U.S. Supreme Court
UNITED STATES v. SALERNO, 505 U.S. 317 (1992)
505 U.S. 317
UNITED STATES, PETITIONER v. ANTHONY SALERNO ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR
THE SECOND CIRCUIT
No. 91-872
Argued April 20, 1992
Decided June 19, 1992
The respondents were indicted on a variety of federal
charges, including fraud and racketeering in connection with the
allocation of construction contracts among a so-called "Club" of
companies in exchange for a share of the proceeds. Witnesses
DeMatteis and Bruno, owners of the Cedar Park Construction
Corporation, testified before the grand jury under a grant of
immunity that neither they nor Cedar Park had participated in
the Club. At trial, however, the United States used other
evidence to show that Cedar Park was a Club member. The
respondents subpoenaed DeMatteis and Bruno, but they invoked
their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and
refused to testify. The District Court denied the respondents'
request to admit the transcripts of DeMatteis' and Bruno's grand
jury testimony pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(1) -
which permits admission of an unavailable declarant's testimony
from a former hearing if the party against whom it is now
offered had a "similar motive to develop the testimony by
direct, cross, or redirect examination" - reasoning that a
prosecutor's motive in questioning a witness before the grand
jury is different from his motive in conducting the trial. The
respondents were convicted, but the Court of Appeals reversed,
holding that the District Court had erred in excluding the grand
jury testimony. It ruled that, to maintain "adversarial
fairness," Rule 804(b)(1)'s similar motive element should
evaporate when the government obtains immunized testimony in a
grand jury proceeding from a witness who refuses to testify at
trial.
Held:
1. Former testimony may not be introduced under Rule
804(b)(1) without a showing of "similar motive." Nothing in
Rule 804(b)(1) suggests that a court may admit former
testimony absent satisfaction of each of the Rule's
elements. The respondents err in arguing that the Rule
contains an implicit limitation permitting the "similar
motive" requirement to be waived in the interest of
adversarial fairness. Also rejected is the respondents'
argument that the United States forfeited its right to
object to the testimony's admission when it introduced
contradictory evidence about Cedar Park. Here, the United
States never revealed what DeMatteis and Bruno said to the
grand jury, but, rather, attempted to show Cedar Park's
involvement using other evidence. In
[505 U.S. 317,
318] addition, the respondents mistakenly argue
that adversarial fairness prohibits the suppression of
exculpatory evidence produced in grand jury proceedings.
Dennis v. United States,
384 U.S. 855 , distinguished. Pp. 320-324.
2. This case is remanded for consideration of whether the
United States had a "similar motive." Since the Court of
Appeals erroneously concluded that the respondents did not
have to demonstrate such a motive, it did not consider fully
the parties' arguments on this issue. Pp. 324-325.
937 F.2d 797 and 952 F.2d 623 reversed and remanded.
THOMAS, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which
REHNQUIST, C.J., and WHITE, BLACKMUN, O'CONNOR, SCALIA, KENNEDY,
and SOUTER, JJ., joined. BLACKMUN, J., filed a concurring
opinion, post, p. 325. STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion,
post, p. 326.
James A. Feldman argued the cause for the United States. With
him on the briefs were Solicitor General Starr, Assistant
Attorney General Mueller, and Deputy Solicitor General Bryson.
Michael E. Tigar argued the cause for respondents. With him
on the brief was Gustave H. Newman.
*
[ Footnote * ]
Jed S. Rakoff filed a brief for the New York Council of Defense
Lawyers as amicus curiae urging affirmance.
JUSTICE THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court.
Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(1) states an exception to the
hearsay rule that allows a court, in certain instances, to admit
the former testimony of an unavailable witness. We must decide
in this case whether the Rule permits a criminal defendant to
introduce the grand jury testimony of a witness who asserts the
Fifth Amendment privilege at trial.
I
The seven respondents, Anthony Salerno, Vincent DiNapoli,
Louis DiNapoli, Nicholas Auletta, Edward Halloran, Alvin O.
