Inadmissible and prejudicial hearsay testimony from a police detective at trial has prompted a federal appeals court to vacate the conviction of a man snared in an ecstasy bust.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit yesterday said that a trial judge should not have allowed the detective to relate how he had an arrested defendant place a recorded phone call to Ellis Gomez to establish Mr. Gomez’s role in a conspiracy to sell more than 5,000 tablets of the drug.