United States v. David v. Smith, United States of America v. Matthew Koalkin

893 F.2d 1573, 30 Fed. R. Serv. 142, 1990 U.S. App. LEXIS 585, 1990 WL 2832
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 19, 1990
Docket87-3124, 87-3125
StatusPublished
Cited by83 cases

This text of 893 F.2d 1573 (United States v. David v. Smith, United States of America v. Matthew Koalkin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. David v. Smith, United States of America v. Matthew Koalkin, 893 F.2d 1573, 30 Fed. R. Serv. 142, 1990 U.S. App. LEXIS 585, 1990 WL 2832 (9th Cir. 1990).

Opinion

RAFEEDIE, District Judge:

David Smith was convicted by a jury of operating a continuous criminal enterprise in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 848, 36 counts of aiding and abetting the distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A), as well as three counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1952(a)(3). Matthew Koalkin was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A) and 18 U.S.C. § 2, aiding and abetting travel in interstate commerce in aid of racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1952(a)(2) and (3), and attempted distribution of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846.

Smith and Koalkin appeal their convictions and raise a multiplicity of issues. The principal issue we address in this opinion is the admission of a calendar/drug ledger as a co-conspirator statement under Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). In United States v. Mouzin, 785 F.2d 682, 692 (9th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 985, 107 S.Ct. 574, 93 L.Ed.2d 577 (1986), we held that a calendar/drug ledger was inadmissible as a co-conspirator statement because the government failed to identify the author of the ledger. In the present case, however, the government established that the calendar/drug ledger was made during the course and in furtherance of a conspiracy and the identity of the author of the calendar/drug ledger was reasonably certain. We affirm the convictions and the sentences.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Following an extensive investigation of suspected drug trafficking activities in Longview, Washington, involving both personal surveillance and telephone wiretaps, Donald Sowell was arrested for possession of cocaine in 1984. A search of Sowell’s residence turned up a photostatic copy of a 1982-1983 calendar which appeared to contain narcotic-related notations. Before a Grand Jury, Sowell testified that he had been employed by Leon Williams to obtain cocaine from appellant Smith. Other witnesses testified that appellant Koalkin acted as a courier for cocaine supplied by Smith.

*1576 On September 23, 1986, the Federal Grand Jury for the Western District of Washington returned a 49-count Indictment charging Smith with operating a continuing criminal enterprise in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 848. In addition, Smith was charged with thirty-six counts of aiding and abetting the distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A) and three counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1952(a)(3). Koalkin was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, forty-one counts of distribution of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A) and 18 U.S.C. § 2, two counts of aiding and abetting travel in interstate commerce in aid of racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1952(a)(2) and (3), and one count of attempted distribution of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846.

Prior to trial, Smith and Koalkin both filed a motion in limine to exclude evidence relating to the calendar/drug ledger supposedly belonging to Williams. The motion was denied over strenuous defense objection.

At trial, nine witnesses testified concerning Williams’ calendar/drug ledger. So-well testified that he reported all of his transactions to Williams for record keeping and he occasionally saw Williams make notations of those transactions in a calendar-type ledger book during 1982. Upon Williams’ death in 1983, Sowell realized the importance of the ledger and asked George Humphrey, the manager of Williams’ Hawaiian farm to send him Williams’ “book.” Humphrey xeroxed the original calendar and sent a copy to Sowell, who testified that he did not alter any of the entries after he received it. Sowell also testified that he gave photostatic copies to others to review, but received them back sometime later, after which he stored them in a closet at his residence where they were discovered in the search following his arrest in April 1984.

When Williams’ calendar was shown to Sowell at trial, he testified that he recognized it as the copy that was mailed to him by Humphrey. He also testified that he was familiar with the meaning of the entries in the calendar and that he was able to decipher the code that Williams had used. In addition, he claimed that he had an independent recollection of the events recorded by Williams on the calendar.

Nathan Watkins, Leon Williams’ brother, testified that after his brother died, his brother’s wife, Janet Williams, asked him to help her unravel the financial aspects of her husband’s drug dealings. Watkins testified that he found the calendar ledger which Williams had kept for the years 1982 and 1983 and that he was able to decipher the code that Williams had used. Watkins also testified that he recognized the xerox copy of the calendar when it was shown to him during the trial as a photocopy of the original calendar notebook his brother had authored. In addition, he identified the entries in the calendar as being in his brother’s handwriting and he testified that he had observed his brother making similar entries on an earlier calendar.

Several other witnesses also testified concerning Williams’ use of the calendar/drug ledger. David Vogelstein, Williams’ attorney, testified that he received cash from Williams on a regular basis during 1982 and that he used the money to pay Williams’ living expenses. Vogelstein kept records of the cash he received from Williams and those records coincided with the entries on the calendar indicating cash disbursements from Williams to Vogelstein. Janet Williams, Leon Williams’ widow, testified that she reviewed certain records belonging to her husband and that one of those records was a calendar ledger.

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Bluebook (online)
893 F.2d 1573, 30 Fed. R. Serv. 142, 1990 U.S. App. LEXIS 585, 1990 WL 2832, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-david-v-smith-united-states-of-america-v-matthew-ca9-1990.