Opinion ID: 765858
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Exclusion of Taped Conversations

Text: 302 Hampton-El contends that the exclusion of a tape-recorded conversation between Salem and Agent Napoli was error that deprived Hampton-El of his full opportunity to present a defense. The conversation occurred on June 23, 1993, just after Salem had spoken with Hampton-El. Hampton-El had told Salem that though he had not obtained results ... at this time, he had made inquiries and would continue his efforts and hopefully Allah ... will open the door for us. Govt. Ex. 367T. From earlier evidence, the jury was entitled to infer that Hampton-El was referring to his efforts to obtain detonators. In the excluded conversation, Napoli says to Salem, we got to get the Doctor [Hampton-El] involved, buying material, buying ammunition ... . Hampton-El Ex. GG-14. When Napoli asks if Salem has any indication that Hampton-El is going to go with us [in the bombing of tunnels], Salem replies, No, no, no has nothing to do with us. I talked to the Doctor myself three or four hours ago. Id. Salem reported that Hampton-El had said, I am sorry brother, I couldn't help you in this time, it is very tough, I couldn't get you what you want. Id. 303 Hampton-El contends that the exclusion of this conversation prevented the jury from hearing important evidence negating his involvement in the plot. The contention fails for several reasons. First, as Judge Mukasey said to defendant's counsel, the tape was offered primarily to show an agent's evaluation of the case against your client, Tr. 14845, the inference being that Napoli must have thought the case against Hampton-El was weak because he urged Salem to obtain more evidence. 17 But, as the Judge correctly noted, the agent's view of the case was irrelevant. Defense counsel, responded, Your Honor, I agree with you. Id. Then, shifting ground, counsel said that he was offering the tape to show that the stuff was not there on June 24, id., during the early morning hours of which the raid at the safehouse had occurred. But to this claim, Judge Mukasey properly observed, Nobody claims the stuff was there on June 24. Id. Moreover, on cross-examination, Hampton-El's counsel elicited Salem's acknowledgment that Hampton-El had not supplied grenades or detonators. Tr. 6573-74. Salem also recounted his recorded statements that the doctor had his own project and that the doctor's projects had nothing to do with us. Tr. 6589-90. Indeed, the tape of Hampton-El's conversation with Salem was played to the jury, further diminishing the probative value of the tape of Salem's report of this conversation to Napoli. 304 Hampton-El further contends that the Napoli tape would prove the falsity of Salem's yes answer to the question, on his cross-examination, You were just saying that you expected the following morning to pick up the stuff from him [Hampton-El], is that correct? Tr. 6600. But the Napoli conversation had little tendency to prove that Salem's response was false. Hampton-El had told Salem about continuing efforts to obtain detonators, and Salem could truthfully believe that Hampton-El's willingness to meet with those building bombs indicated that Hampton-El expected to obtain the detonators he was seeking. If counsel, knowing about the Napoli tape, wanted to press Salem that he really expected Hampton-El to obtain detonators in the future, not necessarily the following morning, he was free to do so, but the point was not pursued. 305 Finally, the substantial evidence of Hampton-El's long-standing involvement with the conspirators, culminating in his recorded expression of continuing efforts to obtain detonators, knowing the plans for the Spring 1993 bombing, render the exclusion of the Napoli tape harmless error, if error at all. J. Loss of Exculpatory Evidence 306 Khallafalla and Saleh argue that the Government deprived them of a fair trial by losing, or directing Salem to destroy, two classes of exculpatory tape recordings. During much of the investigation, Salem recorded many of his conversations on his own, and defendants maintain that the Government later encouraged Salem to make these recordings and destroy them selectively. In the final weeks of the investigation, Salem cooperated with the FBI in recording his conversations; defendants claim that he and the FBI destroyed some of these recordings as well. 307 When it occurs, the Government's loss of evidence may deprive a defendant of the right to a fair trial. See United States v. Bakhtiar, 994 F.2d 970, 975-76 (2d Cir. 1993). Whether that loss warrants sanctions depends on the Government's culpability for the loss and its prejudicial effect. See id. Before these factors become relevant, however, the record must first show that evidence has been lost and that this loss is chargeable to the State. Colon v. Kuhlmann, 865 F.2d 29, 30 (2d Cir. 1988). After a post-trial hearing at which Khallafalla and Saleh testified, the District Court found that the Government had not lost any evidence, and that any lost evidence, if it existed, would not have been exculpatory. We review these findings for clear error, see United States v. Morgenstern, 933 F.2d 1108, 1116 (2d Cir. 1991), and find none. 308 Salem's personal taping operation was one troubling aspect of Salem's troubled relationship with the FBI. Before the spring of 1993, Salem had agreed only to serve as a confidential informant, not as a trial witness. FBI agents repeatedly told Salem not to make recordings. Nonetheless, Salem surreptitiously recorded many of his conversations, using an automatic device that recorded anyone who called, including family members and others as well as members of the conspiracy. Judge Mukasey found that Salem made these recordings both to create a record of his innocence and to record the terms of his cooperation with the FBI. When Salem intimated to FBI agents that he was keeping his own tapes, they first told him to stop, then later told him that taping was permissible, fearing that any stronger response (telling him to stop or turn them over) would infuriate him. This worry proved correct: in July 1992, when agents asked Salem to record official tapes as evidence, he quit the investigation. 