Opinion ID: 1926615
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: conversation between police detective and informant

Text: Atkins' defense at trial was entrapment and is the focus of the next issue that he has raised on appeal. The United States Supreme Court established the availability of this defense in a federal prosecution in Sorrells v. United States, 287 U.S. 435, 53 S.Ct. 210, 77 L.Ed. 413 (1932). Likewise, the defense has been available in most states, including Delaware. Halko v. State, Del.Supr., 209 A.2d 895 (1965). The affirmative defense of entrapment is a matter of confession and avoidance. In effect, it concedes the commission of the act charged but claims it should not be punished because of the wrongdoing of the police officer. Crosby v. State, Del.Supr., 295 A.2d 708, 711 (1972). The defense of entrapment is specifically defined in the Delaware Code: In any prosecution for an offense, it is an affirmative defense that the accused engaged in the proscribed conduct because he was induced by a law-enforcement official or his agent who is acting in the knowing cooperation with such an official to engage in the proscribed conduct constituting such conduct which is a crime when such person is not otherwise disposed to do so. The defense of entrapment as defined by this Criminal Code concedes the commission of the act charged but claims that it should not be punished because of the wrongdoing of the officer originates the idea of the crime and then induces the other person to engage in conduct constituting such a crime when the other person is not otherwise disposed to do so. 11 Del.C. § 432(a) We have previously held that the entrapment defense of § 432 is a factual question which is strictly within the province of the jury. Harrison v. State, Del. Supr., 442 A.2d 1377, 1385 (1982). As in the case of other affirmative defenses, the burden of proving entrapment rests upon the defendant. Cf. Crosby v. State, 295 A.2d at 711. The test for entrapment under the statute requires a jury to focus on the predisposition of the defendant and on the conduct of the government agent. In fact, the Atkins' jury was specifically instructed to that effect with respect to his defense of entrapment. [5] In support of his entrapment defense, Atkins attempted to introduce the tape recording of a conversation between Detective Bullen and an alleged police informant. In response to the Court's request for an offer of proof with respect to the tape recording, Atkins' attorney replied: We are going to show there was a carefully orchestrated plan to trap Mr. Atkins. That Mr. Atkins did not approach the officer. That Mr. Atkins had no pre-disposition, no other involvement with selling drugs or using drugs and that there was a careful plan going on the phone lines between the warden's office or lieutenant's office in Gander Hill  and lieutenant Bullen's office when they were planning and orchestrating to get Atkins in the right position where they could get him arrested for delivery ... The State objected to the introduction of the tape recording on the grounds that the alleged conversation was irrelevant and hearsay. Atkins' attorney responded to the State's objection at trial by asserting that the conversation was relevant to the defense of entrapment. Atkins' attorney also alleged that the tape recorded conversation was not hearsay because it was not being offered to prove the truth of the informant's statements but was being offered for the purpose of showing the effect of the informant's statements on the listener, Detective Bullen. The Court sustained the State's objection. We will first address the relevancy of the tape recorded conversation between Detective Bullen and the informant. Relevancy is defined as evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. D.R.E. 401. In order to meet his burden in proving the defense of entrapment, Atkins needed to address the statutory requirement that the wrongdoing of the officer originates the idea of the crime and then induces the other person to engage in conduct constituting such a crime. 11 Del.C. § 432(a). Moreover, the Atkins' jury was instructed that after considering all of the evidence tending to support the existence of the defense, you (the jury) should determine whether that evidence makes it more likely than not that each element of the affirmative defense, as I have defined it for you, existed. If the tape recorded conversation tended to establish that the police officer originated the idea of the crime, it was relevant to Atkins entrapment defense since one of his statutory burdens was to establish that the officer originated the idea of the crime and then induced Atkins to commit it. The State also argues that the conversation between Detective Bullen and the informant was too remote in time to be relevant. In Harrison, we were disturbed by a test which confined the scope of the focus concerning the issue of predisposition to the time period just before the police solicited the defendant to participate in a criminal scheme. Harrison v. State, 442 A.2d at 1386. In fact, in Harrison we held that the proper point of reference for ascertaining the predisposition of the defendant to commit a particular crime is the time period extending from just before the State's solicitation to just before the defendant's commission of the crime. Id. Bullen's contacts with Atkins took place over only five days. The origin