Eleventh Circuit affirms admission of Department of State testimony concerning “historical background about Liberia and its political structure, as necessary to educate the jury” under FRE 803(20), in United States v. Belfast, _ F.3d _ (11th Cir. July 15, 2010) (No. 09-10461)
FRE 803 allows for reputation evidence concerning land boundaries and land customs and events of general history. The rule provides statements are not excluded as hearsay if they involve “reputation as to events of general history important to the community or State or nation in which located.” The rationale of the rule is based on the presumed trustworthiness concerning matters established by community reputation. See ACN (“Trustworthiness in reputation evidence is found ‘when the topic is such that the facts are likely to have been inquired about and that persons having personal knowledge have disclosed facts which have thus been discussed in the community; and thus the community’s conclusion, if any has been formed, is likely to be a trustworthy one.’”) (quoting 5 Wigmore § 1580, p. 444, and see also § 1583). The Eleventh Circuit briefly had occasion to consider its application.
In the case, defendant Emmanuel was the first individual prosecuted under the Torture Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2340-2340A, based on his involvement in acts of torture in Liberia during 1999 and 2003, when his father was the president of the country. As one witness during the trial, the government called an official from the U.S. Department of State, Liberia Desk, who “described generally the political parties in Liberia, and specifically characterized the Union Party (to which one of Emmanuel’s victims belonged) as non-violent.” The defendant was convicted based on substantial evidence of torture and other atrocities. On appeal, one of several issues concerned the admission of the Department of State testimony.
The Eleventh Circuit readily affirmed the admission of the challenged testimony. As the circuit noted:
“[The] testimony concerned nothing more than historical background about Liberia and its political structure, as necessary to educate the jury. As such, the testimony was admissible pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 803(20) as hearsay concerning the ‘[r]eputation in a community, arising before the controversy, as to boundaries of or customs affecting lands in the community, and reputation as to events of general history important to the community or State or nation in which located.’ Fed. R. Evid. 803(20).”
There are not many published cases applying FRE 803(20). While the rule also covers “[r]eputation in a community, arising before the controversy, as to boundaries of or customs affecting lands in the community,” the Belfast case provides an example of the rule on the second part of the rule applying to “reputation as to events of general history important to the community or State or nation in which located.”
Comments
Post new comment