Opinion ID: 658545
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Other Evidentiary Contentions

Text: 53 Defendants' other evidentiary challenges include contentions that the court erred in admitting other crimes and hearsay evidence and in restricting their cross-examination of certain witnesses. None provides any ground for reversal. 54
55 The government offered the testimony of Melendez, 30 years of age at the time of trial, that he had first met Rosa when Melendez was 16 or 17 years old and that the two had stolen cars together. He also testified that in 1986 he had sold a few ounces of heroin to Rosa's then-partner in the drug trade. On appeal, Rosa argues that this evidence was not admissible under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) because it was offered to show his propensity for crime, and that, in any event, it was unduly prejudicial and should therefore have been excluded pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 403. We disagree. 56 The trial court has broad discretion to admit other crimes evidence under Rule 404(b), and its ruling will not be overturned on appeal absent abuse of discretion. See, e.g., United States v. Brennan, 798 F.2d 581, 589 (2d Cir.1986), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1022, 109 S.Ct. 1750, 104 L.Ed.2d 187 (1989). We have held repeatedly that it is within the court's discretion to admit evidence of prior acts to inform the jury of the background of the conspiracy charged, in order to help explain how the illegal relationship between participants in the crime developed, or to explain the mutual trust that existed between coconspirators. See, e.g., United States v. Pitre, 960 F.2d 1112, 1119 (2d Cir.1992); see United States v. Roldan-Zapata, 916 F.2d 795, 804 (2d Cir.1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 940, 111 S.Ct. 1397, 113 L.Ed.2d 453 (1991); United States v. Brennan, 798 F.2d at 589-90. 57 In this case, the evidence of Rosa's prior dealings with Melendez was properly admitted to explain how the illegal relationship between the two had developed and to explain why Melendez had appointed Rosa to a leading position in the Organization. The court properly instructed the jury that Rosa was not on trial for car thefts and that Melendez's testimony on that matter was being admitted only to establish the Melendez-Rosa association. The court also extended an offer, which Rosa declined, to give the jury a similar limiting instruction with regard to the 1986 drug sale. We see no error either in the admission of the testimony for this limited purpose or in the court's conclusion that the probative value of the evidence was not outweighed by its potential for unfair prejudice. 58 Rosa also argues that he was not given advance notice pursuant to Rule 404(b) of the government's intent to use this testimony. However, the notice requirement now in that Rule did not become effective until after the trial of this case. 59
60 Defendants also contend that the district court improperly admitted hearsay evidence of a theft from Melendez's apartment. Melendez testified that, at the time of his arrest, he had approximately $3.5 million in cash in the apartment but that the police reported finding only $2.38 million. In order to explain the discrepancy, the government sought to elicit testimony from Melendez that he had learned that his apartment had been burglarized after his arrest. After a defense objection, the matter was discussed out of the hearing of the jury. The prosecutor expressed concern that defendants would allege that law enforcement agents had stolen the money. During this discussion, it transpired that Melendez did not have personal knowledge as to how much money was in his apartment just prior to his arrest; the money had been counted by his 16-year-old cousin Harold, who told Melendez how much there was. After the arrest, Melendez was told that Harold or somebody had been told by a security guard at Melendez's apartment building that a man matching the description of another Organization member, Arthur Boyce, had carted numerous items out of the apartment. 61 To the extent that Harold's statement to Melendez repeated what Harold or somebody had been told by a security guard, it was at the very least hearsay as to the content of the security guard's statement. The trial court nonetheless ruled that [u]nless all defense counsel agree not to cross-examine on this point, I think the government is entitled to account for the money. (Tr. 3226.) Defense counsel declined, and the court permitted Melendez to testify as to what he had been told as to the amount of money in his apartment prior to his arrest and as to the burglary following his arrest. Although the court took the precaution of advising the jury that the testimony was hearsay and that the jury could thus discount it, we see no proper basis for allowing Melendez's testimony that there had been a burglary. 