Chattin, and Aniello Migliore, allegedly took part in the
activities of a criminal organization known as the
[505 U.S. 317,
319] Genovese Family of La Cosa Nostra (Family) in
New York City. In 1987, a federal grand jury in the Southern
District of New York indicted the respondents and four others on
the basis of these activities. The indictment charged the
respondents with a variety of federal offenses, including 41
acts constituting a "pattern of illegal activity" in violation
of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
(RICO), 18 U.S.C. 1962(b).
Sixteen of the alleged acts involved fraud in the New York
construction industry in the 1980's. According to the indictment
and evidence later admitted at trial, the Family used its
influence over labor unions and its control over the supply of
concrete to rig bidding on large construction projects in
Manhattan. The Family purportedly allocated contracts for these
projects among a so-called "Club" of six concrete companies in
exchange for a share of the proceeds.
Much of the case concerned the affairs of the Cedar Park
Concrete Construction Corporation (Cedar Park). Two of the
owners of this firm, Frederick DeMatteis and Pasquale Bruno,
testified before the grand jury under a grant of immunity. In
response to questions by the United States, they repeatedly
stated that neither they nor Cedar Park had participated in the
Club. At trial, however, the United States attempted to show
that Cedar Park, in fact, had belonged to the Club by calling
two contractors who had taken part in the scheme and by
presenting intercepted conversations among the respondents. The
United States also introduced documents indicating that the
Family had an ownership interest in Cedar Park.
To counter the United States' evidence, the respondents
subpoenaed DeMatteis and Bruno as witnesses in the hope that
they would provide the same exculpatory testimony that they had
presented to the grand jury. When both witnesses invoked their
Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refused
to testify, the respondents asked the District Court to admit
the transcripts of their
[505 U.S. 317, 320] grand jury
testimony. Although this testimony constituted hearsay, see Rule
801(c), the respondents argued that it fell within the hearsay
exception in Rule 804(b)(1) for former testimony of unavailable
witnesses.
The District Court refused to admit the grand jury testimony.
It observed that Rule 804(b)(1) permits admission of former
testimony against a party at trial only when that party had a
"similar motive to develop the testimony by direct, cross, or
redirect examination." The District Court held that the United
States did not have this motive, stating that the "motive of a
prosecutor in questioning a witness before the grand jury in the
investigatory stages of a case is far different from the motive
of a prosecutor in conducting the trial. App. to Pet. for Cert.
51a. A jury subsequently convicted the respondents of the RICO
counts and other federal offenses.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
reversed, holding that the District Court had erred in excluding
DeMatteis' and Bruno's grand jury testimony. 937 F.2d 797
(1991). Although the Court of Appeals recognized that "the
government may have had no motive . . . to impeach . . . Bruno
or DeMatteis" before the grand jury, it concluded that "the
government's motive in examining the witnesses . . . was
irrelevant." Id., at 806. The Court of Appeals decided that, in
order to maintain "adversarial fairness," Rule 804(b)(1)'s
similar motive element should "evaporat[e]" when the Government
obtains immunized testimony in a grand jury proceeding from a
witness who refuses to testify at trial. Ibid. We granted
certiorari,
502 U.S. 1056 (1992), and now reverse and remand.
II
The hearsay rule prohibits admission of certain statements
made by a declarant other than while testifying at trial. See
Rule 801(c) (hearsay definition), 802 (hearsay rule). The
parties acknowledge that the hearsay rule, standing by itself,
[505 U.S. 317,
321] would have blocked introduction at trial of
DeMatteis' and Bruno's grand jury testimony. Rule 804(b)(1),
however, establishes an exception to the hearsay rule for former
testimony. This exception provides:
"The following are not excluded by the hearsay rule if the
declarant is unavailable as a witness:
"(1) Former Testimony. - Testimony given as a witness at
another hearing . . . if the party against whom the
testimony is now offered . . . had an opportunity and
similar motive to develop the testimony by direct, cross, or
redirect examination."
We must decide whether the Court of Appeals properly interpreted
Rule 804(b)(1) in this case.
The parties agree that DeMatteis and Bruno were "unavailable"
to the defense as witnesses, provided that they properly invoked
the Fifth Amendment privilege and refused to testify. See Rule
804(a)(1). They also agree that DeMatteis' and Bruno's grand
jury testimony constituted "testimony given as . . . witness[es]
at another hearing." They disagree, however, about whether the
"similar motive" requirement in the final clause of Rule
804(b)(1) should have prevented admission of the testimony in
this case.
