U.S. v. Lehder-Rivas
| Citation | 955 F.2d 1510 |
| Decision Date | 25 March 1992 |
| Docket Number | 88-3596,Nos. 88-3344,LEHDER-RIVAS,s. 88-3344 |
| Parties | 35 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1168 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Carlos Enrique, a/k/a Joe Lehder, Defendant-Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Carlos Enrique, a/k/a Joe Lehder, Jack Carlton Reed, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
G. Richard Strafer, Miami, Fla., for Carlos Enrique Lehder-Rivas.
Stephen J. Weinbaum, Jacksonville, Fla., for Jack Carlton Reed.
Ernst D. Mueller, Asst. U.S. Atty., Jacksonville, Fla., for U.S. in both cases.
Karla R. Spaulding, Asst. U.S. Atty., Tampa, Fla., for U.S. in case No. 88-3596.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Before COX, Circuit Judge, JOHNSON * and REAVLEY **, Senior Circuit Judges.
I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE
From early 1978 through 1981, Carlos Enrique Lehder-Rivas (Lehder) served as leader of a cocaine smuggling organization which utilized as its major base for operations the island of Norman's Cay in the Bahamas. Lehder's planes, or those of his pilots, transported cocaine from Colombia to Norman's Cay in loads ranging from 150 to 500 kilograms. Later, on a second leg usually with different planes and different pilots, the cocaine was flown into Florida or south Georgia. From there the cocaine was driven to "stash houses" in Miami.
Once in Miami, the cocaine was made available to Lehder's network of distributors. Cash proceeds from the cocaine sales were returned to Norman's Cay via Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. The cash was then either deposited in Bahamian banks or transported elsewhere by aircraft. Jack Carlton Reed (Reed) was initially a pilot in this operation and later a supervisor of cocaine distribution. He also became an investor in the cocaine operation and a close advisor to Lehder.
On September 18, 1981, Lehder and Reed (appellants) were charged in an eleven count indictment. Count 1 charged Lehder and Reed with engaging in a conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 846 (West 1981 & Supp.1991). Counts 2 through 11 charged Lehder with nine acts of importing and possessing cocaine with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. §§ 952 and 841 (West 1981 and Supp.1991), and with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise (CCE), in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 848 (West Supp.1991).
Lehder was arrested in Colombia on February 4, 1987, and was extradited to Jacksonville, Florida. Reed was arrested in Panama on February 6, 1987, and transported to Florida the next day. After a trial spanning seven months, the jury on May 13, 1988 found Reed guilty on Count 1 and Lehder guilty on all eleven counts. On July 20, 1988, Lehder was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole on Count 11 to be served consecutively with 120 years on the remaining ten counts. Lehder was also fined $100,000 and ordered to forfeit his property to the United States government. Reed was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and a $25,000 fine.
II. DISCUSSION
Appellants raise the following principal claims on appeal: (1) the district court improperly admitted evidence extrinsic to the crimes charged in the indictment; (2) the indictment failed to provide Lehder with notice sufficient to allow preparation of an adequate defense; (3) the government violated the terms of Lehder's extradition treaty; (4) the district court improperly denied Reed's motion for severance; (5) the district court erroneously denied Reed's motion to suppress evidence obtained from searches conducted in Mississippi; (6) the district court deprived appellants of their right to a fair trial by failing to effectively address inflammatory and pervasive publicity. We address each of these contentions in turn below.
Appellants argue that the district court erroneously admitted evidence extrinsic to the crimes charged, in violation of Rules 403 and 404(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence. 1 The crimes at issue occurred from 1978 through early 1981. We review the lower court's evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. United States v. Van Dorn, 925 F.2d 1331, 1338 n. 12 (11th Cir.1991).
Evidence of criminal activity other than the charged offense is admissible for purposes of Rule 404(b) if it:
pertain[s] to the chain of events explaining the context, motive and set-up of the crime [and is] linked in time and circumstances with the charged crime, or forms an integral and natural part of the account of the crime, or is necessary to complete the story of the crime for the jury.
