United States v. Sweiss

814 F.2d 1208 (7th Cir. 1987)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D was the manager and part owner of a Super Low grocery store. D was suspected of conspiring to destroy a competing grocery store and of attempting to obstruct the government's investigation of that crime. Faraj, who was working as a butcher at the Super Low, asked a frequent customer by the name of William Franklin to 'torch the One Stop' supermarket. Franklin contacted the Chicago Police. They outfitted Franklin with a hidden recording device that was then used to tape nine conversations that detailed Faraj's plans to destroy the One Stop. Faraj never revealed the name of the person who had hired him, but referred to that person as 'the man,' 'my uncle,' and 'one of my uncles.' When arrested, Faraj named D as the person for whom he was working. D help post a $15,000 cash bond for Faraj. Faraj then agreed to wear a hidden recording device and secretly recorded two conversations that D was involved in, one on August 14, 1984, and the other on September 10, 1984. P introduced a transcript of the September conversation at D's trial. The district court refused to admit a transcript of the August conversation which was offered by D after the prosecution rested its case. P had stressed the importance of the September conversation. D did not specifically argue before the court that the transcript should be admitted under the rule of completeness. D was convicted and appealed. D argues that the complete truth could only have been ascertained if both tapes had been played to the jury.