United States v. Freeman

498 F.3d 893 (9th Cir. 2007)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

An indictment alleged that as a part of the drug conspiracy, D purchased cocaine from Corey Mitchell and Maurice Brown. Mitchell and Brown were part of an earlier twenty-three defendant indictment, and since that time Mitchell had been cooperating with investigators. D allegedly converted the cocaine into cocaine base and returned the cocaine to Brown for distribution in the Venice, California area. During the investigation, they intercepted telephone calls between D and Brown. The indictment detailed a series of these calls that, allegedly using coded language, arranged for various drug transactions between D, Brown, and Mitchell. The evidence consisted of testimony from Bob Shin, a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department. Detective Shin testified as an expert to the meaning of allegedly coded words used in the intercepted telephone calls to facilitate drug transactions. Some of Shin's testimony focused on interpreting words or phrases he was previously aware of, such as 'iggidy' or 'all gravy.' Other portions of Shin's testimony focused on interpreting both words that he was not familiar with before the investigation and entire conversations. D objected to Shin's interpretive testimony as hearsay, speculation, and lacking foundation, an objection the court overruled. D was convicted and appealed. D objected to the totality of Shin’s testimony.