U.S. v. Portalla, 92-1512

• Decision Date: 02 November 1992
• Docket Number: No. 92-1512,92-1512
• Citation: 985 F.2d 621
• Parties: UNITED STATES, Appellee, v. Vincent M. PORTALLA, a/k/a Vincent Marino, Defendant, Appellant. . Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 621

985 F.2d 621

UNITED STATES, Appellee, v. Vincent M. PORTALLA, a/k/a Vincent Marino, Defendant, Appellant.

No. 92-1512.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard Nov. 2, 1992.

Decided Feb. 8, 1993.

Marielise Kelly with whom Edward R. Gargiulo, by Appointment of the Court, and Gargiulo, Rudnick & Gargiulo, Boston, MA, were on brief, for defendant, appellant.

Carole S. Schwartz, Sp. Asst. U.S. Atty., with whom A. John Pappalardo, U.S. Atty., Boston, MA, was on brief, for appellee.

Before BREYER, Chief Judge, BOWNES, Senior Circuit Judge, and SELYA, Circuit Judge.

BREYER, Chief Judge.

Vincent M. Portalla, also known as Vincent Marino, appeals from a decision of the federal district court revoking his term of "supervised release," (related to a previous conviction for illegal gun possession) and ordering him to return to prison for an additional two years. See 18 U.S.C. § 3583; U.S.S.G. § 7B1.3-1.4, p.s. The court revoked Marino's supervised release because it found that Marino had violated two important supervised release "conditions": (1) the condition that he not commit further crimes; and (2) the condition that he not associate with other convicted felons. Marino claims that the district court's factual findings lack adequate support in the record.

The parties agree, as they must, that in revocation proceedings (1) the court must find facts by a "preponderance of the evidence," 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3); (2) the evidence need not satisfy the tests of admissibility set forth in the Federal Rules of Evidence, which do not apply, see U.S.S.G. § 6A1.3; Fed.R.Evid. 1101(d)(3); but (3) evidence that does not satisfy those Rules must nonetheless be reliable. See U.S.S.G. § 6A1.3; United States v. Geer, 923 F.2d 892, 897 (1st Cir.1991). Moreover, on appeal, we consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, see United States v. Manning, 955 F.2d 770, 773 (1st Cir.1992), and we recognize the district court's broad legal power to determine witness credibility, see United States v. Resurreccion, 978 F.2d 759, 761 (1st Cir.1992). Applying these standards to the record before us, we cannot accept appellant's arguments.

First, the district court found that, on January 30, 1992, Marino, with two other men, unlawfully conspired to sell cocaine to undercover Boston police officers. Marino, in effect, concedes for purposes of this appeal that on January 30, 1992, Boston Police Detective Charles Wilson called a phone number (257-6673) and said "Batman, I need one." Marino also effectively concedes that, as a result of this call, two men, Michael Oboardi (whom Marino knew to be a felon) and Dennis Othmer, appeared at a parking lot and gave waiting Boston police officers cocaine in exchange for cash. Marino denies, however, that he was "Batman." He says that the evidence is not sufficient to show that when Wilson called 257-6673, it was he, Marino, at the other end of the line.

The evidence on which the court relied in reaching the determination that Marino was the person called amounts to the following:

(1) Detective Wilson testified that he recognized Marino's voice. Wilson had not spoken to Marino for two years, but he previously had spoken to him frequently (thirty to forty times over six to seven years).

(2) About ten days later Wilson again called the same number. He addressed the person who answered as "Gigi." Wilson testified that the person on the other end of the line continued a normal conversation, apparently accepting the "Gigi" designation. "Gigi" is Marino's nickname. Wilson added that he again recognized Marino's voice.

(3) Marino's "sister-in-law" (i.e. the sister of the woman with whom Marino lives, who is the mother of his child) rented a Motorola cellular telephone with the critical phone number (257-6673).

(4) When police officers arrested Marino they found in his possession the same model Motorola cellular phone that Marino's "sister-in-law" had rented (though its serial number had apparently been removed).

Marino argues that key portions of the evidence, namely the phone conversations, involve hearsay; that (in light of a history of police harassment) we must consider the "hearsay" unreliable; and that, without the hearsay, the evidence is inadequate. Marino is wrong about calling the evidence "hearsay," for the statements spoken at the other end of the phone were not admitted for their truth, but to prove that Marino was the speaker. See Fed.R.Evid. 801(c). We cannot say the district court committed legal error in crediting Detective Wilson's testimony identifying Marino's voice. See United States v. Geer, 923 F.2d at 897 ("[T]he sentencing judge has broad discretion to decide for himself not only the relevance, but also the reliability of the sentencing information." (citation omitted)). The evidence, we agree, might well have been stronger. But, given Wilson's long acquaintance with Marino, voice recognition was not impossible. That recognition together with (1) the nickname, (2) the "sister-in-law's" phone rental, and (3) Marino's possession of a similar phone in our view is sufficient to meet the "preponderance of the evidence" standard. Cf., United States v. Angiulo, 847 F.2d 956, 967 (1st Cir.) (holding that voice identification together with circumstantial evidence was sufficient for jury to conclude that defendant participated in conversation), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 928, 109 S.Ct. 314, 102 L.Ed.2d 332 (1988). As we have said, Marino does not deny that the person at the other end of the line ("Batman") facilitated the drug sale, nor does he deny that one of the persons with whom "Batman" "associated" in committing his crime (Michael Oboardi) was a felon. The record thus contains sufficient evidence to support the district court's finding that Marino had participated in the drug conspiracy and associated with a known felon.

Second, the district court found that Marino had committed another crime on February 5, 1992, by assaulting Dennis Caldarelli with a gun. The evidence before the court consisted primarily of the following:

(1) State Trooper Thomas Flaherty testified that at about 3:30 a.m. on that day Caldarelli arrived at Flaherty's cruiser, parked at a construction site at the Callahan Tunnel. Caldarelli was upset and had a bruise on the side of his face. According to Flaherty, Caldarelli told him that Marino (in a car with another man) had chased Caldarelli's car and forced it off the road (the curb blowing out two of its tires). Caldarelli also stated that Marino had asked him to get into Marino's vehicle; that, once inside the vehicle, Marino had accused him of providing information to the police regarding the shooting of Salemme and had struck him several times on the side of the head with a pistol; and that, while Caldarelli was...