CHARLES CLARK, Circuit Judge:
The court en banc on its own motion has reconsidered this case following the panel decision reported at 576 F.2d 1121 because of possible conflicts between that decision and prior decisions of this court touching on the admission of out-of-court statements by alleged coconspirators and because of the importance of the question at issue.
The panel opinion fully stated the facts and circumstances of the case and the conclusion of the court with respect to all matters at issue through that part of the opinion denominated “IV. Miscellaneous,” 576 F.2d 1123-27, second' line. The court en banc, therefore, approves and adopts those parts of the panel opinion for the purpose of dealing with the matters discussed. The remainder of the panel opinion denominated “V. Coconspirator Statements” is withdrawn and the following is substituted in its place:
V. Coconspirator Statements
Under a long-recognized exception to the hearsay rule, a statement made by one member of a conspiracy during the course of and in furtherance of the conspiracy may be used against other members of the conspiracy if certain conditions are met. Meeting these conditions is necessary because of the court’s recognition of the danger of prejudice to the defendant which would result if the jury were to rely upon coconspirator statements without first addressing and deciding the admissibility question.
(A) Judge or Jury?
Present practice calls for the judge and the jury to share the responsibility for de[578]*578termining whether these conditions have been met. In United States v. Apollo, 476 F.2d 156 (5th Cir. 1973), we held that the judge’s role is to make a preliminary determination whether the government has presented sufficient evidence, independent of the hearsay itself, to support a finding by the jury that the alleged conspiracy existed and that the declarant and the defendant against whom the statement is offered were members of that conspiracy. This is the “prima facie case” standard enunciated in United States v. Oliva, 497 F.2d 130 (5th Cir. 1974), and followed in subsequent decisions, see, e. g., United States v. Rodriguez, 509 F.2d 1342 (5th Cir. 1976); United States v. Tyler, 505 F.2d 1329 (5th Cir. 1975). If the judge is satisfied that this test has been met, then under existing law the jury is instructed, both when the hearsay is introduced and at the final charge, that it may consider the hearsay against a particular defendant only if it first finds that the conspiracy existed, that the declarant and the defendant were members of it, and that the statement was made during the course of and in furtherance of the conspiracy. See, e. g., United States v. Lawson, 523 F.2d 804, 806 (5th Cir. 1976); United States v. Fontenot, 483 F.2d 315, 324-25 (5th Cir. 1973); Myers v. United States, 377 F.2d 412, 417-19 (5th Cir. 1967).
This case presents the first opportunity for us to consider the effect of the Federal Rules of Evidence upon our present practice.1 Here, the appellants moved for a pretrial hearing outside the presence of the jury in order to permit the trial judge to determine the admissibility of coconspirator statements. In support of their motion, they argued that Rule 104(a) of the Federal Rules of Evidence allocated to the judge alone the responsibility for deciding the admissibility of such statements and that the complexity of their case called for this to be accomplished at a separate nonjury hearing, as permitted under Rule 104(c). The district court denied the motion, asserting the cautionary Apollo instructions would adequately protect the defendants. Faced with this denial of their motion, the defendants requested and received Apollo instructions at trial. They now ask us to reverse their convictions on the basis of the denial of their motion. We believe this is an appropriate opportunity to overrule Apollo and to establish a new standard and procedure for handling the admissibility of co-conspirator statements in criminal conspiracy trials.
Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, which became effective July 1, 1975, a statement is not hearsay if it is offered against a party and is “a statement by a coconspirator of a party during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy.” Fed. R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). While this definitional section of the Rules removes coconspirator statements from the realm of hearsay, admissibility still depends upon the proof of the same facts as required previously. Thus, there must be a conspiracy, the statement must be made during the course of and in furtherance of the conspiracy, and the declarant and the defendant must be members of the conspiracy.2 However, Rule 801 provides no guidance on whether the judge or the jury is to decide that these conditions have been satisfied.
To resolve that question, we must look to Rule 104, which delineates the functions of judge and jury in the determination [579]*579of preliminary questions of fact, The relevant portions of Rule 104 provide:
(a) Questions of admissibility generally. Preliminary questions concerning the qualifications of a person to be a witness, the existence of a privilege, or the admissibility of evidence shall be determined by the court, subject to the provisions of subdivision (b). In making its determination it is not bound by the rules of evidence except those with respect to privileges.
(b) Relevancy conditioned on fact. When the relevancy of evidence depends upon the fulfillment of a condition of fact, the court shall admit it upon, or subject to, the introduction of evidence sufficient to support a finding of the fulfillment of the condition.
(c) Hearing of jury. Hearings on the admissibility of confessions shall in all cases be conducted out of the hearing of the jury. Hearings on other preliminary matters shall be so conducted when the interests of justice require or, when an accused be a witness, if he so requests.
