Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/592/13/258617/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 08:43:23+00:00

Document:
Edward R. Korman, Chief Asst. U. S. Atty., Brooklyn, N. Y. (David G. Trager, U. S. Atty., E. D. N. Y., Brooklyn, N. Y., on brief), for plaintiff-appellee.
Michael E. Tigar and Pierce O'Donnell, Washington, D. C. (Williams & Connolly, Washington, D. C., on brief), for defendants-appellants Zvonko Busic and Julienne Busic.
Paul B. Bergman, New York City (Ford, Marrin, Esposito, Witmeyer & Bergman, New York City, on brief), for defendants-appellants Petar Matanic and Frane Pesut.
Before LUMBARD, FEINBERG and TIMBERS, Circuit Judges.
Zvonko Busic, Julienne Busic, Petar Matanic and Frane Pesut appeal from judgments of conviction and sentences under the Antihijacking Act of 1974, 49 U.S.C. § 1472(i), following a five-and-one-half week jury trial in the Eastern District of New York. All appellants were convicted of aircraft piracy and conspiracy to commit aircraft piracy in their takeover of T.W.A. Flight 355 en route from LaGuardia Airport to Chicago on September 10, 1976. Zvonko Busic and Julienne Busic were also convicted of the offense of aircraft piracy resulting in the death of another person,1 a New York City Police Officer killed while attempting to defuse an explosive device which Zvonko Busic had placed in a locker at Grand Central Station.
On appeal, Zvonko Busic and Julienne Busic argue that the trial court erred in refusing to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction the charge of aircraft piracy resulting in the death of another person. Zvonko Busic also contends that the court improperly excluded the proffered testimony of a psychiatrist that he was incapable of forming the requisite intent to commit the offenses charged. Julienne Busic asserts that certain items found in her flight bag should not have been admitted into evidence because they were obtained by an unlawful search. All appellants argue that the district court committed reversible error in refusing to instruct the jury on the offense of interference with flight crew members or flight attendants as a lesser-included offense of aircraft piracy. Julienne Busic, Matanic and Pesut all allege that each was denied the right to a fair and impartial trial by the improper remarks and behavior of both the trial court and the prosecution.
A majority of the court finds that each claim of error is without merit. Accordingly, all the convictions are affirmed.
On Friday evening, September 10, 1976 Trans World Airlines Flight 355 took off from LaGuardia Airport for Chicago. On board the Boeing 727 aircraft were seven crew members and 85 passengers, including Zvonko Busic and Julienne Busic, who were travelling as husband and wife under assumed names, and Marc Vlasic, Petar Matanic and Frane Pesut, who were separately seated on the aircraft and also travelling under assumed names. All five had boarded the aircraft pursuant to an agreement and instructions masterminded by Zvonko Busic. Each had received a plane ticket and a package of leaflets from Zvonko Busic, along with departure-time instructions and directions not to congregate at the airport.
"One, this airplane is hijacked.
"Two, we are in possession of five gelignite bombs, four of which are set up in cast iron pans giving them the same kind of force as a giant grenade.
"Three, in addition, we have left the same type of bomb in a locker across from the Commodore Hotel on 42nd Street. To find the locker take the subway entrance by the Bowery Savings Bank. After passing through the token booth there are three windows belonging to the bank. To the left of these windows are the lockers. The number of the locker is 5713.
"Four, further instructions are contained in a letter inside this locker. The bomb can only be activated by pressing the switch to which it is attached but caution is suggested.
"Five, the appropriate authorities should be notified from the plane immediately.
"Six, the plane will ultimately be heading in the direction of London, England."
Captain Carey immediately radioed the note to T.W.A. authorities at J.F.K. International Airport in New York and then dialed the skyjack code for the air traffic control radar location center. Meanwhile, Zvonko Busic had entered the cockpit wearing an apparatus resembling three sticks of dynamite held together by electrical tape, with wires protruding from the sticks, circling his neck and leading down to a battery and an electrical toggle switch. Zvonko Busic, holding the switch with his finger on the lever, ordered Captain Carey to take the airplane toward Europe.
Captain Carey first headed for Montreal, having convinced Zvonko Busic that a refueling stop was necessary for the Boeing 727 to complete a transoceanic flight. En route, Zvonko Busic informed the captain that six hijackers were on the plane, one of whom would remain unidentified. He explained that the purpose of the hijacking would become clear when the authorities received the note accompanying the bomb in the subway locker and that upon receipt of a prearranged code word indicating the fulfillment of their demands the hijackers would surrender in Europe. Zvonko Busic also told Captain Carey that the other hijackers were then explaining their mission to the passengers and attempting to calm them with assurances that no harm was intended. At Carey's request, Zvonko Busic allowed him to announce the hijacking over the public address system.
Julienne Busic then handed out copies of the leaflets to the passengers, inviting them to read and ask questions about the propaganda and offering to help them with any special needs they might have. The leaflets sought to enlist support for a free Croatia, independent of Yugoslavia. Throughout their ordeal, Julienne Busic conversed freely with the passengers. Julienne Busic later decided which passengers would be released at the aircraft's second stopover in Newfoundland.
Petar Matanic rose from his seat when Zvonko Busic emerged from the cockpit shortly after Captain Carey's announcement. Decked out in his dynamite vest, Zvonko Busic handed Matanic a tear gas gun and ordered him to stand up at the front of the passenger section, apparently to keep watch over the cabin. Matanic, a powerfully built, six-foot three-inch, 225 pound man, did as he was told. Later he walked up and down the aisle and acted as a lavatory monitor. Like Julienne Busic, Matanic talked with the passengers throughout their ordeal, further explaining the purpose of the hijacking and some of the planning that preceded it.
Frane Pesut was ostensibly just another passenger on board the aircraft when Captain Carey made his announcement. Shortly before the aircraft reached Montreal, Vlasic delivered an order from Zvonko Busic to Pesut that Pesut take a seat in the rear of the aircraft. Vlasic then entered the lavatory and returned with a pot, which he ordered Pesut to hold in his lap. Shortly thereafter, Zvonko Busic told Pesut that the covered pot was a bomb and that he must remain seated and hold it. Pesut did so for almost the entire trip. Pesut twice sat in the cockpit with Captain Carey for about an hour. Additionally, when a French military jet appeared alongside the hijacked aircraft over Paris, Pesut got up and drew window shades at other seats and shouted to the passengers to do the same.
