United States v. Mike Gama

MEMORANDUM

Mike Gama appeals his convictions for importing and possessing with the intent to distribute heroin. At trial, Gama sought to invoke the exception to the hearsay rule for statements against penal interest in order to introduce out-of-court statements made by his brother. The district court concluded that the statements were insufficiently corroborated and therefore inadmissible. Gama challenges this evidentiary ruling and also argues that exclusion of the statements deprived him of his constitutional right to present a defense. Because we agree with the district court that the out-of-court statements were insufficiently corroborated, we affirm.

We review a district court’s evidentiary rulings for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Godson, 763 F.3d 1189, 1199 (9th Cir.2014). Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(8) provides that, in order to be admissible in a criminal case, an out-of-court statement against penal interest must be “supported by corroborating circumstances that clearly indicate its trustworthiness.” Here, the district court’s determination that there was insufficient corroboration of Gama’s brother’s out-of-court statements was not an abuse of…