62 The government contends that defendants' refusal to forgo cross-examination regarding the discrepancy (1) bars them from challenging the court's ruling on appeal and (2) opened the door to the hearsay evidence. These contentions are frivolous. A defendant does not waive one right merely by refusing to waive another. Defendants had the right to cross-examine on the testimony that had been given. Their refusal to cede that right cannot be a ground for barring them from objecting to the introduction of the inadmissible evidence that the government wished to add. 63 Nor does the refusal to forgo cross-examination open the door to inadmissible evidence. Indeed, the government's invocation of the opening the door principle is far wide of the mark. The rule of opening the door, or curative admissibility, gives the trial court discretion to permit a party to introduce otherwise inadmissible evidence on an issue (a) when the opposing party has introduced inadmissible evidence on the same issue, and (b) when it is needed to rebut a false impression that may have resulted from the opposing party's evidence. See, e.g., United States v. Rea, 958 F.2d 1206, 1225 (2d Cir.1991); United States v. Brown, 921 F.2d 1304, 1307 (D.C.Cir.1990); United States v. Whitworth, 856 F.2d 1268, 1285 (9th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1084, 109 S.Ct. 1541, 103 L.Ed.2d 846 (1989); 1 J. Wigmore, Evidence Sec. 15 (Tillers rev. 1983). To be admissible under this doctrine, the evidence that allegedly opened the door must in fact have been inadmissible. Properly admitted evidence does not open the door to inadmissible evidence. United States v. Rea, 958 F.2d 1206, 1225 (2d Cir.1991); United States v. Brown, 921 F.2d 1304, 1307 (D.C.Cir.1990). These preconditions were not present here. 64 First, Melendez's testimony as to how much money Harold had told him was in the apartment was undoubtedly a coconspirator statement in furtherance of the conspiracy, see Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). Thus, it was properly admissible as nonhearsay and could not open the door to inadmissible hearsay. Second, and more importantly, even if the testimony as to Harold's statement had been inadmissible, it was introduced by the government itself. A party is not allowed to introduce inadmissible evidence in order to explain other inadmissible evidence that it, rather than its adversary, has introduced. The mere fact that the government wanted to present a satisfactory explanation for the missing money provided no justification for permitting Melendez to testify to what was plainly excludable as hearsay. 65 Nonetheless, the admission of this testimony provides no basis for reversal, for the error was surely inconsequential. See, e.g., Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 764-65, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 1247-48, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946) (erroneous admission of evidence must be deemed harmless if appellate court can conclude with fair assurance that the evidence did not substantially influence the jury); United States v. Rea, 958 F.2d at 1220. The amount of money in Melendez's apartment just prior to his arrest was an entirely collateral matter. The person identified as the probable burglar was not one of these appellants. And even in the absence of any testimony by Melendez as to what might have happened to the supposedly missing funds, his silence on that point would not have led the jury to discredit the evidence of any government agent who testified at trial as to the crimes with which defendants were charged. Thus, any error by the district court in admitting the hearsay evidence of a burglary provides no basis for reversal. 66
67 In addition, defendants contend that the trial court violated their Sixth Amendment confrontation rights and deprived them of a fair trial by limiting their cross-examinations of certain witnesses. Most of the rulings complained of were correct, and though a few were erroneous, we find no basis for reversal. 68 The trial judge has 'wide latitude insofar as the Confrontation Clause is concerned to impose reasonable limits on ... cross-examination based on concerns about, among other things, ... interrogation that is repetitive or only marginally relevant.'  United States v. Maldonado-Rivera, 922 F.2d 934, 956 (2d Cir.1990) (quoting Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 679, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 1435, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 2811, 115 L.Ed.2d 984 (1991). The scope and extent of cross-examination are generally within the sound discretion of the trial court, and the decision to restrict cross-examination will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. See United States v. Caming, 968 F.2d 232, 237 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 416, 121 L.Ed.2d 339 (1992); United States v. Maldonado-Rivera, 922 F.2d at 956; United States v. Pedroza, 750 F.2d 187, 195 (2d Cir.1984). Cross-examination is not improperly curtailed if the jury is in possession of facts sufficient to make a 'discriminating appraisal' of the particular witness's credibility. United States v. Roldan-Zapata, 916 F.2d at 806 (quoting United States v. Singh, 628 F.2d 758, 763 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1034, 101 S.Ct. 609, 66 L.Ed.2d 496 (1980)). Even if we conclude that the trial judge has improperly curtailed cross-examination in violation of the defendant's confrontation rights, we are not to reverse automatically but are to apply harmless-error analysis, in order to determine whether, assuming that the damaging potential of the cross-examination were fully realized, the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 684, 106 S.Ct. at 1437. That is, we should not reverse if we conclude that the error was unimportant in relation to everything else the jury considered on the issue in question. Yates v. Evatt, 500 U.S. 391, ----, 111 S.Ct. 1884, 1893 (1991). 