Throughout the flight to Europe, Zvonko Busic reminded Captain Carey that the aircraft could be blown up at any time if the demands were not met. He warned the thirty passengers released at Newfoundland that if they failed to distribute leaflets as ordered the remaining passengers' fate would be on their consciences. He spent most of the time sitting in the cockpit with the electric toggle switch in hand. Captain Carey did convince him that the plane must take refueling stops in Montreal, where he dissuaded Zvonko Busic from dropping leaflets out of the aircraft, in Newfoundland, where he succeeded in getting Zvonko Busic to release the thirty passengers, and finally in Iceland, where he persuaded Zvonko Busic to transfer the leaflets to an escorting Boeing 707 aircraft that could safely drop them over London and Paris as Zvonko Busic demanded. Without relief for some seventeen hours and forced to pilot across the Atlantic an aircraft designed and equipped only for domestic travel, Captain Carey nevertheless safely landed the aircraft in Paris.
"Here are the demands which must be immediately met, one, both of these texts must appear in their entirety in tomorrow morning's edition of the following newspapers: New York Times, all three editions; Los Angeles Times; Chicago Tribune; International Herald Tribune; and Washington Post.
"Two, at least one third of each text must be printed on the first page of the first section. The remainder in the first section.
"Three, through a prearranged code word we shall hear if these demands have been met by tomorrow (sic) deadline. If they have not been met, a second timed explosive device which is likewise in a highly busy location shall be activated. In the event these texts are printed as per instructions, this device will be deactivated.
"Four, the fate of many people hangs in the balance if any attempts whatsoever are made to circumvent our instructions. Fighters for Free Croatia."
The Bomb Squad officers removed the pot from the locker and carefully examined it with several precision instruments. The pot was subsequently transported in a bomb truck to the city's police pistol range in the Bronx and placed in the bomb pit there. Knowing nothing about the pot's contents, yet fully aware that the lives of ninety-two people might hinge on the information obtainable by rendering harmless and then analyzing the mysterious device ("the same type of bomb" as those on the aircraft, according to the hijack note), the explosives specialists decided to attempt a risky dismantling operation rather than a safe, but uninformative, intentional detonation of the device. The officers attached a special automatic cutting device to the two wires, retreated from the pit for an appropriate interval, and then returned to inspect the results. As the two supervising officers, Sergeant Terrence G. McTigue and Officer Brian Murray, squatted around the device for the visual examination, a violent explosion occurred, killing Officer Murray almost instantly and seriously injuring Sergeant McTigue. At trial Zvonko Busic admitted having placed the bomb in the subway locker. The government proved that Julienne Busic's fingerprints were found on the demand note, as well as on the two accompanying propaganda texts.
After the aircraft landed in Paris, Zvonko Busic told Captain Carey that they need only await reception of the prearranged code word. There followed twelve nerve-racking hours for Carey and his passengers as time passed and no code word was received. The passengers were twice herded together in the center of the cabin while Zvonko Busic and Vlasic threatened to kill them. It was finally decided that Julienne Busic should leave the aircraft and attempt to contact information sources in the United States to confirm that the two propaganda texts had been published as demanded. Two hours later Julienne Busic telephoned Zvonko Busic on the aircraft and told him that the demands had been met. After a further delay of several hours, the defendants finally surrendered on Sunday, September 12, at 8:30 A.M. Paris time, some thirty hours after the seizure began. Captain Carey escorted Zvonko Busic, Vlasic, Matanic and Pesut to French authorities, who were already holding Julienne Busic.
Later that same day, French authorities flew the five people in a French military jet to J.F.K. International Airport where custody was transferred to agents of the F.B.I. Immediately after this transfer, the French authorities also turned over the defendants' luggage, which had been taken from the pirated aircraft and transported to New York in a separate area of the French military jet.
Following arrival at F.B.I. offices in New York City and routine booking procedures, each of the suspects was fully advised of his or her constitutional rights and asked if he or she would like to make a statement. Both Zvonko Busic and Matanic chose to do so, and their statements were later used at trial in the government's case. Pesut, who in response to the warnings explained that he did not understand English very well, was handled differently. An F.B.I. agent with some knowledge of Croatian translated the warnings and then took Pesut's statement, which was also put in evidence by the government. Lastly, Julienne Busic, an intelligent, college-educated person and former teacher, responded to the warnings by indicating that she understood her rights and wished to await the advice of counsel. Thus she never gave a statement. Approximately one hour later, however, during which time she took a brief nap, Julienne Busic emerged from the processing room and was asked to consent to a search of her luggage, which was lying on a nearby desk. Julienne Busic then read and signed the special consent form provided to her and looked through her luggage for some personal belongings. At trial the government introduced three articles later found in Julienne Busic's flight bag: a two-page photocopy containing a diagram of a Boeing 727 and two library cards that led to a volume in the New York Public Library from which the photocopy had been reproduced. The government also showed that Julienne Busic's fingerprints were found on all three articles as well as on the volume's index page referring to the diagram.
All defendants testified at trial. Zvonko Busic freely admitted his role as the mastermind and attempted to take full blame for the entire hijacking operation. He posed a psychological defense, maintaining that he was incapable of forming the requisite intent to commit the offenses charged. Julienne Busic testified that she never intended to participate in the hijacking but went along with her husband because she thought she was pregnant and feared she would never see him again. Matanic and Pesut each testified that he had been invited to accompany Zvonko Busic to Chicago for a secret political meeting where they were to deliver the leaflets. Once on the plane, Zvonko Busic purportedly forced them on threat of death to cooperate in the hijacking.
Zvonko Busic and Julienne Busic argue that the district court erred in refusing to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction the first count of the indictment, charging them with aircraft piracy "which offense resulted in the death of New York City Police Officer Brian Murray" in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 1472(i) (1) (B).3 They submit that the plain language of the statute, its legislative history, and longstanding rules of statutory construction foreclose their being prosecuted for a homicide not occurring within the "special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States," as that term is defined in 49 U.S.C. §§ 1301(34) and 1472(i) (3). The district court ruled that "under 49 U.S.C. § 1472(i) (1) (B), where the only element of the offense which clearly must be within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States is the aircraft piracy, the death resulting therefrom need not also take place therein." We agree.
