United States v. Roman Rosas-Martinez , 551 F. App'x 931 ( 2014 )


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  •                            NOT FOR PUBLICATION
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                            FILED
    FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT                              JAN 08 2014
    MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
    U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,                        No. 12-30358
    Plaintiff - Appellee,              D.C. No. 2:11-cr-00344-RAJ-1
    v.
    MEMORANDUM*
    ROMAN ROSAS-MARTINEZ,
    Defendant - Appellant.
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Western District of Washington
    Richard A. Jones, District Judge, Presiding
    Argued and Submitted December 2, 2013
    Seattle, Washington
    Before: TALLMAN and BEA, Circuit Judges, and MURPHY, District Judge.**
    Roman Rosas-Martinez appeals his convictions for conspiracy to distribute
    methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and
    possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. We affirm.
    *
    This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
    except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
    **
    The Honorable Stephen Joseph Murphy, III, United States District
    Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, sitting by designation.
    1.    A district court is required to conduct an in camera examination of
    documents for exculpatory material only if a defendant can make some showing
    that such material will be found. United States v. Henke, 
    222 F.3d 633
    , 642-43
    (9th Cir. 2000). Here, Rosas-Martinez put forth no evidence or showing that an
    examination of the file would have revealed exculpatory or impeachment material.
    The district court accordingly had no duty to examine the file, and did not err in
    declining to do so.
    2.    The government sought to introduce several recordings of conversations
    between Rosas-Martinez and the confidential informant, made in the Spanish
    language. Before trial, the district court admitted the recordings, the full translated
    transcripts, and abbreviated translated transcripts. The abbreviated transcripts were
    read to the jury during the trial. During deliberations, the jury requested the full
    transcript for recording 27; the district court declined over Rosas-Martinez's
    objections, and read back only the abbreviated transcript for that recording that had
    been originally read during the trial.
    The district court erred by not providing a read back of the full transcript.
    As the district court initially admitted the full recording and the full transcript into
    evidence, it was an abuse of discretion not to provide the transcript to the jury upon
    its request. See generally United States v. De Rodriguez, 
    508 F.2d 411
    , 412 (9th
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    Cir. 1974); cf. United States v. Franco, 
    136 F.3d 622
    , 628 (9th Cir. 1998)
    (discussing translated transcripts of foreign language conversations). But an
    examination of the full transcript shows that it is frequently inculpatory, portraying
    Rosas-Martinez as the driving force behind the proposed methamphetamine deal.
    Its admission would not have materially affected the verdict, see generally United
    States v. Seschillie, 
    310 F.3d 1208
    , 1214 (9th Cir. 2002) (standard for harmless
    error), and therefore, the error was harmless.
    3.    Voir dire limitations are reversible error only if "the procedure used for
    testing does not create any reasonable assurances that prejudice would be
    discovered if present." United States v. Patterson, 
    648 F.2d 625
    , 630 (9th Cir.
    1981). Here, Rosas-Martinez's counsel failed to use the full twenty minutes
    initially allotted, and did not request additional time. Additionally, a post-trial
    examination of the jury foreman revealed he was unaware of his daughter’s
    personal connection with an Assistant U.S. Attorney until after the trial. Rosas-
    Martinez cannot show he could have discovered the connection during voir dire
    even with additional time, or that he was prejudiced.
    4.    The district court did not err in admitting a police detective as an expert
    witness who testified to a nexus between drug trafficking and the carrying of
    firearms. See United States v. Freeman, 
    498 F.3d 893
    , 906 (9th Cir. 2007) (law
    3
    enforcement officers permitted to testify as expert witnesses). An examination of
    the detective's testimony reveals he did not exceed the permissible bounds of an
    expert witness, nor made any impermissible inferences or invade the fact-finding
    province of the jury. See, e.g., United States v. Anchrum, 
    590 F.3d 795
    , 804 (9th
    Cir. 2009).
    5.    The district court admitted evidence that Rosas-Martinez had sold a shotgun
    to the confidential informant during one of their initial meetings. The evidence of
    the shotgun sale was a necessary prerequisite for the jury to understand the
    evolving business relationship between Rosas-Martinez and the confidential
    informant, see e.g., United States v. Williams, 
    989 F.2d 1061
    , 1070 (9th Cir. 1993),
    and therefore necessary "to permit the prosecutor to offer a coherent and
    comprehensible story regarding the commission of the crime." United States v.
    Beckman, 
    298 F.3d 788
    , 794 (9th Cir. 2002). The district court accordingly did not
    abuse its discretion in admitting the evidence as "inextricably intertwined."
    6.    The "open door" doctrine is limited to admitting past hearsay documents or
    statements that "clarify or provide context to the inconsistent statements, such that
    they become relevant and thus admissible for a purpose other than to prove the
    truth of the matters asserted therein." United States v. Collicott, 
    92 F.3d 973
    , 981
    (9th Cir. 1996). After examining the record, it is clear that Rosas' response was not
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    taken out of context, and admission of the document would only have improperly
    bolstered Rosas' previous testimony. Accordingly, there were no grounds under
    the "open door" doctrine to admit the document, and the district court did not err in
    refusing to do so. Moreover, Rosas-Martinez cannot show that the admission of
    statements from the document would have affected the verdict in light of the
    overwhelming physical and testimonial evidence of his guilt. Any error would
    have been harmless.
    AFFIRMED.
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