Opinion ID: 709030
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence of Twelve Unindicted Murders

Text: 106 Government witness Ronnie Thomas agreed to testify pursuant to a plea agreement that he entered with the government. In accordance with that agreement, Thomas pled guilty to several crimes, including counts I, IX, and X of the initial indictment in this case, and agreed to testify truthfully against his co-conspirators. The federal and state governments agreed to recommend that Thomas receive a total sentence of life in prison for the crimes to which he pled guilty, and they agreed not to prosecute Thomas for other past crimes, including murder, for which he otherwise might have been sentenced to death in Missouri state court. In the opening minutes of Thomas's testimony, the government questioned him about his plea agreement. The government then proceeded to ask Thomas about various crimes that he had committed, including some for which he would not be prosecuted in accordance with the agreement. In the course of his testimony, Thomas described his involvement in ten murders with which neither he nor any of the defendants were charged in the indictment. During cross examination, Thomas described two additional unindicted murders. Thomas testified that some of the defendants, most notably Jerry Lewis, were involved in several of these murders. Appellant Darden contends that the District Court erred in admitting Thomas's testimony concerning these and other unindicted crimes. 107 Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) provides in part that [e]vidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. A district court has broad discretion in determining whether to admit evidence under this rule. United States v. Haynes, 881 F.2d 586, 590 (8th Cir.1989). Indeed, the decision to admit such evidence will only be reversed when it is clear that the questioned evidence has no bearing upon any of the issues involved at trial. Id. (quoting United States v. Gustafson, 728 F.2d 1078, 1083 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 979, 105 S.Ct. 380, 83 L.Ed.2d 315 (1984)). Furthermore, a district court's discretion in determining the admissibility of evidence is particularly broad in a conspiracy trial. United States v. Willis, 997 F.2d 407, 414 (8th Cir.1993) (citation to quoted case omitted), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 704, 126 L.Ed.2d 670 (1994). 108 Having reviewed the record, we conclude that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in this case. The government elicited Thomas's testimony concerning these unindicted crimes partly in order adequately to explain the benefits that he received under his plea agreement (namely, that he would not be prosecuted for these crimes). The government made clear during its questioning that Thomas knew that he would not be prosecuted for the crimes. In this circuit, the rule is well-established that a confederate's guilty plea is admissible, even on the Government's direct examination of the witness, as evidence of the witness' ... credibility, or of his acknowledgement of participation in the offense. Willis, 997 F.2d at 414 (emphasis in original) (citations to quoted cases omitted). The government also elicited Thomas's testimony in anticipation of attacks on his credibility that would come during cross examination. This Court has held that disclosure of a guilty plea in order to blunt attacks on a witness's credibility during cross examination is permissible and serves a legitimate purpose. See United States v. Roth, 736 F.2d 1222, 1227 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1058, 105 S.Ct. 541, 83 L.Ed.2d 429, 433 (1984); United States v. Carr, 647 F.2d 867, 869 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 855, 102 S.Ct. 303, 70 L.Ed.2d 149 (1981). Indeed, in this case the defense did attempt to impugn Thomas's credibility during cross examination by honing in on his testimony concerning the unindicted crimes, frequently focusing more attention on them than had the government, and eliciting testimony concerning two unindicted murders that Thomas never even mentioned during direct examination. This conduct undermines their contention on appeal that the evidence never should have been admitted. 109 Moreover, the District Court instructed the jury that [y]ou have heard evidence that the defendants previously committed acts similar to those charged in this case. You may not use this evidence to decide whether the defendant [sic] carried out the acts involved in the crime [sic] charged here. Jury instruction 72. Where evidence concerning confederates' guilty pleas was not used as substantive evidence of the defendant's guilt and was followed by a limiting instruction, we have given broad discretion to the court in ruling on the admission of such evidence. Willis, 997 F.2d at 414. We conclude that the District Court did not abuse its broad discretion by admitting Ronnie Thomas's testimony concerning unindicted crimes. 110