"Zvanko (Sic) Busic was in an abnormal mental state on September 10, 1976 when he is alleged to have committed air piracy, homicide, and other criminal acts. . . . It is also my opinion that this abnormal mental state was of such a quality and degree that it prevented the defendant from exercising the ordinary, reasonable and rational powers of free-will, choice and decision that constitute the intent required by the definitions of the crimes of which he is charged. Hence, I conclude that Zvanko (Sic) Busic lacked the capacity for such criminal intent.
"I am of the opinion that this abnormal mental state was not caused by mental disease, illness or defect. I do not find the defendant insane or mentally ill in any sense of those terms.
" . . . He did what he did out of psychological necessity, not free choice."
The district court concluded that the evidence was not admissible for the narrow purpose specified. We agree.
In offering this testimony, counsel for Zvonko Busic sought to prove both too little and too much. Counsel explicitly stated that he was not offering the testimony to support an insanity defense under Rule 12.2(a), Fed. R. Crim. P., and this court's decision in United States v. Freeman, 357 F.2d 606, 622 (2d Cir. 1966). Rather, he offered it to raise the defense of a mental condition negativing the mental element required for the charged offenses under Rule 12.2(b) and United States v. Brawner, 153 U.S.App.D.C. 1, 30-34, 471 F.2d 969, 998-1002 (1972) (en banc). But Brawner has no application here.
The availability of a Brawner -type defense turns upon whether the offense in question "like deliberated and premeditated murder(,) requires a specific intent that cannot be satisfied merely by showing that defendant failed to conform to an objective standard." 153 U.S.App.D.C. at 30, 471 F.2d at 998 (footnote omitted). The offense of aircraft piracy, however, requires a showing of general criminal intent, not a showing of specific criminal intent. See United States v. Greene, 497 F.2d 1068, 1086 (7th Cir. 1974), Cert. denied, 420 U.S. 909, 95 S. Ct. 829, 42 L. Ed. 2d 839 (1975); United States v. Bohle, 445 F.2d 54, 60 (7th Cir. 1971). See also United States v. Lee, 539 F.2d 606, 608 (6th Cir. 1976); United States v. Meeker,527 F.2d 12, 14 (9th Cir. 1975) (construing offense of interference with flight crew members or flight attendants as a general intent crime); United States v. Flum, 518 F.2d 39, 41-44 (8th Cir.) (en banc) Cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1018, 96 S. Ct. 454, 46 L. Ed. 2d 390 (1975) (intent to conceal not an essential element of offense of carrying a concealed deadly or dangerous weapon on board an aircraft). Of course an intent to perform the proscribed conduct is a necessary element of any serious criminal offense. See Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. 246, 72 S. Ct. 240, 96 L. Ed. 288 (1952). But the need to prove a "special" intent arises only by operation of law when something more is required. See e. g., United States v. Pomponio, 429 U.S. 10, 97 S. Ct. 22, 50 L. Ed. 2d 12 (1976) (per curiam) (wilfully falsifying tax returns requires a voluntary, intentional violation of a known legal duty); United States v. Winston, 558 F.2d 105, 109 (2d Cir. 1977) (voluntary and intentional violation of known legal duty required for criminal violation of Railway Labor Act); Kane v. United States, 399 F.2d 730, 736 (9th Cir. 1968), Cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1057, 89 S. Ct. 698, 21 L. Ed. 2d 699 (1969) (first degree murder requires willful, deliberate, malicious and premeditated specific intent). Here, no such additional requirement was created by Congress' insertion of the "wrongful intent" language into the statute. These words merely connote the general mental culpability required for the commission of any serious crime. See United States v. Howard, 506 F.2d 1131, 1133 (2d Cir. 1974).
The trial court found, and we agree, that Zvonko Busic had this requisite general criminal intent. It is not disputed that Zvonko Busic intended to hijack the plane. Moreover, Zvonko Busic admitted that he knew hijacking was against the law. We have recently described this general criminal intent as defendants' "consciousness, intention and awareness of what they were doing." United States v. Winston, supra. Whatever the merits of psychiatric testimony where the defendant raises an insanity defense, where he has raised no such defense, as here, questions of intent and motivation are for the jury and not for expert witnesses. We do not recognize that experts in law and psychiatry are so much better qualified than jurors to pass upon the question of a defendant's intention to commit the act of piracy that the court must receive their testimony. In short, whatever the proferred "psychological necessity" testimony was meant to show, the district court properly excluded it.
Julienne Busic asserts that the three items found in her flight bag and their evidentiary fruits were obtained by an unlawful search of the bag and should have been suppressed. When Julienne Busic left the plane in Paris to ascertain whether the hijackers' demands had been met, she left behind a flight bag which was taken from the plane by the French authorities and subsequently turned over to the F.B.I. at J.F.K. Airport. After securing her written consent, the federal agents searched the bag and found the items later introduced at trial against her.
The district court initially granted Julienne Busic's pretrial suppression motion on the ground that her consent to the search was involuntary in light of her tired condition. Upon the government's motion for reargument and the presentation of further evidence, the court reversed its ruling, holding that probable cause to search the bag for dangerous explosives existed and that the search was therefore justified. Although we cannot agree with the district court that there was probable cause to search for explosives, we find no error in the admission of the evidence, first, because we agree with the government that Julienne Busic executed a valid consent to the search of her luggage, second, because we find that Julienne Busic retained no legitimate expectation of privacy in her bag which the Fourth Amendment should protect, and third, because the Fourth Amendment and its exclusionary rule do not reach the law enforcement activities of foreign authorities acting in their own country.
