U.S. v. Dorta
| Citation | 783 F.2d 1179 |
| Decision Date | 21 February 1986 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 84-5291,s. 84-5291 |
| Parties | 20 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1255 UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Ramon Elesvan DORTA, a/k/a Raymond Dorchester, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Luis German LAVERDE, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Donald Bruce KNIGHT, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Renn DRUM, Jr., Appellant. (L), 84-5294, 84-5295 and 84-5296. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Norman B. Smith, Greensboro, N.C., for appellant Renn Drum, Jr.
A. Wayne Harrison, Greensboro, N.C., for appellant Donald Bruce Knight.
Michael Burnbaum, for appellant Luis German LaVerde.
(Smith, Patterson, Follin, Curtis, James & Harkavy, Greensboro, N.C., Bronis & Portela, P.A.; Robert Kalter, P.A., Miami, Fla., on brief), for appellant Ramon Elesvan Dorta.
David B. Smith, Asst. U.S. Atty. (Kenneth W. McAllister, U.S. Atty.; Becky M. Strickland, Greensboro, N.C., on brief), for appellee.
Before WINTER, Chief Judge, SNEEDEN, Circuit Judge and HILTON, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.
Appellants Dorta, LaVerde, Knight, and Drum were indicted for numerous drug related offenses arising out of an alleged cocaine distribution operation. They appeal their subsequent convictions 1 on numerous grounds. Finding no merit in appellants' contentions, we affirm.
On August 5, 1983, federal agents arrested Donald Jones and Susan Weeks at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, and charged them with possession of cocaine. As part of an eventual plea bargaining agreement, Jones and Weeks agreed to testify against appellants.
The evidence introduced by the government at trial can be briefly summarized. The testimony by Jones, Weeks, and other witnesses implicated appellants Dorta, LaVerde, and Knight in a drug distribution operation dating from 1981. The distribution network involved cocaine pick-ups in Florida and deliveries in North and South Carolina. Their testimony also implicated Henry Warden (a co-defendant not involved in this appeal) as playing a key role in the drug distribution ring. Appellant Drum was Warden's attorney. Jones and Weeks testified that, after their arrest, Drum visited them in jail on Warden's behalf in order to arrange for the continuation of cocaine deliveries.
As part of their agreement with the government, Jones and Weeks pretended to continue their illegal drug activities after their release from jail. This effort, in which Jones and Weeks were, in effect, government agents, commenced sometime in November 1983. As a result of their cooperation, the government introduced additional evidence implicating Drum in the distribution conspiracy. Appellants were arrested on February 7, 1984.
The first issue we will discuss is Drum's assertion that the trial court committed reversible error by refusing to instruct the jury on the entrapment defense. Drum claims that considerable evidence was introduced which demonstrates that Weeks induced Drum to join the drug conspiracy during the time she was acting as a government agent. Citing our decision in United States v. Hunt, 749 F.2d 1078 (4th Cir.1984), Drum asserts that the trial court was required to instruct the jury on entrapment.
However, we do not need to decide this issue because the record reveals that in his testimony before the jury, Drum unequivocably and repeatedly denied any involvement in the cocaine conspiracy. Thus, Drum is claiming in one breath that he did not commit the crime, and in the next that even if he did commit it, the government entrapped him. 2
The vast majority of the circuit courts of appeals have adopted the rule that defendants may not testify that they did not commit the crime charged and also assert the entrapment defense. See, e.g., United States v. Smith, 757 F.2d 1161, 1167-69 (11th Cir.1985); United States v. Liparota, 735 F.2d 1044, 1048 (7th Cir.1984), rev'd on other grounds, --- U.S. ---, 105 S.Ct. 2084, 85 L.Ed.2d 434 (1985); United States v. Whitley, 734 F.2d 1129, 1139 (6th Cir.1984); United States v. Mayo, 705 F.2d 62, 72-73 (2nd Cir.1983); United States v. Hill, 655 F.2d 512, 514 (3rd Cir.1981), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 1039, 104 S.Ct. 699, 79 L.Ed.2d 165 (1984); United States v. Annese, 631 F.2d 1041, 1046-47 (1st Cir.1980); Munroe v. United States, 424 F.2d 243, 244 (10th Cir.1970) (en banc); Ware v. United States, 259 F.2d 442, 445 (8th Cir.1958). 3 The primary rationale for this rule is the unacceptable inconsistency that arises when a defendant both denies guilt and asserts entrapment. See, e.g., United States v. Smith, 757 F.2d at 1167-68; Munroe v. United States, 424 F.2d at 244.