309 Although Salem did record over some of his personal tapes, these erasures are not chargeable to the Government. The tapes in question were not recorded at the Government's request or instruction. There is no indication that Government agents made any request or instruction to destroy any of the tapes. 310 Defendants' other claims of lost evidence are meritless. After the investigation, when Salem clearly alerted investigators that he had personal tapes, the Government collected them. Although the U.S. Attorney's Office improvidently returned some tapes to Salem for a short period, there is no evidence that he altered or destroyed any of those tapes at that time. The record also shows that the Government recovered all of the tapes that Salem made under formal FBI supervision during the last weeks of the investigation. Once again, although we share Judge Mukasey's misgivings about the Government's method of tracking those tapes--and, in particular, about its failure to track tapes based on serial numbers--there is no evidence that any of these tapes were lost. We also agree with Judge Mukasey that there is no reason to believe any lost tapes would have been exculpatory. Defendants' post-trial claims as to the contents of the missing tapes simply are not credible. For example, both defendants have said that missing tapes would show that they were told that the jihad sought to aid Bosnia. However, existing tapes establish that both men heard and approved when other members of the jihad detailed the plans to bomb targets in New York City. K. Government's Summation 311 Fadil Abdelgani contends that reversal is required on the ground that the Government appealed to the jury's sense of fear when the prosecution stated during summation that [t]he defendants in this room conspired to steal from Americans their freedom from fear, and for that they must be held accountable. Tr. 18928. 312 The Government has broad latitude in the inferences it may reasonably suggest to the jury during summation. Casamento, 887 F.2d at 1189. Accordingly, defendants who contend that a prosecutor's remarks warrant reversal face a heavy burden, because the misconduct alleged must be so severe and significant as to result in the denial of their right to a fair trial. United States v. Locascio, 6 F.3d 924, 945 (2d Cir. 1993). The Government's remark was not inappropriate because the conspiracies in question were designed to commit acts of terrorism, which by their nature are intended to instill fear in a population. There was no breach of Abdelgani's fair trial rights. L. Jury Instructions
313 Nosair challenges the Court's instruction on the doctrine of transferred intent as applied to Counts Eight and Nine. These counts charged that Nosair shot Franklin and Acosta, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959, as he was fleeing after the murder of Kahane. In charging on Count Seven, the Kahane murder, Judge Mukasey instructed the jury that an element of the section 1959 RICO offense was that Nosair murdered Kahane in order to maintain or increase his position in the Jihad Organization. Tr. 20509. Then, with respect to Counts Eight and Nine, the Judge similarly charged that an element of these offenses was that Mr. Nosair assaulted Mr. Franklin as charged in Count Eight and Mr. Acosta as charged in Count Nine, in connection with maintaining and increasing his position in the Jihad Organization. Tr. 20514-15. Elaborating on this element, the Judge charged as follows: 314 If you find that Mr. Nosair committed the assaults charged in Counts Eight and Nine or the attempted murder charged in Count Nine, you may decide whether any such crime was committed in aid of racketeering activity by applying the legal principle of transferred intent ... . That principle says that if a defendant planned to commit a murder to maintain or increase his position in an enterprise and, in attempting to carry out that plan, committed a violent assault or attempted murder on another person, the intent of the planned murder may be transferred to the other crimes. 315 What this means for your purposes is that the government may prove the second and third elements of the offense charged in Counts Eight and Nine by proving that on November 5, 1990, the defendant El Sayyid Nosair specifically intended to cause the death of Meir Kahane for the purpose of maintaining or increasing his position in the enterprise, and then willfully shot Irving Franklin, as charged in Count Eight, and Carlos Acosta, as charged in Count Nine, in the course of carrying out or immediately fleeing from the Kahane homicide. 316 Tr. 20515-16. 317 Nosair acknowledges the validity of the doctrine of transferred intent, but contends that it was impermissibly invoked in this case to permit the jury to transfer to the Franklin and Acosta shootings the motive that Nosair had when he murdered Kahane. Application of the doctrine to transfer motive, Nosair contends, permits the jury to draw an irrational inference, in violation of the Due Process Clause. See Francis v. Franklin, 471 U.S. 307, 314-15 (1985) (permissive inference violates Due Process Clause if the suggested conclusion is not one that reason and common sense justify in light of the proven facts before the jury). 