United States v. Pedro Garcia, Lazaro Lopez, Jaime Cruz, Joseph Lovett

Citations: 854 F.2d 1280; 26 Fed. R. Serv. 1144; 1988 U.S. App. LEXIS 12658Docket: 87-5733

Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; September 14, 1988; Federal Appellate Court

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In the criminal appeal case of United States v. Garcia, the Eleventh Circuit Court examined the admissibility of a transcript from a recorded meeting and the district court's denial of motions for continuance and a new trial. The court affirmed the convictions of the defendants, finding no error in the district court's actions. 

Key facts include undercover Detective Pablo Garcia receiving a call from defendant Lazaro Lopez on February 9, 1987, requesting a meeting to discuss a cocaine transaction. The next day, they met at the Hilton Hotel, where Lopez introduced Detective Garcia to co-defendant Pedro Garcia. During this meeting, Lopez expressed interest in purchasing forty kilograms of cocaine, with a price discussed at $13,500 per kilogram. There were also talks of a potential trade involving speedboats. 

Following the meeting, Lopez contacted Detective Garcia about a sale of six kilograms of cocaine, leading to an agreement to meet at the Hilton Hotel. At this subsequent meeting, Detective Garcia was introduced to other defendants, including Jaime Cruz and Joseph Lovett, as they approached a Bronco in the hotel parking lot where further discussions about the drug deal took place.

Detective Garcia engaged in discussions regarding a drug transaction with Jones, who instructed Lovett to retrieve a pickup truck containing money. Lovett returned with a red pickup truck, and Garcia entered the vehicle. After driving a short distance, Lovett directed Garcia to look out the back window, where Garcia observed Lovett dismantling a rear panel and extracting a clear plastic bag filled with cash. Farmer approached to calm Lovett, who was visibly anxious. Upon leaving the pickup truck to retrieve six kilograms of cocaine from his vehicle, an arrest signal was issued, leading to the apprehension of defendants Lopez, Garcia, Cruz, Lovett, Jones, and Farmer on charges of conspiracy and attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine. 

In the subsequent trial, Lopez was convicted on both counts, Garcia on Count I, while Cruz and Lovett were convicted on Count II only. Jones and Farmer were acquitted. The appeal focuses on the admissibility of a transcript from a recorded conversation made by Garcia, which Cruz contests, and Lovett challenges the denial of his motions for trial continuances and a new trial related to this transcript. The court found the transcript's admission appropriate and denied Lovett's motions as a reasonable exercise of discretion. The defense received the tape recording prior to trial, but the transcript was not completed until just days before the trial commenced. Despite requests for additional time to analyze the transcript, including a claim of lost evidence, the court denied further continuances.

Detective Garcia testified at trial about a meeting in a hotel parking lot, with a recording of the meeting played for the jury. To assist the jury, a transcript translating Spanish to English and identifying speakers was provided. The defense cross-examined Garcia regarding the transcript's creation and its reliability. Defense attorney Roy Kahn testified that Garcia had expressed concerns about the tape's quality and speaker identification. Expert Dr. Henry Truby, although not performing a laboratory analysis during the trial, noted inaccuracies in the transcript and suggested a spectrogram analysis might reveal more errors. The district court instructed the jury that the tape recording was the primary evidence and that they should assess the transcript's reliability themselves. After the trial, Lovett filed a motion for a new trial with Truby's affidavit, stating a lab analysis showed no statements attributed to Lovett were made by him. The district court denied this motion.

On appeal, Cruz argued for the exclusion of a particular phrase in the transcript, "Jaime in the background," claiming it unfairly supported Garcia's unreliable testimony. The court concluded that the transcript was appropriately admitted, referencing case law that permits juries to read authenticated transcripts during tape playback. A proper procedure for transcript production and challenges was outlined, stating that if an official transcript could not be created, each side should provide its version. Cruz had access to the tape before the trial but chose not to submit his own transcript, focusing instead on challenging Garcia's credibility. The court determined that the jury was instructed to prioritize the tape over the transcript, which was not presented during deliberations, affirming the district court's decision to admit the transcript as a jury aid.

Lovett contests the denial of his motions for continuances to allow more time for his expert to evaluate a transcript, without challenging the transcript's admissibility. The court's discretion in granting continuances is emphasized, requiring a clear abuse of discretion to overturn such decisions on appeal. Key factors for evaluating the propriety of a denied continuance include the defense's diligence, the likelihood of procuring witness testimony, the specificity of expected testimony, its potential favorability to the accused, and the unique nature of the testimony. The court concluded that the circumstances justified the denial of Lovett's motions. Initially, Lovett's counsel sought to exclude the transcript but later opted for additional time for expert evaluation, resulting in a brief continuance until May 21. When the expert required more time until May 26, the court allowed this extension. Ultimately, on May 26, Lovett's counsel reported that necessary materials for the expert's analysis were lost, leading the court to deny further continuance. Lovett's expert testified regarding the transcript's inaccuracies, but without the spectrographic analysis. The court found no abuse of discretion in denying the continuance, noting that Lovett had sufficient opportunity to challenge the transcript's reliability through various means, including cross-examination and testimony from another witness. Thus, the denial only limited Lovett's ability to further impeach the transcript's credibility, contrasting with cases where the defense was entirely prevented from presenting witness testimony.

Lovett was barred from presenting cumulative evidence that impeached a transcript, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying his requests for additional continuances. After the trial, Lovett sought a new trial, claiming a spectrographic analysis of a tape recording contradicted the transcript by misattributing six statements to him. However, the appellate court found no error in the district court’s denial of this motion. A motion for a new trial requires five established elements: discovery of new evidence post-trial, due diligence in obtaining it, that the evidence is not merely cumulative or impeaching, that it is material to the case, and that it could likely lead to a different outcome. Lovett's new evidence, which aimed to challenge Detective Garcia's transcript, was deemed cumulative and impeaching, as it merely provided another avenue to discredit the already contested transcript. Additionally, significant evidence of Lovett's involvement was presented at trial, including direct identification by Detective Garcia and testimony regarding Lovett's actions, which diminished the likelihood of a different result from a new trial. Consequently, the appellate court affirmed the district court's judgment, finding the additional evidence insufficient to warrant a new trial, and dismissed other appellants' claims as meritless.