United States v. Yonkers Contracting Co., Inc.

701 F. Supp. 431, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13792, 1988 WL 131897
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided December 7, 1988·No. 87 Crim. 560 (WCC)·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

WILLIAM C. CONNER, District Judge.

This action is before the Court on the Government’s motion to admit into evidence the grand jury testimony of Thomas J. Broder, a recently deceased government witness. The Government argues that the testimony is admissible under Rule 804(b)(5), Fed.R.Evid. Defendants contend that admission of the testimony violates both the Federal Rules of Evidence and the *433 Confrontation Clause, U.S. Const, amend VI. For the reasons stated below, the Government’s motion is granted.

BACKGROUND

Defendants are charged with conspiring to rig bids for the sale of asphalt and for asphalt paving contracts in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The Government alleges that defendants’ conspiracy-affected numerous government contracts for the purchase of asphalt or for paving in Westchester County.

Thomas J. Broder (“Broder”), the witness whose testimony this motion concerns, became Vice President of defendant Peck-ham Materials Corp. (“Peckham Materials”) in 1972. The Government alleges that he played an integral role in the conspiracy.

Broder testified before a Connecticut grand jury on October 29, 1985. On July 16, 1986, he testified before the grand jury that ultimately indicted the defendants in this criminal prosecution. Government attorneys had interviewed Broder the night before. His testimony during both investigations was given under a grant of immunity.

On October 1, 1988, the attorney for defendant Peckham Materials notified the Government and the Court of Broder’s death. On November 14, 1988, one week before trial, the Government indicated that it might introduce Broder’s grand jury testimony at trial under Rule 804(b)(5). Defendants opposed the motion.

DISCUSSION

The Government argues that Broder’s grand jury testimony is admissible under Rule 804(b)(5). That Rule, applicable “if the declarant is unavailable as a witness” within the meaning of Rule 804(a), permits the admission of a hearsay statement which is

not specifically covered by any of the foregoing exceptions but having equivalent circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness, if the court determines that (A) the statement is offered as evidence of a material fact; (B) the statement is more probative on the point for which it is offered than any other evidence which the proponent can procure through reasonable efforts; and (C) the general purposes of these rules and the interests of justice will best be served by admission of the statement into evidence. However, a statement may not be admitted under this exception unless the proponent of it makes known to the adverse party sufficiently in advance of the trial or hearing to provide the adverse party with a fair opportunity to prepare to meet it, the proponent’s intention to offer the statement and the particulars of it, including the name and address of the declarant.

In sum, the Rules permit hearsay to be admitted under the “residual” exception provision, where:

(a) the declarant is “unavailable”;
(b) the hearsay is “not specifically covered” by another hearsay exception;
(c) there are “circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness”;
(d) the evidence is “more probative” on a “material” issue than any other reasonably available evidence;
(e) the “interests of justice” are served by its admission; and
(f) the proponent has given the opposing party adequate “notice” of its intent to introduce the evidence.

The Government has met its burden of establishing these criteria in the case at hand.

1. Unavailability

A witness is unavailable if he “is unable to be present or to testify at the hearing because of death.” Fed.R.Evid. 804(a)(4). It is undisputed that Broder is dead. Defendants nevertheless contend that the Government had a duty to take reasonable precautions to preserve Broder’s testimony by deposing him pursuant to Rule 15(a), Fed.R.Crim.P. They argue that the Government’s failure to act reasonably precludes it from claiming that Broder is now “unavailable.” I disagree.

First, it is by no means clear that the Government is under a duty to preserve a *434 witness’s testimony. Originally, the definition of “unavailability” in Rule 804 contained “no requirement that an attempt be made to take the deposition of a declarant.” Original Advisory Committee’s Note to Rule 804. It merely provided that if the unavailability resulted “from the procurement or wrongdoing of the proponent of the statement,” the witness would not be considered unavailable. Id.

The Rule’s definition of unavailability was amended by Congress in 1973. The amendment was extremely narrow. It concerned the admission of an “absent” witness’s testimony, within the meaning of 804(a)(5), under hearsay exceptions 804(b)(2) (declarant’s death was imminent), (3) (statement against interest), and (4) (statement of personal or family history). Congress determined that such hearsay should not be admitted unless the proponent had made an “attempt ... to depose [the] witness.” H.Rep. No. 650, 93d Cong., 1st Sess. 15 (1973), quoted in 4 J. Wein-stein & M. Berger, Weinstein’s Evidence If 804-5 (1988).

Significantly, Congress did not amend clauses (a)(4) (ill or dead witness is unavailable) or (b)(5) (the residual hearsay exception). That the legislative branch decided to amend one part of the unavailability definition, by imposing a duty that a party attempt to take depositions of a witness if it appears that he may become unavailable, suggests that its failure to extend this requirement to the other parts of the unavailability definition was intentional. Thus to hold that the Rule’s definition of “unavailability” requires the Government to depose Broder would be to impose a duty that Congress deliberately declined to create.

Admittedly, the definition of “unavailability” recognizes that if the unavailability is caused by the proponent of the statement “for the purpose of preventing the witness from attending or testifying,” the hearsay will be inadmissible. Fed.R. Evid. 804(a). Yet under this provision, mere negligence will not preclude admission of the statement. See United States v. Seijo, 595 F.2d 116, 120 (2d Cir.1979) (evidence admissible where no evidence of Government’s “malicious intent” in deporting witness).

Similarly, Rule 15(a), Fed.R.Crim.P., does not impose a duty on a party to preserve the testimony of a witness that may become unavailable. Rule 15(a) provides in pertinent part:

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United States v. Yonkers Contracting Co., Inc., 701 F. Supp. 431, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13792, 1988 WL 131897 (S.D.N.Y. 1988).

701 F. Supp. 431 (United States v. Yonkers Contracting Co., Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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