This circuit's holdings on whether defendants may assert an entrapment defense inconsistent with their denial of committing the crime have been sparse and inconsistent. In Nutter v. United States, 289 F. 484, 485 (4th Cir.1923), this court took the position that a defendant may not succeed on a claim of entrapment when he has testified that he did not commit the crime. 4 In 1958 we took the opposite position in Crisp v. United States, 262 F.2d 68, 70 (4th Cir.1958). The opinion in Crisp does not cite or discuss Nutter, which another court had two years earlier interpreted to support the rule that the entrapment defense is not available when the defendant denies commission of the crime, Henderson v. United States, 237 F.2d 169, 172-73 (5th Cir.1956). Our research has failed to locate any Fourth Circuit opinion citing Crisp with approval on the issue in question here.
We must choose between our conflicting positions in Crisp and Nutter. We conclude that the better rule is that defendants are not entitled to a jury instruction on entrapment when they testify that they have not committed the crime charged. Not only is this the much more recent position of the overwhelming majority of other circuits, but more importantly, it is also in the interest of protecting the integrity and the truth-finding function of our criminal trials. United States v. Rey, 706 F.2d 145, 147 (5th Cir.1983) (citation omitted). Accordingly, the trial court did not err in refusing Drum's request that the jury be instructed on entrapment.
We next address the claim by all the appellants that the trial court erred in refusing to allow their counsel to cross-examine the government's chief witness, Jones, concerning his belief as to what his maximum sentence could have been had he not cooperated with the government. Appellants contend that this ruling violated their constitutional right to confront adverse witnesses.
We recognize that a witness' understanding of what benefits he will receive as a result of his cooperation with the government is relevant and that the defendant is constitutionally entitled to explore this subject during cross-examination. Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 39 L.Ed.2d 347 (1974); Hoover v. Maryland, 714 F.2d 301 (4th Cir.1983). In Hoover v. Maryland, we held that a state trial court had unconstitutionally abridged the defendant's right to confront an adverse witness by a "sustained and effective refusal to permit inquiry into [the witness'] understanding of his bargain with the government." 714 F.2d at 306. In that case we concluded that the court's "interference" with defense counsel's cross-examination on the bias issue was "pervasive." Id. 5
A careful review of the record here reveals that appellants' counsel cross-examined Jones thoroughly, if not exhaustively, concerning his possible bias arising out of his agreement with the government. Appellants' counsel explored, for example, Jones' conviction for assaulting an FBI agent; his past criminal conduct, including the number of times he possessed cocaine; his understanding of the use immunity he was granted for his grand jury testimony; his understanding of the implications of his plea agreement; and his motivation for testifying. The trial court clearly did not impose "substantial limitations on the attempts of a defendant to undermine as biased a witness' testimony." Hoover v. State of Maryland, 714 F.2d at 305.
The "defendants in this case obtained from the witness a clear and complete statement of [the witness'] understanding of the plea bargain and of what benefits [the witness] would receive as a result." United States v. Odom, 736 F.2d 104, 108-09 (4th Cir.1984). Accordingly, we find no error in the trial court's ruling. 6
Appellants' remaining four contentions do not require detailed discussion. The first of these is that the trial court erred in allowing two government charts into evidence that appellants allege inaccurately and unfairly summarized telephone toll records. The lengthy telephone records had already been introduced into evidence, and the charts in question summarized the calls that were relevant to the government's case.
Rule 1006 of the Federal Rules of Evidence provides that the "contents of voluminous writings, recordings, or photographs which cannot conveniently be examined in court may be presented in the form of a chart, summary, or calculation." Since the charts in question here accurately summarized evidence already before the jury, we find no error in the district court's exercise of discretion in admitting the charts into evidence. See United States v. Keltner, 675 F.2d 602, 605-06 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 832, 103 S.Ct. 71, 74 L.Ed.2d 71 (1982).
The appellants also assert error in the trial court's refusal to give Appellant Drum's requested jury instructions on the elements of conspiracy. A careful comparison of the instructions on conspiracy given by the district court and...
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