We find the district court's ruling that Julienne Busic did not voluntarily consent to the search of her bag clearly erroneous in view of "the totality of the circumstances." United States v. Watson, 423 U.S. 411, 424, 96 S. Ct. 820, 46 L. Ed. 2d 598 (1976); Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 227, 93 S. Ct. 2041, 36 L. Ed. 2d 854 (1973); United States v. Mariani,539 F.2d 915, 922-23 (2d Cir. 1976). Julienne Busic was the most educated and intelligent of all the suspects. Despite her weariness, she chose to remain silent after the Miranda warnings were read to her. And it was after this assertion of her right to remain silent, and after a time when she was able to sleep briefly, that she consented to the search of her bag.6 Moreover, her consent was given in the absence of any inherently coercive pressure and upon intelligent appraisal of her right to refuse such consent. In this light, Julienne Busic's consent was surely her own "essentially free and unconstrained choice," United States v. Watson, supra, 423 U.S. at 424, 96 S. Ct. 820, Quoting from Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, supra, 412 U.S. at 225, 93 S. Ct. 2041. See United States v. Lemon, 550 F.2d 467, 471-73 (9th Cir. 1977); United States v. Tortorello, 533 F.2d 809, 814-15 (2d Cir.), Cert. denied, 429 U.S. 894, 97 S. Ct. 254, 50 L. Ed. 2d 177 (1976).
Furthermore, Julienne Busic had no expectation of privacy which our law should recognize. The Supreme Court has recently reminded us that the Fourth Amendment "protects people from unreasonable government intrusions into their legitimate expectations of privacy." United States v. Chadwick,433 U.S. 1, 97 S. Ct. 2476, 2481, 53 L. Ed. 2d 538 (1977). Julienne Busic had no legitimate expectation of privacy in her bag when she left it in a place which she and her associates had illegally seized. See United States v. Cole,416 F.2d 827 (6th Cir. 1969), Cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1027, 90 S. Ct. 1272, 25 L. Ed. 2d 537 (1970); United States v. Parizo, 514 F.2d 52 (2d Cir. 1975). Cf. Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 267, 80 S. Ct. 725, 734, 4 L. Ed. 2d 697 (1960) ("wrongful presence" cannot establish standing to "invoke the privacy of the premises searched"). Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a situation where a less reasonable and less legitimate expectation of privacy might exist than where a hijacker abandons luggage in a hijacked airplane.
All appellants claim that the district court erred in denying their request pursuant to Rule 31(c), Fed. R. Crim. P., to instruct the jury on the offense of interference with flight crew members or flight attendants as a lesser-included offense of aircraft piracy. Title 49 U.S.C. § 1472(j) prohibits interference with the performance of any flight crew member or flight attendant by assault, intimidation, or threats. Zvonko Busic argues that the jury could have accepted his psychological defense and found him guilty of simple interference because it does not require "wrongful intent." The other appellants apparently assert that the jury could have accepted their defenses that they never intended to hijack the plane but nonetheless could have found that they interfered with flight personnel once on board. The district court denied the requests on the ground that interference with flight personnel is a different offense and not a lesser offense included in aircraft piracy. We hold that the court's refusal to give the requested charge was correct. On the evidence presented, it would have been unreasonable for the jury to acquit any of the defendants of aircraft piracy yet to convict them of interference with flight personnel.
According to the Supreme Court, "(i)n a case where some of the elements of the crime charged themselves constitute a lesser crime, the defendant, if the evidence justifie(s) it . . . (is) entitled to an instruction which would permit a finding of guilt of the lesser offense." Sansone v. United States, 380 U.S. 343, 349, 85 S. Ct. 1004, 1009, 13 L. Ed. 2d 882 (1965), Quoting Berra v. United States, 351 U.S. 131, 134, 76 S. Ct. 685, 100 L. Ed. 1013 (1956). But while we begin with the premise that defendant is ordinarily entitled to a lesser-included offense instruction whenever the lesser offense is completely encompassed within the greater, the exceptions to this rule delineated by the Supreme Court support the trial court's refusal to give a lesser-offense instruction.
First, "a lesser-offense charge is not proper where, on the evidence presented, the factual issues to be resolved by the jury are the same as to both the lesser and greater offenses." Sansone, supra, 380 U.S. at 349-350, 85 S. Ct. at 1009, citing Berra, supra, and Sparf v. United States, 156 U.S. 51, 63-64, 15 S. Ct. 273, 39 L. Ed. 343 (1895).8 Here, the only factual issue placed into contention by the defendants was their lack of the requisite intent for air piracy.9 But we have already held that neither air piracy nor interference with flight personnel are specific intent crimes. Both are general intent crimes. Accordingly, the only factual issue to be resolved by the jury was the same for both the lesser and greater offense and the defendants were therefore not entitled to a lesser-offense charge. The defense did not seriously dispute issues of fact, such as whether the defendants had actually "seized" the airplane, which would have justified instructing the jury that the defendants might have interfered with flight crew personnel without having "seized" the airplane. Upon their own view of the entire proof offered at trial, either the defendants were not guilty of any criminal offense or they were guilty of the offense charged. In short, where the charge is air piracy and the defense concedes all elements of the crime but intent, the defense is not entitled to a lesser-offense instruction. See Sansone v. United States, 380 U.S. 343, 85 S. Ct. 1004, 13 L. Ed. 2d 882 (1965) (sole issue one of willfulness, which was element of both greater and lesser offenses). See also Keeble v. United States, 412 U.S. 205, 93 S. Ct. 1993, 36 L. Ed. 2d 844 (1973); Driscoll v. United States, 356 F.2d 324 (1st Cir. 1966), Vacated on other grounds, 390 U.S. 202, 88 S. Ct. 899, 19 L. Ed. 2d 1034 (1968). Compare United States v. Harary, 457 F.2d 471 (2d Cir. 1972) (entrapment fully exculpatory defense) with United States v. Crutchfield, 547 F.2d 496, 501 n. 4 (9th Cir. 1977) (partial entrapment defense).