69 Most of the rulings of which defendants complain were not erroneous. For example, the court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence proffered as showing inconsistencies in testimony that was not inconsistent, or in barring the impeachment of a witness with his supposed inability to identify Organization spots from photographs during the Concepcion trial, when the photographs with identification numbers from the Concepcion trial were not available, thereby creating the likelihood of confusion. Nor was it an abuse of discretion to exclude evidence of certain types of acts such as rape and burglary as having an insufficient bearing on the witness's credibility. See, e.g., United States v. Rabinowitz, 578 F.2d 910, 912 (2d Cir.1978) (unlawful sex acts); United States v. Hawley, 554 F.2d 50, 53 n. 7 (2d Cir.1977) (attempted burglary). For example, with respect to the testimony of Jerson Ramos that he had managed Organization spots in East New York and had worked with Rosa following Melendez's arrest, it was not error to prevent Rosa from introducing evidence that Ramos had engaged in burglaries, for which he had never been arrested, on the theory that this was inconsistent with his testimony. As to crimes for which witnesses had been arrested, defendants were adequately allowed to bring out the witnesses' expectations of favorable treatment in exchange for their testimony. 70 We also reject the contention that the trial court erred when it barred the questioning of cooperating witnesses as to what effect the Guidelines would have on their sentences. The court permitted cross-examination of those witnesses as to their plea agreements, the statutory maximum sentences they faced, and the benefits they hoped to gain from cooperation. The court was well within its discretion in ruling that the vagaries of Guidelines calculations were not a proper subject for cross-examination. 71 We agree with defendants, however, that there were some errors. For example, Detective Peitler testified that an Organization runner identified in a November 1988 surveillance report as John Doe # 1 was in fact Lopez; another agent described an encounter with Lopez in May 1989, with respect to which the agent had filed a report referring to Lopez by name. Lopez sought to cast doubt on the testimony that he was the runner designated John Doe # 1 by recalling the second agent as a witness and offering, pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 803(8), the police report prepared by that witness. He sought to show that in the first report, Peitler referred to the observed runner only as John Doe # 1 even though Peitler had previously seen a photograph of Lopez; and that in the later report, Lopez was referred to by name without any indication that he had previously been identified as John Doe # 1. The trial court would not allow the reports to be introduced, stating, this is your witness. You put him on direct examination. The government didn't put him on. You put him on. You are bound by his testimony. (Tr. 4382; see also id. 4415 (You cannot put somebody on the witness stand and not get the answer you like and then take him upon his reports and try to impeach him.).) 72 These rulings were erroneous. Rule 607 of the Federal Rules of Evidence provides that the credibility of a witness may be attacked by any party, including the party calling the witness. In certain other instances, the court may have erred in not allowing defendants, in cross-examining government agents as to various events they testified they had observed, to introduce written reports by the agents that did not mention those events. 73 Nonetheless, we cannot conclude that any of these exclusions constituted reversible error, for in all instances the defendants were given adequate leeway to bring out sufficient information to permit the jury to make an accurate assessment of the witnesses' credibility. For example, in cross-examining Peitler, Lopez elicited Peitler's inability at the time of his report to identify John Doe # 1 as Lopez notwithstanding having seen a picture of Lopez previously. In addition, Lopez extensively cross-examined several other agents on differences between their descriptions of John Doe # 1 and Lopez's appearance. In another instance in which the witness's report was excluded from evidence, defendants were allowed to elicit an oral admission that that report did not mention the event in question. In other instances, challenged testimony was so strongly corroborated by other officers participating in the same surveillance who testified to the same observation, that it was highly unlikely that the jury would have drawn any adverse inference from the absence of mention of the event in the first agent's written report. We are convinced that the admission of the excluded reports would not have affected the jury's verdict. 74 In sum, we are unable to conclude that any errors in the trial court's evidentiary rulings, either singly or in combination, had any effect on the outcome of the trial. 75