Id. at 1338; see United States v. Montes-Cardenas, 746 F.2d 771, 780 (11th Cir.1984). 2 Rule 403 requires the exclusion of even intrinsic evidence if its probative value "is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice." Fed.R.Evid. 403. Rule 403, however, must be applied United States v. Cross, 928 F.2d 1030, 1048 (11th Cir.1991) (citations omitted), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 594, 116 L.Ed.2d 618 (1991); see United States v. Huppert, 917 F.2d 507, 512 (11th Cir.1990).
The government's evidence concerning the formation of the conspiracy prior to 1978 was admissible as "pertain[ing] to a chain of events forming the context, motive and set-up of the crime." Van Dorn, 925 F.2d at 1338; United States v. Mills, 704 F.2d 1553, 1559 (11th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1243, 104 S.Ct. 3517, 82 L.Ed.2d 825 (1984). The government established that George Jung and Lehder met as inmates in 1974 and together began planning to introduce cocaine into the United States. See United States v. Champion, 813 F.2d 1154, 1172-73 (11th Cir.1987). The government then linked the conspiracy at its inception to its complex state in 1978 by showing how, during the course of the conspiracy, Jung introduced Lehder to future key conspirators who in turn introduced Lehder to other key conspirators. The roles and motives of the various co-conspirators in Lehder's distribution network from 1978 through 1981 would have been incomprehensible to the jurors had the prosecution failed to trace formation of the conspiracy to its origin with Lehder and Jung. See id. This basic "structural" evidence, admissible under Rule 404(b), therefore also retains probative value outweighing any danger of unfair prejudice. See, e.g., United States v. Van Dorn, 925 F.2d at 1338-39.
The district court likewise properly admitted evidence regarding when and how each co-conspirator separated from Lehder and on what terms, even when these separations occurred after early 1981. Carefully circumscribed evidence of criminal activity after the conclusion of the conspiracy may be admissible to "complete the story" of the conspiracy. See United States v. Gomez, 927 F.2d 1530, 1534-35 (11th Cir.1991); United States v. Weeks, 716 F.2d 830, 832 (11th Cir.1983). In the case at bar, the trial court minimized the possibility of prejudice by instructing the jury before and after such evidence was admitted that the evidence must be considered only "to determine whether the conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise charged in the indictment in fact existed during the time frame set forth in the indictment." See United States v. Cardenas, 895 F.2d 1338, 1344 (11th Cir.1990).
Appellants also contend that the government improperly introduced evidence of a number of irrelevant collateral crimes that occurred during the course of the conspiracy. Lehder argues that he suffered prejudice when the government entered evidence of unrelated occurrences such as his deportation from the United States in 1975, his placement on the Bahamian Stop List, his transportation of prostitutes to Norman's Cay, his drug use, his excessive "partying" and his illegitimate child. This Court has found that "[w]hile not all bad acts occurring within the time frame of a conspiracy are automatically admissible, the fact that [they occurred in conjunction with a] co-conspirator during the time of the conspiracy weighs heavily toward finding the acts are intertwined." United States v. Williford, 764 F.2d 1493, 1499 (11th Cir.1985).
We find that most of this evidence was intrinsic to the proof of the conspiracy. Lehder's deportation shaped his smuggling operation by forcing him to operate primarily in neighboring countries and to arrange for supervisors to oversee distribution in the United States. His placement on the Bahamian Stop List, making his continued presence in the Bahamas illegal, significantly affected his method of operation from Norman's Cay. Lehder's transportation of prostitutes to Norman's Cay was primarily for the benefit of his pilots, and thus was relevant to his recruitment of key personnel for the narcotics operation. The fact that Lehder personally used drugs demonstrated his familiarity with cocaine and explained descriptions of his sometimes erratic and paranoid management of the conspiracy. Cf. United States v. Cardenas, 895 F.2d at 1344 (). Evidence regarding each of these activities was closely tied to establishing the nature and type of the conspiracy, and therefore possessed a probative value that outweighed the potential for prejudicial harm. See United States v. Champion, 813 F.2d at 1172-73.
The government's suggestion to the jury that Lehder engaged in frequent "partying" and that he fathered an illegitimate child during the conspiracy carried prejudice that substantially outweighed its de minimis relevance to the case. However, because the defense itself had described Lehder as a playboy...
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