A
Nothing in the language of Rule 804(b)(1) suggests that a
court may admit former testimony absent satisfaction of each of
the Rule's elements. The United States thus asserts that, unless
it had a "similar motive," we must conclude that the District
Court properly excluded DeMatteis' and Bruno's testimony as
hearsay. The respondents, in contrast, urge us not to read Rule
804(b)(1) in a "slavishly literal fashion." Brief for
Respondents 31. They contend that "adversarial fairness"
prevents the United States from relying on the similar motive
requirement in this case. We agree with the United States.
[505 U.S. 317,
322]
When Congress enacted the prohibition against admission of
hearsay in Rule 802, it placed 24 exceptions in Rule 804.
Congress thus presumably made a careful judgment as to what
hearsay may come into evidence, and what may not. To respect its
determination, we must enforce the words that it enacted. The
respondents, as a result, had no right to introduce DeMatteis'
and Bruno's former testimony under Rule 804(b)(1) without
showing a "similar motive." This Court cannot alter evidentiary
rules merely because litigants might prefer different rules in a
particular class of cases. See Green v. Bock Laundry Machine
Co.,
490 U.S. 504, 524 (1989).
The respondents' argument for a different result takes
several forms. They first assert that adversarial fairness
requires us to infer that Rule 804(b)(1) contains implicit
limitations. They observe, for example, that the Advisory
Committee Note to Rule 804 makes clear that the former testimony
exception applies only to statements made under oath or
affirmation, even though the Rule does not state this
restriction explicitly. See Advisory Committee's Notes on
Fed.Rule Evid. 804, 28 U.S.C.App., p. 788, subd. (b), except
(1). The respondents maintain that we likewise may hold that
Rule 804(b)(1) does not require a showing of similar motive in
all instances.
The respondents' example does not persuade us to change our
reading of Rule 804(b)(1). If the Rule applies only to sworn
statements, it does so not because adversarial fairness implies
a limitation, but simply because the word "testimony" refers
only to statements made under oath or affirmation. See Black's
Law Dictionary 1476 (6th ed. 1990). We see no way to interpret
the text of Rule 804(b)(1) to mean that defendants sometimes do
not have to show "similar motive."
The respondents also assert that courts often depart from the
Rules of Evidence to prevent litigants from presenting only part
of the truth. For example, citing United States v.
[505 U.S. 317,
323] Miller, 600 F.2d 498 (CA5 1979), the
respondents maintain that, although parties may enjoy various
testimonial privileges, they can forfeit these privileges by
"opening the door" to certain subjects. In the respondents'
view, the United States is attempting to use the hearsay rule
like a privilege to keep DeMatteis' and Bruno's grand jury
testimony away from the jury. They contend, however, that
adversarial fairness requires us to conclude that the United
States forfeited its right to object to admission of the
testimony when it introduced contradictory evidence about Cedar
Park.
This argument also fails. Even assuming that we should treat
the hearsay rule like the rules governing testimonial
privileges, we would not conclude that a forfeiture occurred
here. Parties may forfeit a privilege by exposing privileged
evidence, but do not forfeit one merely by taking a position
that the evidence might contradict. See 8 J. Wigmore, Evidence
2327, p. 636 (McNaughton rev. 1961); M. Larkin, Federal
Testimonial Privileges 2.06, pp. 2-103, 2-104, 2-120 (1991). In
Miller, for example, the court held that a litigant, "after
giving the jury his version of a privileged communication,
[could not] prevent the cross-examiner from utilizing the
communication itself to get at the truth." 600 F.2d, at 501
(emphasis added). In this case, by contrast, the United States
never presented to the jury any version of what DeMatteis and
Bruno had said in the grand jury proceedings. Instead, it
attempted to show Cedar Park's participation in the Club solely
through other evidence available to the respondents. The United
States never exposed the jury to anything analogous to a
"privileged communication." The respondents' argument,
accordingly, fails on its own terms.
