U.S. v. Blaylock

Decision Date06 May 1994
Docket NumberNos. 92-50405,92-56296,s. 92-50405
Citation20 F.3d 1458
Parties40 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 202 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Michael Leslie BLAYLOCK, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Tom Stanley, Los Angeles, California; Henry H. Rossbacher and Tracy W. Young, Rossbacher & Associates, Los Angeles, California, for the defendant-appellant.

Robert L. Brosio, Assistant United States Attorney, Benjamin Jones, Jr., Assistant United States Attorney, Los Angeles, California, for the plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Before: FLETCHER, and D.W. NELSON, Circuit Judges, and WILL *, Senior District Judge.

D.W. NELSON, Circuit Judge:

Defendant-appellant Michael Leslie Blaylock brings a direct appeal from the final decision of the district court under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291. Blaylock also appeals the district court's denial of his motion to vacate, set aside or correct his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255. The two appeals have been consolidated.

In the direct appeal, Blaylock raises an ineffective assistance of counsel claim and challenges the district court's decision to exclude his medical records and to deny him a two-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility. In the Section 2255 petition, he again raises the ineffective assistance of counsel claim. We have jurisdiction to review final decisions of the United States District Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 and Rule 4(b) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.

We reverse Blaylock's conviction and grant a new trial based on the district court's erroneous and prejudicial decision to exclude Blaylock's medical records. We also reverse the district court's decision to deny Blaylock an evidentiary hearing on the ineffective assistance of counsel claim. We do not reach the issue of whether the district court should have granted Blaylock a two-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On August 13, 1991 a grand jury indicted Blaylock for being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 922(g)(1). At the arraignment, on November 25, 1991, counsel was appointed to represent Blaylock. On December 31, 1991, Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Jones, Jr., sent Blaylock's attorney a discovery packet including a cover letter containing the government's settlement offer. Under the proposed settlement, if Blaylock pled guilty, the government would recommend to the district court that "at the time of sentencing [Blaylock] receive a two-point reduction in his base offense level for acceptance of responsibility pursuant to Sentencing Guideline 3E1.1." [letter of Jones to Blaylock's lawyer, dated 12-31-1991]. The letter stated that the settlement offer would expire at 5:00 p.m. on January 9, 1992. On January 10, 1992, one day after the settlement offer had expired, the government filed a timely notice of its intention to seek enhanced penalties if Blaylock were convicted.

Blaylock claims that his attorney did not inform him of the government's offer. Although there is no question that Blaylock was not informed of the offer before it had expired, there is a factual dispute as to whether Blaylock was told about the plea offer prior to trial. The government contends that Blaylock's former attorney informed Blaylock of the government's plea offer on January 14, 1991. In response to the government's contention, Blaylock has submitted affidavits by two attorneys who contacted Blaylock's former attorney to ask him whether or not he had ever communicated the plea offer to Blaylock. Both declarants claim that Blaylock's former attorney The government's version of the facts underlying the arrest is also in large part contradicted by Blaylock's factual account. According to both versions of the facts, on April 1, 1991, police officers Reginald Watson and Anthony King, responding to a radio call from dispatch, were patrolling the area surrounding the apartment where Blaylock and his girlfriend, Linda Brown, had been living since November 1990. The officers say that as they were approaching the apartment they saw Linda Brown run out of the apartment with Blaylock in pursuit. Both King and Watson testified that they saw Blaylock holding a gun in his right hand. They further claim that when Blaylock saw them, he ran back into the apartment and that Watson followed him inside, eventually recovering the gun from under the couch and arresting Blaylock.

did not even recall the existence of the plea offer.

At trial, Linda Brown provided testimony that contradicted that of the police officers. Brown testified that she did not run out of the apartment. According to Brown, the officers came up to the apartment door, she answered the door and told them she was having a problem with her companion. At that point, according to Brown, the officers asked for Blaylock. After questioning Blaylock, the officers then searched the apartment and found the gun under the couch. According to Brown's testimony, prior to the arrival of the officers, she and Blaylock had been arguing and she had pulled out her gun which Blaylock then took away from her in self defense. Brown testified that although Blaylock at some point had the gun in his hand, he never threatened to use the gun against her.

