Court Opinion

ID: 9478135
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:41:02.931294+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:46:15.615300
License: Public Domain

COFFEY, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I agree with and concur with parts I through IV of the majority opinion, wherein the majority sets forth the facts of the case and rejects the joint claims of Buford and Bennie Peak, challenging the jury instructions, the trial court’s limitation of the cross-examination of Robert Hackney, and the government’s alleged use of perjured testimony. I also agree with parts V(A) and V(B) of the majority’s opinion, in which the majority concludes that the trial judge erred in excluding hearsay evidence regarding Bennie’s state of mind. However, I disagree with part V(C) of the majority opinion, in which the majority applies the harmless error rule to the trial court’s erroneous exclusion of the hearsay statements from evidence. In part V(C) of its opinion, the majority states that the erroneous exclusion of evidence pertaining to the defendant Bennie Peak's then state of mind constitutes reversible error. Because I believe the exclusion of that evidence was harmless error, I respectfully dissent from part V(C) of the majority’s opinion.
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 52(a) states that: “Any error, defect, irregularity or variance which does not affect substantial rights shall be disregarded.” This rule is commonly referred to as the harmless error rule. Rule 52(a), combined with Federal Rule of Evidence 103(a), which states that “[ejrror may not be predicated upon a ruling which admits or excludes evidence unless a substantial right of the party is affected,” comprise the standards by which to determine whether the erroneous ruling of the trial court mandates reversal. It is important to recognize that Bennie Peak has not alleged any error of constitutional dimensions in this case. Therefore, the government need not show that the error was harmless beyond reasonable doubt, but only that the error had no “substantial influence” on the verdict. United States v. Kotteakos, 328 U.S. 750, 765, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 1248, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946) (emphasis added). This standard is considerably less onerous than the standard applicable to constitutional errors. United States v. Lane, 474 U.S. 438, 446 n. 9, 106 S.Ct. 725, 730 n. 9, 88 L.Ed.2d 814 (1986) (comparing standards applied to constitutional and non-constitutional error); United States v. Pirovolos, 844 F.2d 415, 425 (7th Cir.1988) (same); Miller v. Greer, 789 F.2d 438, 443-44 (7th Cir.1986) (same).
This court has previously ruled that when “the likelihood that the defendant would have been acquitted is very small, too small to warrant the delays and costs entailed by ordering a new trial, the error will be pronounced harmless.” United States v. Cerro, 775 F.2d 908, 916 (7th Cir.1985). Accordingly, I believe that the exclusion of Bennie Peak’s then state of mind would not have affected the jury’s decision, and thus the erroneous exclusion of evidence appropriately comes under the harmless error rule.
The majority states that the only evidence of Bennie Peak’s defense was that of his side of the conversation with Buford, and thus a substantial right of the defendant was violated when the trial judge excluded the evidence of Bennie’s then state of mind. On the contrary, the record establishes that the trial judge allowed evidence to go to the jury establishing the *837defendant’s capture theory of defense. Moreover, the trial judge properly instructed the jury that neither of the defendants could be convicted unless that defendant acted with the intent to possess and distribute the drugs. Thus, Buford’s testimony certainly allowed the jury to acquit both of the Peaks based on the capture theory, had the jury believed that testimony. By finding Buford guilty, the jurors made clear that they did not believe that Buford intended such a capture. Having drawn this conclusion, the jurors could acquit Bennie only if they believed that Buford may have proposed the capture plan to Bennie, but was lying when he did so. Only then could Bennie lack the criminal intent that the jury implicitly found Buford possessed. This scenario seems quite farfetched, possibly from the script of a movie. I agree that this theory is within the realm of possibility, but I fail to see how a mere possibility is sufficient to allow the court to find that the error may have had a substantial effect on the jury’s verdict. Kotteakos, 328 U.S. at 765, 66 S.Ct. at 1248. Of course, no human being including a judge can know with certainty the exact impact of a particular error on the deliberations of a particular jury. However, Rule 52(a) requires that we do our best, after reviewing the record in its entirety, to determine with logical analysis “what effect the error had or reasonably may be taken to have had upon the jury’s decision.” Id. at 764. After such review, I cannot conclude that the effect of this error was substantial. Nothing in the record persuades me that had the excluded hearsay evidence been allowed into the trial the jury’s deliberations would have been substantially different. Accordingly, no substantial right of Bennie Peak was violated, and the erroneous exclusion of the evidence is harmless error. Thus, I respectfully dissent from part V(C) of the majority’s opinion and would rule that the conviction of Bennie Peak should be affirmed.