The respondents finally argue that adversarial fairness may
prohibit suppression of exculpatory evidence produced in grand
jury proceedings. They note that, when this Court required
disclosure of a grand jury transcript in Dennis v. United
States,
384 U.S. 855 (1966), it stated that "it is rarely
justifiable for the prosecution to have exclusive access" to
[505 U.S. 317,
324] relevant facts. Id., at 873. They allege that
the United States nevertheless uses the following tactics to
develop evidence in a one-sided manner: if a witness inculpates
a defendant during the grand jury proceedings, the United States
immunizes him and calls him at trial; however, if the witness
exculpates the defendant, as Bruno and DeMatteis each did here,
the United States refuses to immunize him and attempts to
exclude the testimony as hearsay.
* The respondents assert
that dispensing with the "similar motive" requirement would
limit these tactics.
We again fail to see how we may create an exception to Rule
804(b)(1). The Dennis case, unlike this one, did not involve a
question about the admissibility of evidence. Rather, it
concerned only the need to disclose a transcript to the
defendants. See
384 U.S., at 873 . Moreover, in Dennis, we did not hold that
adversarial fairness required the United States to make the
grand jury transcript available. Instead, we ordered disclosure
under the specific language of Federal Rule of Criminal
Procedure 6(e). See
384 U.S., at 869 -870, 872. In this case, the language of
Rule 804(b)(1) does not support the respondents. Indeed, the
respondents specifically ask us to ignore it. Neither Dennis nor
anything else that the respondents have cited provides us with
this authority.
B
The question remains whether the United States had a "similar
motive" in this case. The United States asserts that the
District Court specifically found that it did not, and that we
should not review its factual determinations. It also argues
that a prosecutor generally will not have the same motive to
develop testimony in grand jury proceedings as he does at trial.
A prosecutor, it explains, must
[505 U.S. 317, 325] maintain secrecy
during the investigatory stages of the criminal process, and
therefore may not desire to confront grand jury witnesses with
contradictory evidence. It further states that a prosecutor may
not know, prior to indictment, which issues will have importance
at trial, and accordingly may fail to develop grand jury
testimony effectively.
The respondents disagree with both of the United States'
arguments. They characterize the District Court's ruling as one
of law, rather than fact, because the District Court essentially
ruled that a prosecutor's motives at trial always differ from
his motives in grand jury proceedings. The respondents contend
further that the grand jury transcripts in this case actually
show that the United States thoroughly attempted to impeach
DeMatteis and Bruno. They add that, despite the United States'
stated concern about maintaining secrecy, the United States
revealed to DeMatteis and Bruno the identity of the major
witnesses who testified against them at trial.
The Court of Appeals, as noted, erroneously concluded that
the respondents did not have to demonstrate a similar motive in
this case to make use of Rule 804(b)(1). It therefore declined
to consider fully the arguments now presented by the parties
about whether the United States had such a motive. Rather than
to address this issue here in the first instance, we think it
prudent to remand the case for further consideration. Cf. Denton
v. Hernandez,
504 U.S. 25, 32 -35 (1992).
[ Footnote * ]
The respondents also suggest that, in the event that a witness
chooses to testify at trial without immunity, the United States
can impeach him with his grand jury testimony. See Fed. Rules
Evid. 607, 801(d)(1)(A).
JUSTICE BLACKMUN, concurring.
I join the Court's opinion with the understanding that it
does not pass upon the weighty concerns, expressed by JUSTICE
STEVENS, underlying the interpretation of Federal Rule of
Evidence 804(b)(1)'s similar motive requirement. The District
Court appeared to hold as a matter of law that "the motive of a
prosecutor in questioning a witness before the
[505 U.S. 317,
326] grand jury in the investigatory stages of a
case is far different from the motive of a prosecutor in
conducting the trial." App. to Pet. for Cert. 51a. Because
"similar motive" does not mean "identical motive," the similar
motive inquiry, in my view, is inherently a factual inquiry,
depending in part on the similarity of the underlying issues and
on the context of the grand jury questioning. It cannot be that
the prosecution either always or never has a similar motive for
questioning a particular witness with respect to a particular
issue before the grand jury as at trial. Moreover, like other
inquiries involving the admission of evidence, the similar
motive inquiry appropriately reflects narrow concerns of
ensuring the reliability of evidence admitted at trial - not
broad policy concerns favoring either the Government in the
conduct of grand jury proceedings or the defendant in overcoming
the refusal of other witnesses to testify. Because this case
involves factual issues unusual in complexity and in number, and
because neither the District Court nor the Court of Appeals
apparently engaged in the type of factual inquiry appropriate
for resolution of the similar motive inquiry, I join the
majority in remanding the case for further consideration.
