United States v. DiNapoli
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
8 F.3d 909 (2d Cir. 1993)
Six concrete companies (defendants) were indicted for bid-rigging after a grand jury investigation. During the investigation's later phase, DeMatteis and Bruno testified before the grand jury and denied any awareness of bid-rigging; prosecutors questioned them somewhat like cross-examination but withheld evidence that would have exposed cooperating witnesses or wiretaps. At trial, both witnesses invoked the Fifth Amendment, and the defendants sought to introduce their grand jury denials under Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(1); the district court ruled the testimony inadmissible, and the defendants were convicted and appealed.
Whether prior testimony given by a currently unavailable witness is hearsay under Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(1) where the party resisting its admission had, at the prior proceeding, an interest of substantially similar intensity to prove or disprove the same side of a substantially similar issue.