Second, a defendant is entitled to a lesser-offense charge only where there is some rational basis for such a charge and "the evidence justifies it," Sansone, supra, 380 U.S. at 349, 85 S. Ct. at 1004. Thus a defendant is not entitled to a lesser-offense charge merely because he formally contests elements of the greater charge which distinguish it from the lesser. The contest must be real. He must produce enough evidence to justify a reasonable juror in concluding that he committed the lesser offense but did not commit the greater offense. Here the defense did not produce evidence which would allow a reasonable juror to conclude that the defendants knowingly interfered with flight crew personnel but did not knowingly hijack the airplane. Cf. United States v. Enos, 453 F.2d 342 (9th Cir. 1972) (stabbing another person in the back with a knife constitutes an assault with a deadly weapon, precluding an instruction on the included offense of simple assault); United States v. Sinclair, 144 U.S.App.D.C. 13, 444 F.2d 888 (1971) (in prosecution for burglary, evidence that defendant was found hiding in a store which had a broken window and a locked door did not require an instruction on the lesser offense of unlawful entry); United States v. Beneke,449 F.2d 1259 (8th Cir. 1971) (instruction on lesser offense of malicious mischief not required in prosecution for entering draft board office to remove and destroy official records). The decision whether there is enough evidence to justify a lesser-offense charge rests within the sound discretion of the trial judge. That discretion was not abused here.
Third, a lesser-offense charge is not available to the defendant on the ground that the rule entitles him to "plead for mercy." Kelly v. United States, 125 U.S.App.D.C. 205, 370 F.2d 227, Cert. den. 388 U.S. 913, 87 S. Ct. 2127, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1355 (1967). It is both unreasonable and impermissible to provide the jury with an opportunity to render a lenient or compromise verdict with no evidentiary basis.
Matanic and Pesut complain that the court below should have directed the government to disclose the F.B.I. 302 reports of interviews with each of the aircraft's passengers and crew. The court quite properly refused to order disclosure of most of these reports. The defendants had a list of all passengers and crew and could give no reason why further disclosure would show anything of an exculpatory nature. In addition, they had made no showing that they had been unable to interview any of the passengers and crew. Cf. Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 67 S. Ct. 385, 91 L. Ed. 451 (1947).
Matanic and Pesut also complain that their sentences improperly resulted from the court's overly mechanical approach and from its clear misconception of the jury's verdict. This claim is without merit. The district court delivered detailed statements justifying their sentences. Compare United States v. Ramos, 572 F.2d 360, 362 (2d Cir. 1978).
The government appeals from that part of Julienne Busic's sentence which designated, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4205(b) (1), that she be eligible for parole after serving only eight years of her life sentence, rather than the ten year minimum otherwise applicable under 18 U.S.C. § 4205(a). The government argues that the district court had no authority to designate Julienne Busic's sentence under § 4205(b) (1) because it was a mandatory minimum sentence prescribed by 49 U.S.C. § 1472(i) (1) (B) for aircraft piracy resulting in death and was therefore not covered by § 4205(b) (1). The government points both to the plain language of the statutory subsection on early parole eligibility and to Congress' past general intent regarding early parole eligibility for persons subject to mandatory life sentences. Counsel for Julienne Busic contests our jurisdiction to entertain this appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and the propriety of our reviewing the early parole eligibility designation under 28 U.S.C. § 1651, the government's alternate asserted basis for jurisdiction.
We hold that jurisdiction to entertain the government's appeal is properly founded on 28 U.S.C. § 1291. With respect to the merits, we find that § 4205(b) (1) empowered the district court to designate that Julienne Busic be eligible for parole after serving eight years of her life sentence.
Turning to the merits, we find that the district court possessed statutory authority to make the early parole eligibility designation. First, § 4205(b) neither explicitly nor implicitly excludes life sentences from its scope. Moreover, a reading of § 4205 as a whole indicates that Congress meant to vest the sentencing court with authority under § 4205(b) to designate that a person subject to a life sentence be eligible for parole earlier than the ten year maximum prescribed by § 4205(a).
Third, both the strong congressional policy favoring parole evidenced in the new Parole Commission and Reorganization Act and the belief that district courts should be given as much room as possible for exercising their sentencing discretion support our conclusion. Accordingly, we find no error in the district court's designation that Julienne Busic be eligible for parole after serving eight years of her life sentence.
Julienne Busic, Matanic and Pesut ask for a new trial on the ground that the court's bias and hostility permeated the proceedings and deprived them of a fair trial. We have examined the incidents complained of, and, with one exception, we are in agreement that they do not require remedial action. That exception is the court and the government's treatment of counsel for Matanic and Pesut during their summations to the jury.
Judges Feinberg and Timbers, for reasons set forth in their concurring opinions, find the claims of error insubstantial. Judge Lumbard dissents. All that here follows under the above heading is his discussion of the reasons why the convictions of Matanic and Pesut should be reversed.
The summations of counsel for Matanic and Pesut were inexcusably interrupted by the court and by government counsel on so many occasions and in such a manner that the presentation of their defenses to the jury was seriously prejudiced. Matanic and Pesut were as a result deprived of the effective assistance of counsel guaranteed them by the Sixth Amendment. The trial judge's interruptions, in particular, made both a connected argument by counsel and sustained concentration by the jury impossible. The focus of attention moved from counsel's argument to the court's interjections. These interruptions, moreover, made clear the trial judge's doubts about defense counsel's view of the law and the facts. Each juror must have known that the trial judge had found Matanic's and Pesut's defenses unpersuasive.
Mr. Schlam made the opening summation for the government. Although he had expected to take only three hours, he spoke for five and one-half hours starting at 9:00 A.M. and finishing at about 3:30 P.M. The only interruption of Schlam's summation was the court's query about repetition after five hours of argument.
Mr. Rochman, Pesut's counsel, began his summation late in the afternoon. After he had spoken for only a few minutes, the court interrupted counsel's fair and rather ordinary introductory comments concerning the seriousness of the case with a brusk "No. Just a minute. I thought you said we are not going to appeal to sympathy." A short while later Rochman was abruptly interrupted by Schlam's objection to his argument about the need for Croatian-Americans such as Pesut to observe secrecy in their political meetings. Reacting to Schlam's objection, Rochman complained "Mr. Schlam spoke for five and one-half hours without interruption." The court remarked that as the defendants had restrained themselves until Schlam was finished, he would ask Schlam to refrain until counsel had finished.
