Opinion ID: 8704059
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Allegedly False Evidence

Text: Defendant also alleges that a new trial is warranted because the government knowingly presented false evidence during his trial. A defendant is entitled to a new trial if he proves that there is a reasonable likelihood that evidence admitted at trial and known by the government to be false could have affected the jury verdict. Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264, 269, 79 S.Ct. 1173, 3 L.Ed.2d 1217 (1959); United States v. Price, 357 F.Supp.2d 63, 69 (D.D.C.2004). To prevail on this claim, defendant must show that (1) the evidence was actually false; (2) the prosecution knew or should have known that the testimony was false; and (3) the false testimony was material. United States v. Zuno-Arce, 339 F.3d 886, 889 (9th Cir.2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1208, 124 S.Ct. 1483, 158 L.Ed.2d 132 (2004); Shasteen v. Saver, 252 F.3d 929, 933 (7th Cir.2001). Defendant argues that Jerome Thomas falsely testified that a recording was made in the fall of 2005 when it was actually made in March 2006. ECF No. 144 at 7. In support of this argument, defendant also offers an affidavit from a woman named Maria Perez, a former employee of defendant’s, to establish that the call could not have occurred when Thomas said it did. Defendant argues that these factors reveal that Thomas was dishonest about material points in his testimony. ECF No. 144 at 7. As a threshold matter, this evidence is not “newly-discovered” because it could have been obtained prior to trial. See, e.g., Dale, 991 F.2d at 839. Furthermore, this evidence does not conclusively establish that Thomas testified falsely in Court. Rather, if it had been presented at trial, it merely would have cast doubt on Thomas’s testimony. 5 Even if defendant is correct that Thomas testified falsely in Court, however, defendant has failed to establish either that the government knew the testimony was false or that the testimony was material to defendant’s conviction. Defendant’s conclusory allegations about the government’s knowledge of falsity are therefore insufficient to warrant a new trial. Defendant also challenges testimony relating to Frank Smith, a co-defendant who was not a witness at trial but who testified at an evidentiary hearing in November 2008, subsequent to the trial. During trial, a witness named Phillip Robinson testified that Frank Smith told Robinson that Smith worked for the defendant. Defendant states that after trial, at the November 2008 hearing on defendant’s first motion for a new trial, Frank Smith testified that he had never told Robinson that he worked for the defendant. 6 ECF No. 144 at 7. Defendant contends that this testimony establishes that Robinson’s testimony was false. Defendant also argues that the testimony was known to be false by prosecutors. He argues that if Frank Smith’s testimony had been presented at trial, it “would likely have affected the verdict and resulted in an acquittal.” ECF No. 144 at 8. As to this issue, defendant again fails to set forth anything other than his conclusory allegations that the government knowingly presented false testimony. Defendant has also failed to establish that any such alleged false testimony was material to the outcome of his trial. Accordingly, his request for a new trial also fails on this ground. See, e.g., Price, 357 F.Supp.2d at 69.