318 The doctrine of transferred intent, in its traditional application, permits the fact-finder to attribute or transfer[] to a defendant who shoots at one person with intent to kill and inadvertently kills another the intent to kill the second person. See 4 W. Blackstone, Commentaries -01 (Harper ed. 1854). The doctrine has been recognized by the Supreme Court, see Yates v. Evatt, 500 U.S. 391, 409 (1991), and by this Court, see United States v. Concepcion, 983 F.2d 369, 381 (2d Cir. 1992). 319 Contrary to Nosair's contention, Concepcion has already established for this Circuit that the transferred intent doctrine is applicable to transferred motive. Concepcion had approached a retail drug location in order to use violence to settle a territorial dispute with a rival gang. See id. at 375. When a man named Gines got in his way, Concepcion shot him, and Gines died from his wounds. See id. We upheld a section 1959 conviction on the ground that Concepcion set out to commit a proscribed act of violence in order to maintain or increase his position in the enterprise, and that, in the course of so doing, he committed that act against a person who got in his way. Id. at 382. 320 Even if applicable to transferred motive, as in Concepcion, Nosair endeavors to limit the doctrine to instances where the very same act of firing the weapon at the intended target[] produces an immediate and unintended victim. Brief for Nosair at 64. Concepcion refutes such a limitation. Concepcion's shot at Gines was aimed only at Gines; Concepcion's original target had not yet been located. It was the relationship of the shooting to Concepcion's objective that permitted the transfer of a motive to maintain or increase his position in the enterprise. 321 Nosair further contends that the shootings of Franklin and Acosta were too far removed in space and time from the Kahane murder to permit a rational inference of transferred motive and that it was not necessary to shoot the additional victims in order to kill Kahane. See id. at 66. However, there was no significant gap, either in space or time, between the shootings. Franklin was shot as Nosair ran out of the hotel room in which he had just shot Kahane, and Acosta was shot moments later within two blocks of the hotel, as Nosair endeavored to escape. Judge Mukasey appropriately limited the availability of the permissible inference of transferred motive by instructing the jury that the motive element could be found if Nosair shot his additional victims in the course of carrying out or immediately fleeing from the Kahane homicide. Tr. 20516. Furthermore, though it was not necessary to shoot the two subsequent victims in order to kill Kahane, the requisite relationship to the Kahane murder is supplied by Nosair's attempt to escape. Since his escape could readily be found to be a further step taken in order to maintain or increase his position in the enterprise after killing Kahane, the shootings of those who got in his way, Concepcion, 983 F.2d at 382, could also be so found. The transferred motive instruction was entirely proper.
322 Hampton-El makes the totally insubstantial claim that in giving the jury an instruction on entrapment Judge Mukasey undercut that defense by marshal[ing] evidence that applied only to the so-called 'safehouse defendants,' Brief for Hampton-El at 81, thereby, Hampton-El contends, excluding him from the defense. No marshaling occurred, and those not connected to the safehouse were not excluded from the entrapment defense. The District Judge appropriately referred to the group of items in the safehouse that had been provided by the Government's agent, Salem, in the course of explaining both that such items could be considered on the issue of inducement and that the furnishing of such items did not constitute a per se impropriety by the Government. Tr. 20553-54. There was no objection to this instruction, and it was entirely correct. 323
324 Alvarez challenges the District Court's instruction on what he characterizes as an intoxication defense. He contends that he presented evidence of his frequent cocaine use only as a fact that, in combination with other facts, such as his psychological problems, precluded the required finding, beyond a reasonable doubt, of specific intent. He insists that he did not assert cocaine intoxication as a defense and contends that the instruction on intoxication raised a straw man defense and trivialized his contention as to specific intent since there was no evidence of constant use of cocaine throughout the entire period of his participation in the conspiracy. 325 The instruction, set out in the margin, 18 was appropriate in view of the testimony of Alvarez concerning his cocaine use and that of Dr. Aranda, the defendant's clinical psychologist, concerning the effect of such use on a person with Alvarez's psychological problems. 19 The instruction, the wording of which is not challenged, was needed to 'spear a red herring,' United States v. Lewis, 780 F.2d 1140, 1143 (4th Cir. 1986) (quoting United States v. Cheung Kin Ping, 555 F.2d 1069, 1074 (2d Cir. 1977)) (intoxication instruction given over defendant's objection), and Alvarez could not avoid it by characterizing his evidence as only facts rather than a defense. United States v. Lavallie, 666 F.2d 1217, 1219 (8th Cir. 1981), on which Alvarez relies, involved a defendant who disputed only his commission of the alleged act, rather than his intent, which Alvarez disputed, and the Eighth Circuit subsequently limited Lavallie to its facts and permitted an intoxication instruction even as to a general intent offense, see United States v. Norquay, 987 F.2d 475, 480 (8th Cir. 1993). The final paragraph of Judge Mukasey's instruction adequately guarded against the risk that the jury might focus solely on intoxication, to the exclusion of Alvarez's total challenge to the proof of specific intent.
