Opinion ID: 561296
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Little's Claim

Text: 7 Little contends that the District Court committed reversible error with respect to the convictions based on counts 1 and 4 of the indictment by admitting hearsay statements of co-conspirators pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). Little argues that the District Court erred when it found the existence of a conspiracy and his participation therein, necessary predicates to allow the use of the hearsay statements of a co-conspirator. According to Little, the evidence established nothing more than a buyer-seller relationship between Little and Reed. Citing United States v. Douglas, 874 F.2d 1145 (7th Cir.1989), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 126, 107 L.Ed.2d 87 (1989), defendant urges us to hold that evidence which proves only a buyer-seller relationship is insufficient to establish the existence of a conspiracy. See United States v. Meyers, 646 F.2d 1142 (6th Cir.1981) (reaching same conclusion as Douglas Court). 8 Federal Rules of Evidence 801(d)(2)(E) provides that statements by a co-conspirator made during the course and in furtherance of a conspiracy are not hearsay. We have held that a predicate for the admission of alleged hearsay statements of a co-conspirator is proof of the existence of a conspiracy as determined by a trial court based upon a preponderance of the evidence. United States v. Enright, 579 F.2d 980 (6th Cir.1978). In making this determination, a trial court has considerable discretion in directing the method and order of proof at trial, and we will not reverse its rulings unless they affect substantial rights. United States v. Vinson, 606 F.2d 149, 152 (6th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1074, 100 S.Ct. 1020, 62 L.Ed.2d 756 (1980). Several procedures are available to a trial court to make this determination. Among them, a trial court may admit the hearsay statements subject to a later demonstration of their admissibility by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. at 153; Bourjaily v. United States, 483 U.S. 171, 107 S.Ct. 2775, 97 L.Ed.2d 144 (1987). A trial court may examine all evidence--including the hearsay statements--in ruling on the preliminary question of admissibility. Bourjaily, 483 U.S. at 180, 107 S.Ct. at 2781; Vinson, 606 F.2d at 153. If this procedure is followed, the trial court should rule on the admissibility of the hearsay evidence at the close of the government's case-in-chief. Vinson, 606 F.2d at 153. The District Court followed this procedure in the instant case. 9 We conclude that the evidence and inferences which could reasonably be drawn therefrom sufficiently demonstrate by a preponderance the existence of a conspiracy and Little's participation therein. The evidence shows that several phone calls were made from Little's residence by Reed to set up a drug sale to Lawson; that Little supplied cocaine to Lawson on July 27, 1989, with Reed acting as a courier between Lawson and Little; that both Lawson and his ex-wife identified Little as being the individual who accompanied Reed onto the porch after completing the transaction; 1 that Reed told Lawson on several occasions that Little had supplied the cocaine for the July 27th drug buy; that Little had told Reed after the July 27th drug deal that he would be receiving cocaine and would make it available to Reed in the future; and that evidence seized at Little's residence indicated an intent to prepare marijuana for distribution. This evidence establishes more than a mere buyer-seller relationship between Little and the other parties. Because the District Court properly found a conspiracy to exist, it did not err when it admitted the alleged hearsay statements of co-conspirators.