Opinion ID: 743614
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Alleged coaching and subornation of perjury by Ishu

Text: 127 Ishu testified that, at Toma's direction, he met with Ameneiro early in 1994 for the purpose of retrieving cocaine Toma had previously fronted to Ameneiro. Ameneiro was returning the cocaine because, in his opinion, the cocaine was not of high quality. Initially Ishu testified that the date of the meeting between himself and Ameneiro was March 1994. When the government attorney, in an attempt to refresh Ishu's recollection, showed Ishu a transcript dated January 1994, from a phone call he placed to Ameneiro immediately prior to his meeting with Ameneiro, Ishu corrected himself and stated that the meeting occurred in January. Ishu also identified Ameneiro in open court. 128 During Ishu's cross-examination, Ameneiro's lawyer attempted to confuse Ishu into thinking and testifying that the meeting between himself and Ameneiro had in fact occurred in March 1994. He also insinuated that the government had coached Ishu into thinking the meeting occurred in January 1994. Ameneiro's counsel further elicited self-contradictory statements from Ishu concerning how he disposed of the cocaine he obtained from Ameneiro at their January 1994 meeting. Ishu testified on direct examination that the cocaine he received from Ameneiro was eighteen grams short of the amount Toma had instructed him to obtain. On cross-examination, Ishu at first denied that he had taken the eighteen grams for himself, but later he admitted that he and some friends had snorted the eighteen grams of cocaine. 129 Defendants argue that, taken together, the alleged coaching of Ishu by the government concerning the date of his meeting with Ameneiro, along with Ishu's correction of his testimony regarding missing cocaine, amounted to subornation of perjury by Ishu. 130 For a defendant to obtain a new trial on the basis of the government's use of perjured testimony, the perjured testimony must be directly related to the defendant's guilt or innocence and must relate to material facts rather than collateral issues. Ferguson, 35 F.3d at 332. Further,  '[m]ere inconsistencies in testimony by government witnesses do not establish the government's knowing use of false testimony.'  United States v. Adcox, 19 F.3d 290, 295 (7th Cir.1994) (quoting United States v. Griley, 814 F.2d 967, 971 (4th Cir.1987)). The inconsistency in Ishu's testimony concerning the date of his meeting with Ameneiro, which he corrected upon having his memory refreshed through seeing the phone logs, is in our opinion simply too minor to have borne directly on the issue of Defendants' guilt. Cf. Adcox, 19 F.3d at 295 ( 'the complained of discrepancies went to immaterial and collateral issues' ) (quoting United States v. Douglas, 874 F.2d 1145, 1160 (7th Cir.1989)). The issues of whether Ishu properly recalled the date of his meeting with Ameneiro, and whether he took eighteen grams of the cocaine he received for himself may well have borne on his credibility as a witness, but falls far short of rising to the level of perjury, much less demonstrating the government's knowing use of perjured testimony. Like Youmaran, Ishu testified that he had been told to tell the truth at all times. 131 [THE GOVERNMENT] Mr. Ishu, there were a lot of questions from [counsel for Ameneiro] about people telling you what to say, telling you what to do. What was the one thing the government asked you to do today? 132 [ISHU] To say the truth. 133 Further, like the defendant in Saadeh, the defense lawyers in this case had an ample opportunity, of which [they] took advantage, to cross-examine [Ishu] during the trial, discredit him, and expose any alleged perjury. 61 F.3d at 523. During closing arguments, counsel for Ameneiro, as he had with Youmaran, argued that Ishu's testimony was false, and read extensive portions of the transcript of his cross-examination of Ishu in an attempt to buttress his point. Ishu, like Youmaran, testified that he had been instructed by the prosecutors to testify truthfully and was in fact testifying truthfully, and the jury had the opportunity to evaluate Ishu's credibility in light of the totality of the testimony as well as the arguments made by the defense lawyers concerning these allegations. Thus, since they had ample opportunity to expose any alleged perjury by Ishu, and they have not demonstrated on appeal that his testimony was false, we conclude that Defendants have failed to demonstrate grounds for reversal in Ishu's testimony. 134