Opinion ID: 488020
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Relevancy/Prejudice Calculus

Text: 13 The appellant, having objected throughout on the basis that the testimony of Richard Hatem was irrelevant and unduly prejudicial, now urges that it was reversible error for the district court to permit Hatem to testify. As a subset of the same point, Griffin asserts that the court should have granted his timely motion to strike Hatem's testimony in its entirety, or allowed an alternative motion for a mistrial. To put these contentions into proper context, it should be observed that Hatem was a self-confessed coconspirator who had entered into a plea agreement with the government. Hatem--living proof of the lack of honor among thieves--proceeded to breach the agreement by concealing and misrepresenting material information. He was thereupon indicted for perjury and convicted. Later, he repented and again became the prosecutor's helpmate. 14 At Griffin's trial, Hatem testified about certain of the events surrounding the Sweden conspiracy. Most significantly, he corroborated Distasio's testimony that the two of them met a third man at a restaurant in Bridgton, Maine, near the Sweden stash house, in the course of, and for purposes related to, the operation. Among other tidbits, the witness testified that the person they met (X) took Hatem's truck, left for a time, and returned with a load of marijuana. Although Hatem could not identify X, in other respects his version of these events squared with the account given by Distasio. The distributor's rendition of the third man theme differed from Hatem's, however, in that Distasio flatly identified Griffin as X. The defense placed the story of the Bridgton meeting in considerable doubt--so much so, we note as an aside, that Griffin was acquitted on the two Sweden charges (Counts III and IV). It became correspondingly important for the government to attempt to bolster what slim evidence it had of the appellant's involvement in the Sweden scheme, so that the corroboration which Hatem furnished was not unnecessarily cumulative in this instance. 15 The district court found Hatem's testimony relevant in at least three respects: establishing the existence of the Sweden conspiracy, establishing Distasio's role in the distribution network (which, on the government's theory, comprised an integral part of the conspiracy), and in substantiating Distasio's account of the Bridgton affair. The finding of relevance is so clearly correct that it is scarcely worth discussing. Under Fed.R.Evid. 401, evidence is relevant if it has 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 that evidence. We have consistently recognized that the district courts have broad discretion as to discerning the relevancy vel non of evidence.... United States v. Tierney, 760 F.2d 382, 387 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 131, 88 L.Ed.2d 108 (1985). The proof which Hatem supplied easily qualified under these generous guidelines. Indeed, Griffin's appellate counsel, to his credit, conceded as much during oral argument before us. 16 Once evidence is determined to be relevant, the only remaining issue is whether the district court correctly balanced the probative value of the evidence against its prejudicial impact under Fed.R.Evid. 403. 2 As with Rule 401, the district courts have considerable discretion in calibrating the Rule 403 scales. United States v. Moreno Morales, 815 F.2d 725, 739-40 (1st Cir. 1987); United States v. Kadouh, 768 F.2d 20, 21 (1st Cir.1985); United States v. Tierney, 760 F.2d at 387-88; United States v. Kepreos, 759 F.2d 961, 964 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 227, 88 L.Ed.2d 227 (1985). The question is one of 'unfair' prejudice--not of prejudice alone. Moreno Morales, at 740. Only in exceptional circumstances will we reverse the exercise of a district court's informed discretion vis-a-vis the relative weighting of probative value and unfairly prejudicial effect. Tierney, 760 F.2d at 388; Kepreos, 759 F.2d at 964. As we have stated, 17 the trial judge is Johnny-on-the-spot; he has savored the full taste of the fray, and his considerable discretion must be respected so long as he does not stray entirely beyond the pale. 18 Tierney, 760 F.2d at 388. 19 In this instance, no fault can be found with the district court's discretionary rulings. For the reasons which we have noted, Hatem's testimony was plainly probative. The aspects in which Griffin claims it to have been impermissibly prejudicial are at best conjectural. He argues, first, that because Hatem could not identify X, his testimony unfairly tied the appellant to the Sweden conspiracy. Yet, this ignores the fit between Hatem's testimony and that of Distasio. Moreover, the evidence obviously lacked powerful impact; after all, the jury acquitted the defendant on Counts III and IV. 20 The second contention is more sophisticated. Griffin speculates that, because Hatem had been prosecuted for perjury when, after agreeing to cooperate, he proved to be insufficiently forthcoming, the jurors would think that the government's accomplice witnesses would not dare to lie. But, evidence of the perjury prosecution cuts both ways. To be sure, as Griffin contends, it might have impressed the jury with the seriousness of cooperation agreements generally, with some indirect benefit to the credibility of the government's other plea-bargained witnesses. On the other hand, it is just as likely that Hatem's acknowledged perjury underscored for the jurors that the mere existence of a plea agreement was no guarantee that a cooperating witness was testifying truthfully. 21 It is significant, too, that the district judge took prudent and timely steps to alleviate any possible unfair prejudice. He instructed the jury, for example, that accomplice testimony should be received with caution, ... weighed with great care, and subjected to careful scrutiny. Indeed, he remarked that such testimony should be examined with greater care and caution than the testimony of other witnesses. He admitted the plea agreements which each of these witnesses had signed as full exhibits, complying with the guidelines set out in that wise in United States v. Dailey, 759 F.2d 192, 200 & n. 8 (1st Cir.1985). Except for Hatem's plea agreement, see supra, no objection to their admission was interposed. And in Hatem's case, the objection was part of the overall relevancy objection vis-a-vis his testimony, and did not focus specifically on the promise to tell the truth. 3 22 In fine, Hatem's testimony was of admitted relevance and, if believed, had positive probative power on the issues in the case. Its sum and substance was prejudicial in that it tended to prove Griffin's guilt as to at least two of the counts--but it was not unfairly so. Given that the district court wisely undertook prophylactic measures to dilute any overlay of unfair prejudice associated with this evidence, we do not find any abuse of discretion.