Having cautioned Schlam not to interrupt, the court nevertheless did so itself on eleven subsequent occasions to question Rochman's arguments and six more times to comment on volume, repetition and length. Most of the eleven substantive interruptions involved the court's interjecting its own view of the evidence, such as "I find no evidence in this case. . . ." The court was frequently wrong. Not one of the interruptions was necessary.
By the time Rochman had finished it was past 6:00 P.M., later than the court had sat on any trial day, and after counsel and one of the jurors had already remarked on the heat. The court simply advised the jury that it would hear one more summation but would not sit beyond 8:00 or 8:10 P.M. Then, with but a five minute recess and a promise of coffee, the judge moved the case along, explaining that he saw no other way to get the summations done.
It was after 6:30 P.M. when Matanic's counsel, Mr. Bergman, began his summation which, delayed by over 40 interruptions, lasted until almost 9:30 P.M. Before adjournment and in the absence of the jury, counsel for Matanic moved for a mistrial "on the basis of the comments made by the court and by Mr. Schlam" during his summation. Pesut's counsel also moved for a mistrial because of the disparate treatment given the defense and the government. The court denied both motions.
An examination of each of the interruptions, comments, and objections made by the court and government counsel shows that there was no reason why each and every one of them could not have been reserved for appropriate consideration by the court after the summation was finished, just as with government counsel's summation. Instead, on numerous occasions the court jumped in without justification, first questioning and then often debating with counsel whether any evidence supported counsel's statement, only to find that in every instance it had misinterpreted counsel's argument, erroneously recollected evidence, or made an unnecessary or irrelevant comment.
The court interrupted Bergman 44 times, in most cases on its own motion. On a minority of these occasions, however, the court followed up objections by government counsel; Schlam himself participated in 20 interruptions. In total, the interruptions must have extended Mr. Bergman's summation by almost one hour. As any detailed exposition is unnecessary to these conclusions and would unduly lengthen this opinion, a summary of all the interruptions is appended.
The total impact of these interruptions was to deprive Matanic of the effective assistance of counsel during a crucial phase of the trial. In the face of constant interference and comments which were in every instance unnecessary and sometimes irrelevant, it was impossible for counsel to make a sustained argument or to keep the attention of the jury. It would have been difficult for counsel to do so under any circumstances at the end of such a long day of talk, far longer than the usual court day and with no sustenance but a belated ration of coffee. As no objection was made to this schedule, the court is not to be faulted for this attempt to expedite the trial. At the same time, these circumstances could not help but exacerbate the difficulties under which counsel were required to labor. This tight schedule placed the court and government counsel under a special obligation to give defense counsel a full opportunity for fair argument, free of unnecessary interruptions which might make it more difficult for the jury to give fair attention to the arguments.
By the next morning the trial judge must have realized that his treatment of defense counsel needed some explanation. Before the jury was called, he commented to counsel "9:30, I think, without dinner was too much. I don't think we ought to repeat that performance." To the jury, he commented that he had interrupted Mr. Bergman "several times" in his summation because he had thought that some of the arguments had no basis in the evidence, but that their recollection governed and he "could be wrong." He added that he had checked and found that one of his interruptions was not justified; this concerned the argument that Matanic's actions on the plane were for the protection of the passengers and that Matanic felt he had been coerced. The trial judge said there was some evidence to support that argument and that it was up to the jury to give it such consideration as they thought proper. The judge also said that he would look at the transcript to see if he had made other errors, adding that his interruptions must not be considered any reprimand of Mr. Bergman, who was doing his duty.
Counsel for Julienne Busic and for Zvonko Busic then followed with brief summations. There was not a single interruption of these two summations. Government counsel's rebuttal summation of almost an hour was interrupted just twice, with the court's permission.
Later in the day, at the very end of his charge to the jury, the trial judge said he had checked all the interruptions of Mr. Bergman and had "only one comment to make." He said that it had been proper for Bergman to point out that the jury would have no chance to come back once they had begun consideration of the case. He conceded that he should not have called Bergman's comment intimidation since Bergman had the right to say what he did.
Although the court's treatment of Pesut's counsel was less severe than that accorded Matanic's counsel, I believe that the court's conduct of the proceedings during each summation seriously prejudiced Pesut and Matanic. Pesut and Matanic had presented identical defenses. Each testified that he had been invited to a political rally in Chicago and that after Zvonko Busic's takeover of the plane each had acted under Zvonko Busic's threats of death. The single issue raised by their defenses was whether each had intentionally participated in the aircraft piracy. This question turned essentially on the circumstantial inferences to be drawn from the evidence. At the end of a long trial the jury will have forgotten much of the evidence. It can have in mind only bits and pieces of the evidence, much of it unconnected and of uncertain relevance to the opposing contentions of the government and the defense. Thus it was essential that the accumulated evidence, and all the inferences to be drawn from the evidence, be summarized for the jury by counsel, with reference to the charges in the indictment and the defenses to those charges.
The government's case was stated at great length and in detail for over five hours during the early hours of the court day when the jury was fresh. Although government counsel spared no language in condemning the actions of the defendants, and drew numerous inferences, some of which the court later found to be unsupported, the five and a half hour harangue was uninterrupted. In my opinion, the defense was entitled to equal treatment. It was especially important that the treatment be equal because counsel for Pesut and Matanic found themselves compelled to argue at the end of the day, in a hot courtroom, to a jury sitting late into the evening, well beyond the customary dinner hour and without food. This state of affairs had come about largely because government counsel exceeded by two hours its allotted time for its opening statement.
Fundamental fairness required that defense counsel, placed at such an obvious disadvantage, be treated with equal consideration. The court's failure to see that this was done, due in principal part to the court's own deliberate and frequent interruptions of the summations, deprived the defense of a fair and equal opportunity to make a sustained and continuous argument; it also served to emphasize to the jury the court's disbelief in the defense arguments and its preference for the government. It made the defense summations seem to the jury like a comedy of errors, rather than a serious presentation by responsible counsel. It distracted the jury's attention from the thread of counsel's argument and focused it on the nit-picking indulged in by the court and by government counsel.