JUSTICE STEVENS, dissenting.
Because I believe that the Government clearly had an
"opportunity and similar motive" to develop by direct or
cross-examination the grand jury testimony of Pasquale Bruno and
Frederick DeMatteis, I would affirm the judgment of the Court of
Appeals on the ground that the transcript of their grand jury
testimony was admissible under the plain language of Federal
Rule of Evidence 804(b)(1). As the Court explains, ante, at 319,
the grand jury testimony of Bruno and DeMatteis was totally
inconsistent with the Government's theory of the alleged RICO
conspiracy to rig bids on large construction projects in
Manhattan. Bruno and DeMatteis were principals in Cedar Park
Construction Corporation
[505 U.S. 317, 327] (Cedar Park),
which, according to the Government, was a member of the
so-called "Club" of concrete companies that submitted rigged
bids on construction projects in accordance with the orders of
the Genovese Family of La Cosa Nostra. But notwithstanding the
fact that they had been given grants of immunity, Bruno and
DeMatteis repeatedly testified before the grand jury that they
had not participated in either the Club or the alleged
bid-rigging conspiracy. As the Court of Appeals explained, Cedar
Park was "one of the largest contractors in the metropolitan New
York City concrete industry," and it is arguable that, without
Cedar Park's participation, "there could be no `club' of
concrete contractors." 937 F.2d 797, 808 (CA2 1991). And without
the "Club," the allegations of fraud in the construction
industry - which "formed the core of the RICO charges" - "simply
dissolv[e]." Ibid.
It is therefore clear that, before the grand jury, the
Government had precisely the same interest in establishing that
Bruno's and DeMatteis' testimony was false as it had at trial.
Thus, when the prosecutors doubted Bruno's and DeMatteis'
veracity before the grand jury - as they most assuredly did -
they unquestionably had an "opportunity and similar motive to
develop the testimony by direct, cross, or redirect examination"
within the meaning of Rule 804(b)(1).
1
The Government disagrees, asserting that it "typically does
not have the same motive to cross-examine hostile witnesses in
the grand jury that it has to cross-examine them at trial."
Brief for United States 11. This is so, the
[505 U.S. 317,
328] Government maintains, because (1)
cross-examining the witness might indirectly undermine the
secrecy of the grand jury proceedings,
2 (2) the Government might
decide to discredit the witness through means other than
cross-examination, and (3) the issues before the grand jury are
typically quite different from those at trial. See id., at
11-14; Reply Brief for United States 9-12. In my view, the first
two reasons - even assuming that they are true - do not justify
holding that the Government lacks a "similar motive" in the two
proceedings. And although the third reason could justify the
conclusion that the Government's motives are not "similar," it
is not present on the facts of this case.
Even if one does not completely agree with Wigmore's
assertion that cross-examination is "beyond any doubt the
greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth,"
3 one must admit that in the
Anglo-American legal system cross-examination is the principal
means of undermining the credibility of a witness whose
testimony is false or inaccurate.
4 For that reason, a party
has a motive to
[505 U.S. 317, 329] cross-examine any witness who,
in her estimation, is giving false or inaccurate testimony about
a fact that is material to the legal question at issue in the
proceeding.
Of course, the party might decide - for tactical reasons or
otherwise - not to engage in a rigorous cross-examination, or
even in any cross-examination at all.
5 In such a case, however, I
do not believe that it is accurate to say that the party lacked
a similar motive to cross-examine the witness; instead, it is
more accurate to say that the party had a similar motive to
cross-examine the witness (i.e., to undermine the false or
misleading testimony), but chose not to act on that motive.
