Opinion ID: 398632
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: admission or exclusion of evidence

Text: 14 Appellants dispute two decisions of the district court concerning the admission or exclusion of evidence. Howard and Row assert that the district court should have allowed them to cross-examine DEA informant Rece on his arrest record. Howard contends that the court should not have allowed Rece to testify concerning a conversation with Howard about smuggling cocaine into the United States. We consider appellants' arguments below. 15
16 Appellants at trial attempted to cross-examine DEA informant Rece on his arrests. When the government objected, the court excused the jury in order to inquire about the charges. After learning that most of the charges against Rece had been dropped and that Rece had no idea about the DEA's involvement in dropping the charges, the court sustained the government's objection. Appellants Howard and Row contend that the district court erred in refusing to allow them to cross-examine Rece on his arrest record in order to show bias. 8 17 Once a defendant's constitutional right to cross-examination has been met, as we believe was the case here, 9 our standard for reviewing is whether the district court abused its discretion in limiting cross-examination after weighing the probative value of the evidence against the risks of prejudice. United States v. Diecidue, 603 F.2d 535, 551 (5th Cir. 1979); United States v. Bass, 490 F.2d 846, 858 n.12 (5th Cir. 1974). 18 Appellants contend that the introduction of evidence concerning Rece's earlier arrests was critical to their attempt to show to the jury that Rece may have made a deal with the DEA. Although we believe that it might have been better to allow the cross-examination, we do not believe the trial judge abused his discretion in refusing to do so. In United States v. Ramirez, 622 F.2d 898 (5th Cir. 1980), the former Fifth Circuit ruled that, since defendants had the opportunity to ask a witness about promises the government had made, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to allow the defense to ask whether the witness had been indicted. Similarly, in this case, appellants had the opportunity to ask Rece about his prior convictions, his employment by the DEA, the duration of his employment, the manner and amount of his compensation, and the cases on which he had worked. Since appellants had adequate alternative opportunities to delve into whether there existed any deal between Rece and the DEA, or into whether Rece believed there existed any deal, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to allow inquiry into Rece's arrest record. 19
20 The district court allowed the government to question DEA informant Rece during rebuttal concerning a conversation with Howard about smuggling cocaine into the country. As with the district court's limitation of the cross-examination of Rece, our standard of review is abuse of discretion. United States v. Beechum, 582 F.2d 898, 915 (5th Cir. 1978) (en banc), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 920, 99 S.Ct. 1244, 59 L.Ed.2d 472 (1979). 21 The government may introduce evidence of extrinsic offenses if relevant to an issue other than the defendant's character 10 and if its probative value is not substantially outweighed by its prejudice. Id. at 909-15. The government contends that the extrinsic offenses were relevant to proving Howard's intent to enter and participate in the conspiracy. 11 Howard asserts, however, that the evidence was not admissible as proof of intent because he never contended or inferred that he did not intend to enter into a conspiracy. Rather, he only contended that his conspiracy was solely with DEA informant Rece which, he asserts, would not be a crime. We disagree with Howard's assertion that the judge could not admit the evidence as proof of intent. The former Fifth Circuit held in United States v. Roberts, 619 F.2d 379, 382-83 (5th Cir. 1980), that, because of the unique nature of conspiracy charges, id. at 383, and the difficulty of proving the necessary elements of intent to join and knowledge of a conspiracy, a not guilty plea alone renders defendant's intent a material issue unless the defense affirmatively takes intent out of the case. In this case the trial court initially ruled, on Howard's motion in limine, that the prejudice of the evidence outweighed its probative value and excluded it, though stating that it would reconsider its holding if the government so moved later during trial after the court had had the opportunity to evaluate the other evidence on intent. The government later did move to introduce the testimony on the cocaine importation conversation. The court stated that it would allow the testimony to be introduced only if Howard refused to stipulate that he was not contesting his intent to join a conspiracy. Howard explicitly stated that he would not take the issue of intent out of the case. The trial court did not err in then ruling that the testimony was admissible. 12 22