"It can hardly be questioned that closing argument serves to sharpen and clarify the issues for resolution by the trier of fact in a criminal case. For it is only after all the evidence is in that counsel for the parties are in a position to present their respective versions of the case as a whole. Only then can they argue the inferences to be drawn from all the testimony, and point out the weaknesses of their adversaries' positions. And for the defense, closing argument is the last clear chance to persuade the trier of fact that there may be reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt. See In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (90 S. Ct. 1068, 25 L. Ed. 2d 368).
"The very premise of our adversary system of criminal justice is that partisan advocacy on both sides of a case will best promote the ultimate objective that the guilty be convicted and the innocent go free. In a criminal trial, which is in the end basically a factfinding process, no aspect of such advocacy could be more important than the opportunity finally to marshal the evidence for each side before submission of the case to judgment." 422 U.S. at 862, 95 S. Ct. at 2555.
See also id. at 858-59 nn.8 & 9, 95 S. Ct. 2550, and the cases there cited. The Court concluded that the denial of closing arguments even in a non-jury case violated the right to the assistance of counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. Id. at 865, 95 S. Ct. 2550. A fortiori, in a trial to a jury where each defendant faces a possible sentence of many years up to life in prison, the right to effective assistance of counsel is also denied where continuous and unnecessary interruptions by the court so interfere with defense counsel's presentation that counsel is unable to make an orderly and sustained argument to the jury.16 Cf. Matthews v. United States, 145 U.S.App.D.C. 323, 449 F.2d 985 (1971) (ineffective summation "constitutional error") (dictum); United States v. Hammonds, 138 U.S.App.D.C. 166, 425 F.2d 597 (1970) (ineffective summation denial of due process); Johns v. Smyth, 176 F. Supp. 949 (E.D. Va. 1959) (failure to argue case to jury denial of due process).
Although the jury had heard nearly 50 witnesses during 21 trial days, extending from March 23 to April 28, 1977, it remained for counsel to summarize the case before the jury, to assess the evidence in terms of the charges, and to argue the weight to be given the evidence and sufficiency of the proofs. The jury could perform its function only with the help of counsel for both sides, particularly in light of the court's decision (previously disclosed to counsel) not to marshal the evidence. See United States v. Kahaner, 317 F.2d 459, 479-80 and n.12 (2d Cir.), Cert. denied sub nom. Keogh v. United States, 375 U.S. 836, 84 S. Ct. 73, 11 L. Ed. 2d 65 (1963). After the extensive arguments made by government counsel, uninterrupted by defense counsel or by the court, fundamental fairness required that defense counsel be permitted to reply fully and fairly in kind. Cf. United States v. Sawyer, 143 U.S.App.D.C. 297, 298, 443 F.2d 712, 713 (1971) (trial court's discretion in controlling scope of summations abused "if the court prevents defense counsel from making a point essential to the defense"). Here the tone and nature of the court's numerous interruptions, supplemented by government counsel's many interferences, foreclosed any opportunity for appropriate reply, effectively nullifying counsel's arguments by disparaging them and questioning their factual bases, and doing so erroneously in many instances. The trial court's limited explanation the next day was simply too little and too late to redress the irreparable damage done the evening before. See Quercia v. United States, 289 U.S. 466, 469-72, 53 S. Ct. 698, 77 L. Ed. 1321 (1933). Counsel for Matanic and Pesut were deprived of a fair opportunity to argue their clients' case to the jury, a right guaranteed to the defendants by the Constitution. The convictions of Matanic and Pesut should not stand; they are each entitled to a new trial.
Summary of Interruptions During Mr. Bergman's Summation.
"Tannenbaum is not in the federal system, is not a representative of the United States Attorney's Office.
"Is this made clear, Mr. Bergman?"
"The Court: I guess you could, too.
"Mr. Schlam: I object to that.
"The Court: You could, too.
"Mr. Bergman: Your Honor, I respectfully except for reasons which I'll make known later on at the side bar.
"The Court: No, no, the defendant doesn't have to come forward with any proof whatsoever. That's what Mr. Bergman is testifying to. When he's charging Mr. Schlam with a great omission, then I think it's proper to bring out the fact that he, too, could have gotten an interview if he wanted a copy of it.
"Mr. Bergman: I respectfully except. I don't think it would be proper for me to make any comments.
"The Court: No, you will not, but proceed."
"The Court: Wait a minute, this strikes me as rather unusual. You repeat Petar Matanic. Now, what is the message related to your defense "
Shortly thereafter, counsel for Zvonko Busic requested a sidebar discussion. Afterwards, the court declared a five minute recess, observing that it was 8:55 P. M. and asking Bergman to see if he could shorten his summation. After the recess, the court asked Bergman to proceed even though Schlam was still absent.
"None, and it's confusing to the jury. Let me make this plain to the jury what happened here. We are going to straighten things out."
"Mr. Bergman, I hate to interrupt and stop you, but unless you contain your summation within the bounds of propriety I will stop you."
"Of course they know all that. They're not going to be intimidated. Go ahead."
Bergman then ended his summation. When the jury had left the courtroom he stated his "strong exception" and moved for a mistrial "on the basis of the comments made by the Court, by Mr. Schlam during the course of my summation. I think on the whole it constituted improper infringement ." After some exchange about the propriety of certain of Bergman's arguments, the court denied the mistrial motion.
Pesut's counsel also moved for a mistrial based on the disparate treatment the court gave the defendant and the government.
Court adjourned at 9:30 P. M.
I concur in so much of Judge Lumbard's thorough opinion as affirms the convictions of Zvonko and Julienne Busic,1 and denies the Government's cross-appeal concerning Julienne's sentence. I am unable to concur in Judge Lumbard's conclusion that judicial and prosecutorial interruptions of the summations on behalf of Petar Matanic and Frane Pesut constitute reversible error. While some, if not many, of the trial court's comments could have been either reserved until defense counsel completed their summations or omitted altogether, I do not believe that the district judge clearly abused his discretion in controlling the summations involved in this case. Moreover, given the context in which the interruptions occurred during the lengthy summations of eminently qualified counsel following a six-week trial at which appellants' guilt was overwhelmingly established such interruptions did not deny appellants either effective assistance of counsel or a fair trial. Since Judge Timbers joins me on this point, all of the convictions are affirmed.