The rule thus adopts the orthodox position that the judge alone decides preliminary questions as to the competence of evidence, and the jury decides preliminary questions as to the conditional relevancy of the evidence.
The language of Rule 104 does not conclude our inquiry, however, for neither that rule nor the Advisory Committee’s Notes inform us whether coconspirator’s statements are to be dealt with under Rule 104(a) as questions of admissibility or under Rule 104(b) as questions of conditional relevancy.
We must look beyond the language of the rule to its underlying policies to determine who should decide the preliminary questions and what standard of proof should control the decision on admissibility. A rule that puts the admissibility of coconspirator statements in the hands of the jury does not avoid the danger that the jury might convict on the basis of these statements without first dealing with the admissibility question. It was this same danger which motivated the Supreme Court to hold in Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 12 L.Ed.2d 908 (1964), that a criminal defendant is entitled to have a “reliable and clear-cut determination of the voluntariness of [his] confession, including the resolution of disputed facts upon which the voluntariness issue may depend,” made by someone other than the jury which is to determine his guilt or innocence.3 Id. at 391, 84 S.Ct. at 1788, 12 L.Ed.2d at 924.
We are therefore convinced that the preliminary questions of conditional relevance envisioned by Rule 104(b) are those which present no such danger of prejudice to the defendant. They are questions of probative force rather than evidentiary policy. They involve questions as to the fulfillment of factual conditions which the jury must answer.
The admissibility of a coconspirator’s declarations in a conspiracy trial, however, does pose problems precisely because they are relevant. Such evidence endangers the integrity of the trial because the relevancy and apparent probative value of the statements may be so highly prejudicial as to color other evidence even in the mind of a conscientious juror, despite instructions to disregard the statements or to consider them conditionally. As a result, such statements should be evaluated by the trained legal mind of the trial judge.
Rule 104 has now made it clear that we must revise the procedures adopted in Apollo for testing the trustworthiness of coconspirator statements — that is for determining whether a conspiracy existed and whether the defendant and the declarant were members of it. Because the Rule 104(b) exception is inappropriate to test the admissibility of such declarations, we hold that Rule 104(a) requires that the judge [580]*580alone make the determination of the admissibility of the evidence. The jury is to play no role in determining the admissibility of the statements.
The United States, in its brief and on oral argument, urges this court to replace the Apollo rule by construing the Rules of Evidence in such á manner as would place the duty to make this determination upon the judge rather than the jury. In reaching this conclusion, we also find ourselves in accord with the courts of appeals of all of the circuits which have addressed the issue. Some of these courts have based such conclusion on their interpretation of the Federal Rules of Evidence. See, e. g., United States v. Santiago, 582 F.2d 1128 (7th Cir. 1978); United States v. Enright, 579 F.2d 980, 982-87 (6th Cir. 1978); United States v. Bell, 573 F.2d 1040, 1043-1045 (8th Cir. 1978); United States v. Martorano, 557 F.2d 1, 11-12 (1st Cir. 1977); and United States v. Petrozziello, 548 F.2d 20, 22-24 (1st Cir. 1977). Other circuits reached the same result prior to the adoption of the Federal Rules. See, e. g., United States v. Weiner, 578 F.2d 757, 767-72 (9th Cir. 1978); United States v. Stanchich, 550 F.2d 1294, 1298-99 (2d Cir. 1977); United States v. Trowery, 542 F.2d 623 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1104, 97 S.Ct. 1132, 51 L.Ed.2d 555 (1976); United States v. Jones, 542 F.2d 186, 202-208 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 922, 96 S.Ct. 2629, 49 L.Ed.2d 375 (1976); United States v. Geaney, 417 F.2d 1116, 1119-21 (2d Cir. 1969). The other circuits, the Tenth and the District of Columbia, have not yet decided what effect the new rules have in this field of the law. See, e. g., United States v. Haldeman, 181 U.S.App.D.C. 254, 341 n.247, 559 F.2d 31, 118, n.247 (1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 933, 97 S.Ct. 2641, 53 L.Ed.2d 250 (1977).
(B) By What Standard?
Under our Apollo rule, the trial judge had to determine whether the prima facie test had been met before permitting the jury to consider the statement. In United States v. Oliva, supra, we described this test as “whether the government, by evidence independent of the hearsay declarations of the coconspirator, has established a prima facie case of the existence of a conspiracy and of the defendant’s participation therein, that is whether the other evidence aliunde the hearsay would be sufficient to support a finding by the jury that the defendant was himself a conspirator.” 497 F.2d at 133.
