be a conspiracy with some specific criminal goal in addition to a general conspiracy to be members of the Mafia. It is the unity of interests stemming from a specific shared criminal task that justifies Rule 801(d)(2)(E) in the first place--organized crime membership alone does not suffice. 33 Although we find that Judge Weinstein construed Rule 801(d)(2)(E) too broadly, many of the statements contested by Gigante were properly admitted. For example, Gigante contends that it was error to admit Alphonse D'Arco's testimony that Jimmy Ida (of the Genovese Family) told D'Arco that Gigante wanted him to help locate and murder Savino in Hawaii. Similarly, Gigante contests the district court's admission of D'Arco's testimony that Vittorio Amuso (his boss in the Lucchese family) told D'Arco that Gigante was aware of and approved of the plot to murder John Gotti. Gigante argues that there was no independent corroborating evidence of his involvement in a conspiracy to murder either Savino or Gotti. However, there was substantial corroborating evidence that could support findings by Judge Weinstein that Gigante was boss of the Genovese family, that the Genovese family was involved in the conspiracies to murder Savino and Gotti, and that Gigante, as boss, was necessarily involved in these conspiracies. The admission of these statements was not clearly erroneous. 34 On other occasions, the district court erred in admitting evidence under Rule 801(d)(2)(E). Gigante argues that Judge Weinstein improperly admitted a tape recording of Gotti, Gravano and John D'Amato (street boss of a New Jersey family) discussing a conspiracy to murder Corky Vastola, and stating that they needed to secure Gigante's permission to utilize a particular person to kill Vastola. The evidence indicated that Gigante refused this permission. The discussions between Gotti, Gravano and D'Amato should have been excluded, because there was no evidence that Gigante ever joined in a conspiracy with those figures to murder Vastola. The government argues that these discussions reveal Gigante's role in a general process and network of criminal conspiracy and activity. However, these discussions were not in furtherance of a specific criminal purpose, and the fact that Gigante might have conspired with Gotti and Gravano to commit other crimes on other occasions is irrelevant. 35 Nonetheless, to the extent that these or any other statements were erroneously admitted under Rule 801(d)(2)(E), they did not effect actual prejudice resulting in 'substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury's verdict.'  Ayala v. Leonardo, 20 F.3d 83, 92 (2d Cir.1994) (quoting Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 776, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946)). Several admitted statements would have been properly admissible either as declarations against penal interest or under the state of mind exception to the hearsay rule. The jury acquitted Gigante on some of the charges against him, convicted him on other charges, and were unable to reach a verdict on still other allegations. This demonstrates that the jury was able to distinguish among the charges against Gigante and weigh the evidence on each separate count. There was substantial direct and circumstantial evidence connecting Gigante to each of the crimes for which he was convicted. Having considered all of Gigante's evidentiary arguments, we hold that any errors by the district court were harmless.