United States v. Alister Henderson Simon, 842 F.2d 552, 1st Cir. (1988)

842 F.
2d 552
25 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 364
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,

v.
Alister Henderson SIMON, Defendant, Appellant.
No. 87-1511.
United States Court of Appeals,

First Circuit.
Heard Dec. 10, 1987.
Decided March 25, 1988.
Frank D. Inserni, Hato Rey, P.R., by Appointment of the Court, for

defendant, appellant.
Jose Gaztambide, Asst. U.S. Atty., with whom Daniel F. Lopez Romo,
U.S. Atty., and Warren Vazquez, Asst. U.S. Atty., Hato Rey, P.R., were
on brief, for appellee.
Before COFFIN, BREYER and TORRUELLA, Circuit Judges.
BREYER, Circuit Judge.
On December 31, 1986, federal customs officers in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with
the help of a drug-sniffing dog, searched a British West Indies Airlines flight
that had stopped briefly in San Juan enroute from Jamaica to Antigua. They
found a package containing 55 pounds of marijuana. The package had a BWIA
address sticker on it with the name and address in Antigua of defendant Alister
Henderson Simon. Also printed on the box were the name "DR. K.S. BANDI,
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF THE CARIBBEAN, PLYMOUTH,
MONTSERRAT" and "DR. K.S. BANDI, U.W.I. [University of the West
Indies], MONA CAMPUS, JAMAICA W.I." The federal agents learned that
neither Simon nor Bandi was on the flight, but that Simon would be on the
same flight the next day. When Simon arrived in Puerto Rico, the agents
arrested him. He said that he was on his way to Antigua; that he had not known
the box contained marijuana; that he had checked the package in as a favor to a
man who claimed to be a passenger with overweight luggage and who had told
him the package contained books. Simon added that he had gotten into a
conversation with a woman at the check-in counter and had missed his original
flight. A jury convicted him of unlawful possession of marijuana (with intent to
distribute) and related drug offenses. 21 U.S.C. Secs. 841(a)(1), 952(a), and 955
(1982 & Supp. IV 1986). He now appeals his conviction.
2
Simon argues that the district court should not have admitted evidence that in
July 1980 a court in Antigua convicted him and a friend of cultivating
marijuana. Simon concedes that prior convictions, inadmissible to show bad
character or propensity to commit a crime, are nonetheless admissible to show,
among other things, "intent, ... knowledge, ... or absence of mistake or
accident." Fed.R.Evid. 404(b); see United States v. Scelzo, 810 F.2d 2 (1st
Cir.1987); United States v. Zeuli, 725 F.2d 813 (1st Cir.1984). He also
concedes that the trial court has considerable leeway in balancing any
legitimate probative value that such evidence may have against its potential
prejudicial effect. United States v. Rivera Rodriguez, 808 F.2d 886, 888 (1st
Cir.1986); United States v. Medina, 761 F.2d 12, 15 (1st Cir.1985). He says,
however, that here the trial court, in admitting the prior conviction, went
beyond the limits of its legal authority. While we find the issue a close one,
ultimately we do not agree with appellant.
The trial court has the legal power under Rule 404(b) to engage in probativevalue-vs.-prejudice balancing because, technically speaking, the evidence is
legitimately relevant. The trial court said that it found the prior conviction
"relevant to prove motive, ... intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, and,
in this particular case, because of the defense that has been announced, absence
of mistake or accident." The record reveals several ways in which this may be
so.
First, the jury might have reasoned that the conviction suggested that Simon
and his associates used marijuana in Antigua and that those who use marijuana
in Antigua are more likely to wish to bring marijuana to Antigua than those
who do not. This chain of reasoning indicates that the prior conviction was to
some degree relevant to the defendant's intent. See, e.g., United States v.
Francesco, 725 F.2d 817, 822 (1st Cir.1984) (prior conviction for selling
cocaine admissible to show intent to possess and distribute cocaine); United
States v. Cepeda Penes, 577 F.2d 754, 760-61 (1st Cir.1978) (evidence that
customs officials found marijuana seed in defendant's luggage nine days prior to
events leading to prosecution for possessing marijuana with intent to distribute
admissible to show intent). But see United States v. Masters, 450 F.2d 866, 867
(9th Cir.1971) (marijuana use not significantly probative of intent to import).
Second, the jury might have taken note of a letter that customs officers took
from the defendant when they arrested him, a letter that apparently he was
carrying for another person. The letter said in part "I've got a plan to use some
16-track tape as a smuggling machine.... [Y]ou could post them to me and I will
post them back full of the mystic scent." The jury might have thought that one
with a background involving marijuana cultivation was more likely than one
without such a background to have understood these terms as referring to drug
smuggling and therefore to have been involved in drug smuggling at the time.
The conviction was thereby relevant to knowledge, intent, and absence of
accident or mistake.
Third, the jury might have noted that the customs officer testified that the
defendant said that the man who had asked him to take the package told him it
contained books. At that time, the defendant (according to the officer) said, "in
my mind I was afraid there was marijuana in this box because this is Jamaica
and everyone knows there is a lot of grass in Jamaica." The jury might have
reasoned that one thinking this who also has a background involving marijuana
cultivation is not likely to believe that a box containing marijuana feels like (or
weighs about the same as) a comparatively sized box of books, and therefore
would have been more suspicious of the man's story (had there been such a
man). In this respect the evidence is relevant to defendant's knowledge and
intent as well as absence of mistake or accident. See, e.g., United States v.
Moccia, 681 F.2d 61, 63 (1st Cir.1982) (prior conviction admissible where
government "sought to have the jury infer that one who lives on a farm with
marijuana in the freezer room and under the chicken coop and has a prior
possession conviction is more likely to know about the presence of marijuana
than one who lives on such a farm and does not have a past possession
conviction" (emphasis original)); United States v. Sinn, 622 F.2d 415 (9th
Cir.1980) (evidence that defendant had been in possession of cocaine five years
earlier admissible to show knowledge where defendant claimed he was unaware
drugs were in his camera case).
Finally, the jury may have concluded that persons who have grown marijuana
on a farm are not mere users, but are likely to have an intent to distribute it as
well. Cf. United States v. Mehrmanesh, 689 F.2d 822, 832 (9th Cir.1982)
(evidence of possession of "large amounts" of drugs probative of intent to
distribute ). Since intent to distribute is an element of the offense under 21
U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1), this evidence would be admissible.
Defendant argues that the probative value of all these inferences is slight in
light of the fact that he admitted he was a Rastafarian and told the jury that
Rastafarians use marijuana as part of their religion. Since he admitted using