It must be borne in mind that the prima facie test was used when the jury also had a part in determining the use of the statements under the Apollo ruling. This court has not spoken on the standard which the jury was to apply to this determination. Apparently it was not uncommon for the jury to be instructed that it must find the existence of the conspiracy and the defendant’s connection to it beyond a reasonable doubt before ever considering the coconspirator statement.
Since we now conclude that the trial court has the responsibility for determining those questions of fact relating to admissibility of the statement, the standard by which the court makes this determination should be high enough to afford adequate protection to the defendant against whom the evidence is offered, yet not so high as to exclude trustworthy, relevant evidence.
A statement by the Supreme Court in United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 94 S.Ct. 3090, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974), although dictum, supports the principle that the standard must be one that requires the trial judge to find at least enough evidence touching on the critical issues to support a jury verdict. The Court said:
Declarations by one defendant may also be admissible against other defendants upon a sufficient showing, by independent evidence,14 of a conspiracy among one or more other defendants and the declarant and if the declarations at issue were in furtherance of that conspiracy.
Id. at 701, 94 S.Ct. at 3104, 41 L.Ed.2d at 1060. Footnote 14 in turn contains the significant language:
As a preliminary matter, there must be substantial, independent evidence of a conspiracy, at least enough to take the [581]*581question to the jury. . . . Whether the standard has been satisfied is a question of admissibility of evidence to be decided by the trial judge.
Id. at 701 n.14, 94 S.Ct. at 3104 n.14, 41 L.Ed.2d at 1060 n.14. (Emphasis added) (citations omitted).
There is some confusion resulting from the use of the terms by the several courts of appeals to describe the quantum of proof necessary for the trial judge to admit a coconspirator’s statement. Some courts use the “prima facie” standard; others refer to a “fair preponderance” of the evidence. Still others require “substantial independent evidence.4”
Because of our conclusion, discussed below, that the trial court’s threshold determination of admissibility is normally to be made during the presentation of the government’s case in chief and before the evidence is heard by the jury, it is more appropriate to adopt a “substantial” evidence rule rather than one which requires, at that stage of the proceedings, a “preponderance” of the evidence. We conclude that, as stated by the court in Nixon, supra, a declaration by one defendant is admissible against other defendants only when there is a “sufficient showing, by independent evidence, of a conspiracy among one or more other defendants and the declarant and if the declarations at issue were in furtherance of that conspiracy,” 418 U.S. at 701, 94 S.Ct. at 3104, 41 L.Ed.2d at 1060, and that “as a preliminary matter, there must be substantial, independent evidence of a conspiracy at least enough to take the question to the jury.” Id. at 701 n.14, 94 S.Ct. at 3104 n.14, 41 L.Ed.2d at 1060 n.14. (emphasis added).
Although Rule 104(a) provides that the court “is not bound by the Rules of Evidence except those with respect to privileges” we do not construe this language as permitting the court to rely upon the content of the very statement whose admissibility is at issue. We adhere to our requirement established in Apollo that fulfillment of the conditions of admissibility must be established by evidence independent of the coconspirator statement itself. This construction of Rule 104(a) comports with earlier Supreme Court pronouncements that admissibility must depend upon independent evidence in order to prevent this statement from “lift[ing] itself by its own boot straps to the level of competent evidence.” Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 75, 62 S.Ct. 457, 467, 86 L.Ed. 680, 701 (1942); see Nixon, supra.
(C) Order of Proof.
The displacement of Apollo by the rule we now announce may affect the order of proof at trial in some cases. In our discussion above, we identify the danger to a defendant in a conspiracy trial when the government tenders a coconspirator’s statement before laying the foundation for its admission. Courts have on occasion allowed such statements to be heard by the jury upon the promise that the prosecutor will “connect it up.” Of course, if it is connected up, the defendant suffers no prejudice in the order of proof. If, however, the judge should conclude at the end of the trial that [582]*582the proper foundation has not been laid, the defendant will have been prejudiced from the jury’s having heard the inadmissible evidence.
While the government here urges that the practice of “connecting up” be permitted to continue at the discretion of the trial judge, it suggests a remedy for failure to make the connection which may be more burdensome and expensive of prosecutorial and judicial effort than a reordering of the proof. The government suggests that “should the trial judge determine that the government has not carried its burden in connecting the previously admitted evidence, the court may ‘upon appropriate motion, declare a mistrial, unless a cautionary instruction to disregard the statement would suffice to cure any prejudice.’ U. S. v. Bell, 573 F.2d 1040, 1044 (8th Cir. 1978); U. S. v. Stanchich, 550 F.2d 1294, 1298 (2d Cir. 1977).” Brief for the United States at 27. In Stanchich the court quoted from its prior decision in United States v. Geaney, 417 F.2d 1116 (2d Cir. 1969), which required the judge, who has concluded that the statement has not been connected, to “instruct the jury to disregard the hearsay, or, when this was so large a proportion of the proof as to render a cautionary instruction of doubtful utility . . ., declare a mistrial if the defendant asks for it.” 417 F.2d at 1120 (emphasis added).
