Citation. 984 F.2d 1453 (7th Cir. 1993)
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Defendants, Charles Dent and Ivy Tucker, were stopped by an officer for failing to stop at a stop sign. The officer maintained that he saw a gun in plain view during the stop. The gun was later used to convict Defendants under 18 U.S.C. Section: 922(g) for being felons in knowing possession of a firearm.
Synopsis of Rule of Law.
Evidence that is more probative than prejudicial will be admissible, but a party will have to provide considerable evidence of trustworthiness before they can admit grand jury testimony under Rule 804(b)(5) of the Federal Rules of Evidence.
Facts.
Defendants were pulled over for failing to stop at a stop sign. Defendants gave false names and were unable to produce a license to the officer. The officer maintained that as he was writing down vehicle identification numbers he noticed a gun sticking out from underneath the front seat. The officer then searched the entire vehicle and found trench coats, a nylon stocking and a black mask. The officer also found $1,700 on Tucker. At trial, the prosecution presented the gun and grand jury testimony, and they recalled a witness to clarify questions from the jury.
Issue.
There were multiple evidentiary issues in this case.
The first issue is whether Dent should have been allowed to introduce statements from his lawyer regarding his guilty plea in state court.
The second issue is whether evidence of the trench coats, nylon stocking and mask were admissible under Rule 404(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence.
The third issue is whether grand jury testimony from a witness can be admitted under Rule 804(b)(5).
The fourth issue is whether the trial court abused its discretion by allowing a witness to be recalled to address questions by the jury.
Held.
There were several holdings in response to the multiple issues presented.
Dent should not be able to introduce statements from his attorney regarding his state court guilty plea. Rule 106 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, the completeness rule, allows evidence to come in when in fairness it should be considered together. A defendant’s lawyer can not testify to his client’s statements, especially statements that were contradictory to his in-court testimony.
The court found the trench coats, mask and nylon stocking admissible because the probative value outweighed the prejudicial value. The evidence was used to suggest a reason for the presence of the gun and therefore had probative value. The appellate court will not overturn a lower court decision for the admission of evidence unless it was an abuse of discretion.
The grand jury testimony of the witness, a car salesman who identified Tucker as someone associated with the purchaser of the vehicle, should not have been admitted. The court reweighed the evidence and believed that it was not trustworthy enough under a heightened degree of trustworthiness the court wanted to apply to grand jury testimony. However, the error was harmless.
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the prosecution to recall a witness that clarified questions posed by jurors. The court did not necessarily approve of the practice of the trial court, but the witness did not directly answer questions from the jury, and the testimony was new.
Concurrence.
The concurring opinion emphasized the need for the United States Supreme Court to review whether grand jury testimony can be found admissible. The concurring judge makes a plea to disallow the admission of grand jury testimony.
Discussion.
The court again balanced some evidence on its probative value versus its prejudicial value. The trial court was not willing to extend admissibility to the grand jury testimony. But as illustrated here, sometimes the wrongfully admitted evidence will be harmless error and is not automatic grounds for a retrial.