marijuana, he asks, what did the past conviction add? The answer to this
question is that he did not admit to familiarity with marijuana until after the
prior conviction was admitted. The government asked the judge to admit the
evidence at the close of the government's case. At that time the defendant did
not tell the court that he would admit use of, or familiarity with, marijuana. To
the contrary, defendant's counsel specifically told the court that he would rest
his defense "basically on the lack of intent." He also suggested that if the
conviction were not admitted, he might make a Rule 29 motion for a directed
verdict of acquittal on the ground that the government had not introduced
enough evidence to show intent:
9 Court: Let me ask you this. If a motion for judgment for acquittal under Rule 29
The
would be presented now, would you say that I had to deny that motion?
Defense Counsel: Yes.... I would base my Rule 29 motion ... on lack of intent.
10
11
As far as we can (or the district court could) tell, the defendant may not have
decided to concede his familiarity with marijuana until after the court admitted
the conviction.
12
Defendant points to a Second Circuit ruling that, when the government seeks to
introduce a past criminal act to show knowledge or intent, "the offer of similar
acts evidence should await the conclusion of the defendant's case and should be
aimed at a specifically identified issue." United States v. Figueroa, 618 F.2d
934, 939 (2nd Cir.1980). The Second Circuit has also held, however, that this
timing rule does not apply when "it is apparent that intent will be in dispute."
United States v. Caputo, 808 F.2d 963, 968 (2nd Cir.1987); accord United
States v. Reed, 639 F.2d 896, 906-07 (2nd Cir.1981). In such a case, the
"government may introduce such evidence during its case-in-chief, rather than
waiting until the conclusion of the defendant's case." Caputo, 808 F.2d at 968;
accord Reed, 639 F.2d at 906-07. Since this case falls within the Second
Circuit's exception, we need not decide whether to adopt the Second Circuit's
rule. In sum, the judge lawfully could consider whether to admit the evidence
at the close of the government's case, weighing its probative value against its
prejudicial effect.
13
Of course, the fact that the trial court had the legal power, at the close of the
government's case, to balance "probative value" against possible "prejudice,"
does not show that it balanced correctly. Indeed, we are uncertain whether the
court gave sufficient weight to the very real risk that the prior conviction would
lead the jury to conclude, simply, that defendant had a bad character, to reason
that "if he did it before, he will do it again," or even to punish him again for his
past offense. Were we striking the balance ourselves, we might well strike it
differently. Nonetheless, it is clear in this circuit that we will give the district
court considerable leeway on this matter. United States v. Crocker, 788 F.2d
802, 804 (1st Cir.1986); United States v. Zeuli, 725 F.2d 813, 816 (1st
Cir.1984); United States v. Eatherton, 519 F.2d 603, 611 (1st Cir.1975). We are
also aware of the several different ways in which the evidence was legitimately
relevant, the fact that the major defense was 'lack of knowledge,' and that there
was talk of insufficient government evidence at the time the court decided the
question of admissibility. Under these circumstances, we cannot say the
decision was outside the scope of the court's lawful authority.
14
Defendant raises another matter. He asked the district court to take "judicial
notice" of the facts that there exists a university called the University of the
West Indies in Jamaica and that Rastafarians use marijuana as part of their
religion. The court refused and defendant appeals.
15
If asked to do so and "supplied with the necessary information," a court must