of the crime and the inducement of Atkins were critical to his entrapment defense and were issues to be resolved by the jury after it heard all of the facts. The conversation between Bullen and the informant was not too remote in time to be relevant. The second basis upon which the State objected to the introduction of the tape recording between Bullen and the informant was on the grounds of hearsay. Hearsay is defined as a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted. D.R.E. 801(c). Atkins' attorney represented to the Court that the purpose of introducing the tape recorded conversation was not to prove the truth of the informant's statements but to prove the effect on Bullen, the listener. Specifically, Atkins wanted to prove that the effect of the informant's statement was to cause Bullen to originate the idea of the crime and to also cause Bullen to induce Atkins to engage in conduct constituting such a crime. Whenever an utterance is offered to evidence the state of mind which ensued in another person in consequence of the utterance, it is obvious that no assertive or testimonial use is sought to be made of it, and the utterance is, therefore, admissible, so far as the hearsay rule is concerned. (emphasis added). 6 Wigmore Evidence § 1789. This proposition is supported by McCormick, which gives an example that is analogous to the facts in this case: When it is proved that D (informant) made a statement to X (Bullen) with the purpose of showing the probable state of mind thereby induced in X (Bullen), ... to show the information which X (Bullen) had as bearing on the reasonableness or good faith or voluntariness of the subsequent conduct of X (Bullen)...., the evidence is not subject to attack as hearsay. McCormick on Evidence, § 249. (names added). Atkins stated purpose for wanting to introduce the tape recording was to prove that the effect of the informant's words were to cause Bullen to originate the idea of a crime and then induce Atkins to commit it. The tape recording was not offered to prove the truthfulness of the informant's statements but to prove the effect of those words upon Bullen irrespective of their truthfulness. This Court has previously held that it is proper to admit out of court statements when they are not offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Whalen v. State, Del.Supr., 434 A.2d 1346, 1355 (1981), cert. den. 455 U.S. 910, 102 S.Ct. 1258, 71 L.Ed.2d 449 (1982). In Whalen, such out-of-court statements were received to show why a detective believed the defendant was a suspect and were not intended to show that those statements were accurate. Id. Our analysis is consistent with the conclusions that have been reached in other jurisdictions. Cf. United States v. Herrera, 600 F.2d 502 (5th Cir.1979); Curreri v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, 722 F.2d 6 (1st Cir.1983). In Herrera, the Court concluded that a tape recorded telephone conversation between the defendant and another person was not hearsay and should be received into evidence because it was offered to show the defendant's state of mind as a consequence of the statements and was not being offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Herrera, 600 F.2d at 504. In Curreri, the Court was asked to exclude certain statements on the grounds of relevancy and hearsay. Curreri, 722 F.2d 6. The Curreri Court ruled that the statements were relevant and should not have been excluded on hearsay grounds because they were not offered to prove the truthfulness of the statements but were offered to help the jury assess the conduct of the union. Id. at 11. The Curreri Court concluded that the central issue in the case was the conduct of the union. Id. In this case, one of the central issues of the entrapment defense was the conduct of Detective Bullen. We have previously held that a defendant is entitled to develop his defense of entrapment and that the hearsay rule may not be applied mechanically to defeat a right and the ends of justice. Kreisher v. State, Del.Supr., 303 A.2d 651 (1973). In Kreisher, the defendant wanted to introduce into evidence statements that had been made to him by an informant. Id. at 652. In particular, the defendant in Kreisher was attempting to testify as to the background and the circumstances prior to the crime. Id. This Court held that it would be fundamentally unfair to allow a hearsay objection to vitiate the defense of entrapment. Id. In Kreisher, the defendant was allowed to show the effect that an informant's statement had upon him. Id. Atkins was also entitled to develop the background and the circumstances of the arrangements between Detective Bullen and the informant. The tape recording of the origin of the crime and the plan for inducing Atkins to commit it would be highly probative to Atkins' entrapment defense. Lewis v. State, Del.Supr., 416 A.2d 208, 210 (1980). Given the fact that the informant's statements to Bullen were admissible and not hearsay, the defendant had the option of presenting those statements through Bullen's testimony or by introducing the tape recordings into evidence. The tape of the conversation between Detective Bullen and the informant was the most reliable evidence possible of the conversation in which the government's own agent was a participant. See Lopez v. United States, 373 U.S. 427, 83 S.Ct. 1381, 10 L.Ed.2d 462, reh. den., 375 U.S. 870, 84 S.Ct. 26, 11 L.Ed.2d 99 (1963).