Although the Rules of Evidence allow a party to make that choice
about whether to engage in cross-examination, they also provide
that she must accept the consequences of that decision -
including the possibility that the testimony might be introduced
against her in a subsequent proceeding.
6
Thus, neither the fact that the prosecutors might decline to
cross-examine a grand jury witness whom they fear will talk to
the target of the investigation nor the fact that they
[505 U.S. 317,
330] might choose to undermine the witness'
credibility other than through rigorous cross-examination alters
the fact that they had an opportunity and similar motive to
challenge the allegedly false testimony through questioning
before the grand jury. Although those might be reasons for
declining to take advantage of the opportunity to cross-examine
a witness, neither undermines the principal motive for engaging
in cross-examination, i.e., to shake the witness' allegedly
false or misleading testimony. Indeed, other courts have found
the "opportunity and similar motive" requirement of Rule
804(b)(1) satisfied - and hence the prior testimony admissible
in a subsequent trial - in many similar situations.
7
That leaves the Government's third reason, its contention
that it lacks a similar motive to question grand jury witnesses
[505 U.S. 317,
331] because the issues before the grand jury may
not be the same issues that are important at trial. If that were
true in a particular case, I would agree that the Government
lacked a similar motive for developing the witness' grand jury
testimony. Because the scope of questioning is necessarily
limited by the scope of the legal and factual issues in a given
proceeding, a party has little motive, and indeed may not be
permitted, to ask questions about other issues. Thus, if those
other issues become important in a subsequent proceeding, the
testimony from the prior proceeding may properly be excluded on
the ground that the party against whom it is offered lacked a
similar motive for developing the testimony at the prior
proceeding. 8
That did not occur in this case, however. After reviewing the
sealed transcripts of Bruno's and DeMatteis' grand jury
testimony, the Court of Appeals concluded that "[v]ery generally
stated, their grand jury testimony denied any awareness of, let
alone participation in," the "Club" of concrete contractors, the
existence of which was crucial to the RICO counts dealing with
fraud in the construction industry. 937
[505 U.S. 317,
332] F.2d, at 808.
9 Moreover, the transcripts reveal that the prosecutors did
challenge some of the witnesses' denials of knowledge of
criminal activity by questioning which included probing the
basis of their statements and confronting them with contrary
statements from other people.
I am therefore satisfied that the Government had an
"opportunity and similar motive" to develop the grand jury
testimony of witnesses Bruno and DeMatteis; consequently, the
transcript of that testimony was admissible against the
Government at respondents' trial under Rule 804(b)(1). For that
reason, I would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
Footnotes
[ Footnote 1 ] Rule
804(b)(1) provides:
"Hearsay exceptions. - The following are not excluded by the
hearsay rule if the declarant is unavailable as a witness:
"(1) Former testimony. - Testimony given as a witness at
another hearing of the same or a different proceeding,
or in a deposition taken in compliance with law in the
course of the same or another proceeding, if the party
against whom the testimony is now offered, or, in a
civil action or proceeding, a predecessor in interest,
had an opportunity and similar motive to develop the
testimony by direct, cross, or redirect examination."
[ Footnote 2 ]
"If the government exposes the extent of its knowledge to an
individual who, by his willingness to commit perjury, has shown
himself to be allied with the investigation's targets, the
effect may be to provide information to the targets that can be
used to threaten witnesses, destroy evidence, fabricate a
defense, or otherwise obstruct the investigation." Brief for
United States 12.
[ Footnote 3 ] 5
J. Wigmore, Evidence 1367, p. 32 (J. Chadbourn rev. 1974).
[ Footnote 4 ]
Indeed, the lack of an opportunity to cross-examine the absent
declarant has been the principal justification for the Anglo
American tradition of excluding hearsay statements. See, e.g.,
E. Cleary, McCormick on Evidence 245, p. 728 (3d ed. 1984); 5
Wigmore, 1367, at 32. This concern is diminished, however, when
the party against whom the hearsay statement is offered had an
opportunity to cross-examine the absent declarant at the time
the statement was made. Accordingly, the common law developed an
exception to the hearsay rule that permitted the introduction of
prior testimony if the opponent had an adequate opportunity to
cross-examine the declarant. See, e.g., id., 1386, at 90. Rule
804(b)(1) codified, with a few changes, that common law rule.