take judicial notice of "adjudicative facts" "generally known within the
territorial jurisdiction of the trial court or capable of accurate and ready
determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot be questioned."
Fed.R.Evid. 201(a), (b), and (d). We do not see how these facts meet the rule's
standard. The only "sources" to which counsel pointed to prove the university's
existence were a telephone number and an address, which he asked the court to
believe belonged to the university. Even if he had offered the actual phone
book and not just the numbers, he could, at most, only have required the court
to take notice of the fact that the university's phone number and address were
listed, not that the university existed. See 21 C. Wright & K. Graham, Federal
Practice and Procedure Sec. 5104 at 483 & n. 4 (1977). With respect to his
"religious use" claim, counsel offered only a 1967 dissertation and a 1960
research paper--hardly sources "whose accuracy cannot reasonably be
questioned." Indeed, at least one more recent source suggests that the smoking
of marijuana, while prevalent among Rastafarians, might not be a tenet of the
religion. See 2 The Encyclopedia of Religion 95-97 (1987). In any event,
neither of these facts had any significant probative value in the context of the
trial.
16
For these reasons the judgment of the district court is
17
Affirmed.
18
TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge (concurring).
18
TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge (concurring).
19
I am concerned by the frequency with which convictions are influenced in this

circuit by the marginally admissible evidence of the prior bad acts of those
charged. The presentation of such evidence is condoned if not encouraged by
an almost unbroken line of decisions by this court. United States v. Giorgi, 840
F.2d 1022 (1st Cir.1988); United States v. Reveron-Martinez, 836 F.2d 684 (1st
Cir.1988); United States v. Currier, 836 F.2d 11 (1st Cir.1987); United States v.
Ingraham, 832 F.2d 229 (1st Cir.1987); United States v. Lau, 828 F.2d 871 (1st
Cir.1987); United States v. Gonzalez-Sanchez, 825 F.2d 572 (1st Cir.1987);
United States v. Andiarena, 823 F.2d 673 (1st Cir.1987); United States v.
Molinares Charris, 822 F.2d 1213 (1st Cir.1987); United States v. Currier, 821
F.2d 52 (1st Cir.1987); United States v. Bank of New England, 821 F.2d 844
(1st Cir.1987); United States v. Munson, 819 F.2d 337 (1st Cir.1987); United
States v. Cintolo, 818 F.2d 980 (1st Cir.1987); United States v. Masse, 816
F.2d 805 (1st Cir.1987); United States v. Moreno Morales, 815 F.2d 725 (1st
Cir.1987); United States v. Scelzo, 810 F.2d 2 (1st Cir.1987); United States v.
Mazza, 792 F.2d 1210 (1st Cir.1986); United States v. Crocker, 788 F.2d 802
(1st Cir.1986). Because of this trend, the prohibition against the introduction of
"[e]vidence of other crimes ... to prove the character of a person in order to
show action in conformity therewith," mandated by Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) as well
as due process, Lovely v. United States, 169 F.2d 386, 389 (4th 1948) ("[The
rule] arises out of the fundamental demand for justice and fairness which lies at
the basis of our jurisprudence.") has become the exception rather than the rule,
a classical case of the tail wagging the dog. Almost any excuse or far-fetched
theory is made to fit within that Rule's truly exceptional language, i.e., that such
evidence is admissible only as "proof of motive, opportunity, intent,
preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident." See
Fed.R.Evid. 404(b).
20
Although after much reflection I have decided to join in the affirmance of this
"close" issue in this case, ante at 553, I am of the view that this court should in
future cases more strictly scrutinize the proliferation of this alarming, and in
most cases, totally unnecessary practice.

United States v. Alister Henderson Simon, 842 F.2d 552, 1st Cir. (1988)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

United States v. Alister Henderson Simon, 842 F.2d 552, 1st Cir. (1988)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

United States v. Alister Henderson Simon, 842 F.2d 552, 1st Cir. (1988)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

842 F.

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,

United States Court of Appeals,

Frank D. Inserni, Hato Rey, P.R., by Appointment of the Court, for

Rastafarians use marijuana as part of their religion. Since he admitted using

If asked to do so and "supplied with the necessary information," a court must

For these reasons the judgment of the district court is

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge (concurring).

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge (concurring).

I am concerned by the frequency with which convictions are influenced in this

You might also like