United States v. Winchenbach

A confidential informant gave Wendy Spinney money on numerous occasions to buy cocaine for him. The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) arrested Spinney outside the trailer where Ralph Winchenbach, Jr. (defendant) lived with his girlfriend after Spinney completed a buy. When an MDEA agent interviewed Winchenbach’s girlfriend’s son, Robbie Flint, he said MDEA had overlooked jars of cocaine buried outside when searching the trailer. The prosecution (plaintiff) charged Winchenbach with cocaine distribution. At trial, Winchenbach called Flint as an alibi witness. Flint testified that Winchenbach was not in the trailer when Spinney bought the cocaine. On cross-examination, Flint denied Winchenbach was involved with drug activity. The prosecutor asked if Flint had told the agent about the missed jars of cocaine, and Flint said “no.” On redirect, Winchenbach’s defense counsel ignored that testimony. However, the prosecutor called the MDEA agent in rebuttal, and the agent said Flint was trying to redeem himself for assisting in a jailbreak by telling the agent about the missed jars. The judge instructed the jury to consider the agent’s testimony only for determining Flint’s credibility, not to decide whether what the agent said was true. The jury convicted, and Winchenbach appealed, arguing the judge should have excluded the agent’s testimony under Federal Rule of Evidence (FRE) 608(b). The prosecution countered that FRE 613(b) controlled, not 608(b).