See Advisory Committee's Notes on Fed.Rule Evid. 804(b)(1), 28
U.S.C. App. pp. 788-789.
[ Footnote 5 ]
For example, the party might not want to run the risk of
appearing to harass or upset a vulnerable witness - such as a
young child or the victim of a terrible crime - with rigorous
cross-examination if there are other, less confrontational means
of undermining the suspect testimony.
[ Footnote 6 ]
As the Advisory Committee explained, the question whether prior
testimony should be admitted is, in essence, the question
"whether fairness allows imposing, upon the party against whom
now offered, the handling of a witness on the earlier occasion."
Id., at 788. When, as in this case, the testimony is offered
against the party by whom it was previously offered, the party
obviously did not have an opportunity to develop the testimony
through cross-examination. But, the Advisory Committee
recognized, the opportunity to engage in "direct and redirect
examination of one's own witness [is] the equivalent of
cross-examining an opponent's witness." Id., at 789. In either
case, as long as the party had a similar motive to develop the
testimony in the prior proceeding, there is no unfairness in
requiring the party against whom the testimony is now offered to
accept her prior decision to develop or not develop the
testimony fully. Ibid.
[ Footnote 7 ]
See, e.g., United States v. Miller, 284 U.S. App. D.C. 245, 258,
904 F.2d 65, 68 (1990) (prior grand jury testimony admissible
against the Government because "as several circuits have
recognized, the government had the same motive and opportunity
to question [the witness] when it brought him before the grand
jury as it does at trial . . . . Before the grand jury and at
trial, [the witness'] testimony was to be directed to the same
issue - the guilt or innocence of [the defendants]"); United
States v. Pizarro, 717 F.2d 336, 349-350 (CA7 1983) (initial
trial testimony of one defendant which exculpated the second
defendant was admissible during the retrial of the second
defendant even though the Government may have declined to
cross-examine the first defendant about an issue for fear that
it would have resulted in a severance of the trials of the two
defendants); United States v. Poland, 659 F.2d 884, 895-896
(CA9) (identification testimony of witness at suppression
hearing admissible in subsequent trial because defendant would
have a similar motive at both proceedings to show that the
identification was unreliable), cert. denied,
454 U.S. 1059 (1981); Glenn v. Dallman, 635 F.2d 1183,
1186-1187 (CA6 1980) (identification testimony of eyewitness at
preliminary hearing admissible against defendant at trial even
though defendant declined to cross-examine the witness fully),
cert. denied,
454 U.S. 843 (1981); United States v. Zurosky, 614 F.2d 779,
791-793 (CA1 1979) (suppression hearing testimony of codefendant
which inculpated defendant admissible against defendant at trial
even though defendant declined to cross-examine codefendant at
the hearing), cert. denied,
446 U.S. 967 (1980).
[ Footnote 8 ]
As Wigmore explained, the common law required identity of issues
as a means of ensuring that the cross-examination in the two
proceedings would have been directed at the same material
points. 5 Wigmore, 1386, at 90. Rule 804(b)(1) slightly modified
the prior testimony exception to the hearsay rule by
substituting the "opportunity and similar motive" requirement
for the identity-of-issues requirement. The drafters of the Rule
reasoned that, "[s]ince identity of issues is significant only
in that it bears on motive and interest in developing fully the
testimony of the witness, expressing the matter in the latter
terms is preferable." Advisory Committee's Notes on Rule
804(b)(1), at 789. Nevertheless, for the reasons discussed in
the text, "[i]n determining whether a similar motive to develop
the testimony existed at the time of the elicitation of the
former testimony, the courts will search for some substantial
identity of issues." 11 J. Moore & H. Bendix, Moore's Federal
Practice 804.043., p. VIII-266 (2d ed. 1989).
[ Footnote 9 ]
"Indeed," the Court of Appeals explained, "the central
importance of the "club's" existence is probably why the
government felt obligated to identify Bruno and DeMatteis as
sources of exculpatory testimony under Brady v. Maryland[,
373 U.S. 83 (1963)]." 937 F.2d, 808.
[505 U.S. 317,
333] |