326 Alvarez also challenges the portion of the instruction on Count Sixteen (using and carrying an Uzi semi-automatic rifle) that explained the use prong of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). As the Government recognizes, the instruction, though proper when given, lacked the active employment limitation subsequently required by Bailey v. United States, 516 U.S. 137, 144 (1995). Nevertheless, the omission was harmless error since the evidence overwhelmingly showed that Alvarez carried the weapon, see United States v. Pimentel, 83 F.3d 55, 60 (2d Cir. 1996) (faulty use charge is harmless error where jury was instructed on carrying and evidence showed that defendants transported weapon in his car); United States v. Giraldo, 80 F.3d 667, 678 (2d Cir. 1996) (same), and the verdict on Count Fifteen (transporting the Uzi in interstate commerce) confirms the jury's understanding that, on the evidence presented, Alvarez carried the weapon. M. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel 327 Four appellants, Rahman, El-Gabrowny, Elhassan, and Fadil Abdelgani, make a variety of claims concerning ineffective assistance of counsel. In response to a motion by the latter three to have their trial counsel relieved from representing them on appeal, this Court appointed supplemental counsel to present their claims of ineffective assistance. 328 The basic standards concerning the requisite quality of representation, see Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687-88 (1984), the right to proceed pro se, see Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975), and the Court's obligation to inquire concerning a counsel's conflict of interest, see United States v. Levy, 25 F.3d 146, 152-53 (2d Cir. 1994); United States v. Curcio, 680 F.2d 881 (2d Cir. 1982), are well known and need not be elaborated. We therefore turn to the individual claims. 1. Rahman 329 Rahman first contends that Judge Mukasey erred in disqualifying the firm of Kunstler & Kuby from representing him. The District Court was properly concerned that this firm could not render unconflicted representation because it was serving as counsel for co-defendants El-Gabrowny and Siddig Ali. After conducting a Curcio hearing, see Curcio, 680 F.2d at 888-90, Judge Mukasey reasonably concluded that conflicts existed and that Rahman demonstrated such an inadequate understanding of the risks of conflicted representation as to preclude an effective waiver. See United States v. Rahman, 837 F. Supp. 64 (S.D.N.Y. 1993). Accordingly, he obliged the firm to choose among its clients, and upon the firm's refusal to choose, he applied a rule of temporal priority and disqualified the firm from representing the last client to retain it, Rahman. See id. at 72. The Court's handling of the conflicts issue was entirely proper. 330 Thereafter, Rahman unequivocally informed the Court that he wished to proceed pro se, and, despite the Court's repeated suggestions that he reconsider, he represented himself for fourteen months of the pretrial period, until Lynn F. Stewart, Esq., and later two other attorneys, appeared for Rahman. Rahman contends that the District Court erred in permitting him to proceed pro se for such an extended period of time during the pretrial phase of a complicated case. The Court's decision was meticulously made and was well within its proper exercise of discretion. 331 Finally, Rahman claims that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because of the District Court's denial of Stewart's request for a continuance of two and one-half months, made shortly after she entered her appearance. In denying her request, Judge Mukasey adhered to the previously established date for jury selection, but agreed to postpone the taking of evidence. As it happened, Rahman's subsequent illness resulted in a postponement of jury selection, and evidence was not presented until early February 1995, thus effectively affording Stewart, as she acknowledged, the additional preparation time she had sought. This aspect of Rahman's complaint is without merit. 2. El-Gabrowny 332 El-Gabrowny, apparently acknowledging that the District Court properly disqualified Kunstler & Kuby from representing him for numerous entirely valid reasons, see United States v. Rahman, 861 F. Supp. 266 (S.D.N.Y. 1994), contends that the pretrial representation by the conflict-burdened firm impaired his defense. The claim is without merit. New counsel appeared fully six months before the trial began and provided a vigorous defense. The only pretrial deficiency alleged is the failure of the Kunstler firm to obtain a severance; however, the firm made such a motion before the conflicts that led to its disqualification arose, and the motion, vigorously presented, was justifiably denied. The claims of ineffectiveness on the part of El-Gabrowny's trial counsel are entirely insubstantial. In fact, his representation was exemplary. 