At trial, Blaylock, who did not testify, raised a justification defense which was directly supported by Linda Brown's testimony. In support of Brown's version of the events, Blaylock tried to introduce medical records showing that he was receiving treatment for a back injury at the time of the arrest. Blaylock contends that the medical records would have undermined the credibility of the officers and cast doubt on their version of the events because the records show that he could not have run out of the house as the officers had testified. The district court excluded the medical records.

The medical records in question contained a report prepared by Blaylock's doctor after an examination on April 1, 1991, just hours before Blaylock's arrest. The records show that Blaylock had reported weakness and numbness in his left leg as a result of a work-related accident and that, after running some tests, the doctor had prescribed the use of a cane for stability. The medical records also make reference to the fact that Blaylock had gained 15 pounds since his accident because of inactivity. Blaylock reported that he was unable to participate in athletic activities and that he had difficulty performing a range of motions and tasks, including driving, dressing and washing himself, and having sexual intercourse.

On January 29, 1992 a jury convicted Blaylock on the Sec. 922(g)(1) charge. On June 2, 1992 the district court sentenced Blaylock as an "armed career criminal" to a term of imprisonment of 235 months. At sentencing, the district court denied Blaylock's request for a two-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility pursuant to U.S.S.G. Sec. 3E1.1.

DISCUSSION
I. THE DISTRICT COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION BY EXCLUDING BLAYLOCK'S MEDICAL RECORDS AFTER FINDING THAT THEY WERE RELEVANT
A. Standard of Review

The district court's evidentiary rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Crespo de Llano, 838 F.2d 1006, 1018 (9th Cir.1987).

B. Analysis

Blaylock claims that the court abused its discretion when it excluded the medical records. According to Blaylock, evidence that he had a back injury requiring use of a cane would have undermined the credibility of the officers' testimony that Blaylock ran out of the apartment and would have buttressed the The district court stated that the records were relevant but were excludable because they lacked foundation. The government concedes on appeal that there was foundation, but argues that the court reasonably could have excluded the documents as irrelevant or, alternatively, under Federal Rule of Evidence 403 because their prejudicial effect significantly exceeded their probative value.

credibility of Brown's testimony which supported Blaylock's defense.

(1) Relevance

Defense counsel tried to introduce the medical records at trial after he and the prosecutor had stipulated to the custody and the keeping of the records, which established the business records exception to hearsay under Fed.R.Evid. 803(6). In ruling that the medical records were inadmissible, the district court stated: "It's relevant. That's not the basis of the ruling that I'm refusing it on. It's relevant, but there is no foundation for it and I'm not just going to allow it." [R.T. 1/29/1992 at 41].

Technically, the district court's ruling was incorrect. Before a document can be found relevant, the court must find that it has foundation. See Fed.R.Evid. 901(a) and Advisory Committee's note, ("Authentication and Identification represent a special aspect of relevancy.... The need for authentication [is] an inherent logical necessity [of relevance].") (internal citations omitted). Moreover, the prosecutor and the defense attorney had stipulated to the custodial aspect of the medical records and on appeal the government concedes that Blaylock had met the prerequisites for admitting the documents. United States v. Bellucci, 995 F.2d 157, 160 (9th Cir.1993) (per curiam) (proponent of document must show authentication, best evidence, and lack of hearsay or an exception to hearsay). The government now contends, however, that the medical records were not relevant.

Evidence is relevant if it has "any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more or less probable...." Fed.R.Evid. 401; United States v. Ives, 609 F.2d 930, 933 (9th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 919, 100 S.Ct. 1283, 63 L.Ed.2d 605 (1980). The medical records were relevant to both the credibility of Linda Brown...

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