The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has included a preferential course of action in its interpretation of the new rules dealing with the admission of such evidence. In United States v. Macklin, 573 F.2d 1046 (8th Cir. 1978), after stating that the new rule “does not alter the traditional discretion of the trial judge to allow the government to place the statement into evidence on the condition that it be later shown” to be connected, stated:
[I]t is preferable whenever possible that the government’s independent proof of' the conspiracy be introduced first, thereby avoiding the danger, recognized in Petrozziello of injecting the record with inadmissible hearsay in anticipation of proof of a conspiracy which never materializes.
573 F.2d at 1049 n.3 (emphasis added).
In Petrozziello, supra, the court said in a footnote:
The judge insisted that the government present all its non-hearsay first. He then decided whether that evidence permitted reliance on the co-conspirator exception. Nothing in the new rules or this opinion requires that the judge’s meticulous approach be abandoned. Although time-consuming, it avoids the danger that hearsay will be admitted in anticipation of a later showing of conspiracy that never materializes.
548 F.2d at 23 n.3 (emphasis added).
Both because of the “danger” to the defendant if the statement is not connected and because of the inevitable serious waste of time, energy and efficiency when a mistrial is required in order to obviate such danger, we conclude that the present procedure warrants the statement of a preferred order of proof in such a case. The district court should, whenever reasonably practicable, require the showing of a conspiracy and of the connection of the defendant with it before admitting declarations of a coconspirator. If it determines it is not reasonably practical to require the showing to be made before admitting the evidence, the court may admit the statement subject to being connected up.
(D) At the End of the Trial.
Regardless of whether the proof has been made in the preferred order, or the coconspirator’s statement has been admitted subject to later connection, on appropriate motion at the conclusion of all the evidence the court must determine as a factual matter whether the prosecution has shown by a preponderance of the evidence independent of the statement itself (1) that a conspiracy existed, (2) that the coconspirator and the defendant against whom the coconspirator’s statement is offered were members of the conspiracy, and (3) that the statement was made during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy. Rule 801(d)(2)(E). If the court concludes that [583]*583the prosecution has not borne its burden of proof on these issues, the statement cannot remain in the evidence to be submitted to the jury. In that event, the judge must decide whether the prejudice arising from the erroneous admission of the coconspirator’s statements can be cured by a cautionary instruction to disregard the statement or whether a mistrial is required. See United States v. Bell, 573 F.2d 1040, 1044 (8th Cir. 1978); United States v. Stanchich, 550 F.2d 1294, 1297-98 (2d Cir. 1977).
(E) Conclusion.
This opinion intends to establish minimum standards for the admissibility of coconspirator statements. Nothing stated here shall prevent a trial judge from requiring more meticulous procedures to assure that such statements (1) are not admitted until properly authenticated by substantial independent evidence and (2) do not remain in the proof to be submitted to the jury unless their admissibility is established by a preponderance of the evidence.
In the case at bar, the district court applied the rule enunciated by this court in United States v. Apollo, supra, as elaborated in United States v. Oliva, 497 F.2d 130 (5th Cir. 1974). Under that rule, the trial court did not submit the evidence to the jury for its determination of admissibility until it determined that the prosecution “ha[d] established a prima facie case of the existence of a conspiracy and of the defendant’s participation therein, that is [that] the other evidence aliunde the hearsay would be sufficient to support a finding by the jury that the defendant was himself a conspirator.” 497 F.2d 132-33. Although the procedures which we now adopt are different from the prima facie rule announced in Oliva we do not disturb the conclusion reached by the panel of this Court that the admission of the hearsay statements was fully supported because there was “a preponderance of the independent evidence that the conspiracy existed, that each of the defendants and appellants were members of it, and that the statements were made in the course of and in furtherance of the conspiracy.”
Exercising this court’s supervisory power over the district courts, see LaBuy v. Howes Leather Co., Inc., 352 U.S. 249, 259-60, 77 S.Ct. 309, 315, 1 L.Ed.2d 290, 299 (1957); United States v. Mendoza, 565 F.2d 1285, 1292 (5th Cir.) aff’d, 581 F.2d 89 (5th Cir. 1978) (en banc); United States v. Chiantese, 560 F.2d 1244, 1254 (5th Cir. 1977) (en banc), we adopt these rules only prospectively. Cf. Chiantese, supra, 560 F.2d at 1256. Accordingly, they are required only as to coconspirator statements which the government seeks to introduce in trials commencing after 30 days from the date of this opinion.
The judgment is AFFIRMED.