3. Elhassan 333 Elhassan's first complaint is that the District Court erred in denying his request to proceed pro se, a request made two weeks after the trial had begun. Judge Mukasey's decision was well within the broad discretion of a district judge considering an application for self-representation made after a trial has begun. See United States v. Stevens, 83 F.3d 60, 66-67 (2d Cir. 1996). Elhassan's request was grounded only on a vague claim of mistrust of counsel, and the risk of trial disruption was clear. See United States ex rel. Maldonado v. Denno, 348 F.2d 12, 15 (2d Cir. 1965). 334 Second, Elhassan makes the frivolous claim that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to make a severance motion, yet she made such a motion to sever Elhassan's case from Abouhalima's, and joined in the other defendants' motions for a broader severance. 4. Fadil Abdelgani 335 Fadil Abdelgani contends that a conflict of interest existed between him and his trial counsel. In fact, no conflict impairing counsel's ability to render effective assistance existed; at most, disagreements arose concerning various aspects of trial strategy. Nor did a conflict warranting disqualification arise when trial counsel responded candidly to the Court's inquiry, after his client had made accusations about him. There was not remotely the complete breakdown of communication or an irreconcilable conflict which leads to an apparently unjust verdict. McKee v. Harris, 649 F.2d 927, 931 (2d Cir. 1981) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). 336 Finally, there is no merit to the contention of El-Gabrowny, Elhassan, and Fadil Abdelgani that they have received ineffective assistance of counsel on appeal to the extent that their trial counsel have presented their primary appellate arguments. Their trial counsel performed ably at trial and have continued to do so on appeal. N. Claim of Cumulative Errors 337 Rahman argues that the cumulative unfairness of his trial amounted to a violation of due process and requires reversal of his conviction. 338 It is true that the effect of multiple errors in a single trial may cast such doubt on the fairness of the proceedings that a new trial is warranted, even if no single error requires reversal. See, e.g., United States v. Fields, 466 F.2d 119, 121 (2d Cir. 1972); United States v. Guglielmini, 384 F.2d 602, 607 (2d Cir. 1967). However, Rahman has made no such showing. Indeed, most of the errors he cites in support of his cumulative-unfairness claim were not errors at all. For example, he challenges the introduction of allegedly prejudicial evidence against his co-defendants after the District Court denied the severance motion and the District Court's exclusion of expert testimony on Islamic religious practices--both claims we have rejected on their merits elsewhere in this opinion. See Part III(C) and Part III(H), supra. 339 Rahman's assertions that the searches and wiretaps used to obtain evidence against him were unconstitutional were all thoroughly considered and rejected by the Court below. See United States v. Abdel Rahman, 861 F. Supp. 247, 249-53 (S.D.N.Y. 1994); United States v. Abdel Rahman, 1994 WL 388918, at - (S.D.N.Y. July 22, 1994). On appeal, Rahman has provided no new arguments or authority to support his contention that this evidence was illegally obtained, and we do not find the District Court's decisions to be in error. 340 Lastly, Rahman cites the prejudice he allegedly sustained when the District Court denied the defendants' motion for a mistrial following defendant Siddig Ali's guilty plea. He claims that because neither the Government nor the Court informed defense counsel that Ali was actively engaged in plea negotiations at the start of the trial, the defendants were prejudiced when they made their opening statements without this knowledge. Had counsel known that a plea from Ali was imminent or even likely, Rahman asserts, they would have challenged Ali's credibility in their opening statements, and their inability to do so thus deprived them of a fair trial. 341 We agree with the District Court that Ali's co-defendants had no right to be informed of his plea negotiations. Given that several prior efforts to reach a plea agreement with Ali had failed, neither the Court nor the Government had reason to believe this round would prove successful. There is no suggestion that the Government intentionally delayed the entry of the plea in bad faith in order to deprive the defendants' attorneys of the opportunity to address the issue in their opening statements. 342 We find that Rahman's cumulative unfairness claim is without merit.