As pointed out by Judge Lumbard, the prosecutor made his summation virtually without interruption; defense counsel reserved their many objections and comments until the Government's summation was completed. It is unfortunate that the Government did not accord the defendants the same courtesy during their summations. Furthermore, it must be acknowledged at the outset that the trial judge intervened in the summations of defense counsel with some frequency after not doing so with the prosecutor. Nonetheless, a thorough reading of the summations leaves us with the firm conclusion that defendants were not denied a fair trial or the effective assistance of counsel.
Mr. Bergman: I will bring in the President of the United States . . ..
Mr. Bergman: Yes, yes, yes.
These examples indicate that Bergman was at least partially to blame for whatever curtness the trial court may have exhibited toward him at this point in the proceeding.
This is not to say that we believe that the trial court so forsook its role of impartial tribunal or so interfered with Bergman's clearly effective summation as to require reversal. Careful analysis of the record reflects that at least ten of the forty-odd interruptions of Bergman's three-hour summation were appropriate technical queries by the court as to what had been said, which defendant Bergman was representing, or how much longer Bergman intended to speak. Also clearly justified were eight other interruptions necessitated by Bergman's improper attribution of statements or actions to the Government.5 Similarly, in several other instances, the trial court properly corrected or clarified Bergman's summation as regards the evidence adduced at trial.6 The majority of the remaining interruptions were perhaps unnecessary but clearly harmless objections to defense counsel's rhetorical excesses. As with Rochman, Bergman continued his summation without hesitation despite relatively numerous interruptions, and on several occasions he even capitalized on the court's intervention.
Similarly, we are convinced that appellants received a fair trial. Appellants were unquestionably able to present a full defense during this fiercely litigated six-week trial. While we would not hesitate to overturn a conviction based upon a trial in which the district judge had exhibited partisanship, see United States v. Fernandez, 480 F.2d 726, 735-38 (2d Cir. 1973), we do not think that this occurred here. The trial judge understandably grew somewhat irritable as the long day of summations progressed. While we do not condone such behavior, there is no indication that appellants, who were convicted on overwhelming evidence, were substantially prejudiced. Indeed, as we previously noted, the jury acquitted appellants Matanic and Pesut on the most serious count. Moreover, whatever negative impression might arguably have been conveyed to the jurors by the court's questions and comments during summation was certainly erased by the court's subsequent comments to the jury. See note 8 Supra. Given all of these circumstances and viewing the trial from "cover to cover," see United States v. Sclafani, 487 F.2d 245, 256 (2d Cir.), Cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1023, 94 S. Ct. 445, 38 L. Ed. 2d 314 (1973), we find no reversible error.
Timbers, Circuit Judge, concurring in Judge Feinberg's opinion in its entirety, concurring in Judge Lumbard's opinion in part, and disassociating himself from Judge Lumbard's dissenting opinion with respect to the convictions of skyjackers Matanic and Pesut.
Terrorism, both domestic and international, is one of the gravest problems of our day. The skyjacking here involved was a heinous example of such terrorism. It resulted in the death of a New York City police officer and the maiming of other police officers. The lives of eighty-five passengers and seven members of the crew of the TWA plane were placed in jeopardy during the twenty-seven hour skyjacking which terminated when the plane, which took off from New York for Chicago and was not intended for trans-ocean flights, was forced by the skyjackers to fly across the Atlantic and to land at Paris, after refueling stops at Montreal, Newfoundland, Iceland and London.
Congress could hardly have been more emphatic in its recognition of the severity of precisely the offense here involved when it provided for the imposition of a mandatory sentence of death or life imprisonment nothing less upon anyone convicted of the offense of aircraft piracy resulting in the death of another person. 49 U.S.C. § 1472(i) (1) (B) (Supp. V 1975).
I join in today's judgment which affirms the convictions and sentences of all appellants on all counts.
I concur in the entirety of Judge Feinberg's opinion affirming the convictions and sentences of appellants Pesut and Matanic.
To the extent that Judge Lumbard's opinion affirms the convictions and sentences of appellants Zvonko Busic and Julienne Busic, I concur.
(1) The dissent has ignored the context in which the interruptions occurred during several hours of summations at the conclusion of a protracted six week trial in the course of which overwhelming evidence of the guilt of these appellants was adduced. The interruptions in large measure were triggered by provocative conduct on the part of defense counsel. The conscientious, experienced trial judge,2 exercising the broad discretion which we uniformly have accorded to trial judges in the control of summations, acted with the utmost fairness and impartiality in handling defense counsel who repeatedly had demonstrated throughout the trial a propensity for inflammatory statements and prejudicial conduct in the presence of the jury. And of critical significance here no prejudice to Pesut or Matanic has been shown; indeed, the jury's acquittal of them on the count which carried a mandatory penalty of death or life imprisonment, while convicting the two Busics on that count, strongly suggests that the jury was not prejudiced against Pesut or Matanic.
(a) The dissent's conclusion is wholly unprecedented.
No court has ever held that a criminal conviction should be reversed Solely because of interruptions by the court or prosecutor during summations by defense counsel.
(b) No such claim is made by counsel for these appellants.
Their claim, set forth in their brief on appeal, is that the trial judge's bias and hostility permeated the trial "from start to finish", of which the summations were but one facet. Appellants' claims of an unfair trial in all other respects having been unanimously rejected, there remains only the asserted error limited to the conduct of the summations an error which counsel have not claimed since there is no authority for it.
(c) The denial of effective assistance of counsel ground for reversal urged by the dissent, aside from being wholly without precedent, is at best a curious anomaly in view of the record in this case. Whatever else may be said of defense counsel's conduct during their summations, it most assuredly did not constitute under the stringent standard of this Circuit or under any standard a denial of effective assistance of counsel. In short, this simply is not a right-to-counsel case.
(d) The denial of a fair trial ground for reversal urged by the dissent, limited Solely to the interruptions during defense counsel's summations, ignores not only the record as a whole in this case, but the settled law that under the broad discretion conferred on the trial judge to control the summations, an appellate court will not set aside a conviction on that ground absent the clearest showing of abuse of discretion, and no appellate court has ever done so.
For these reasons, I concur in the entirety of Judge Feinberg's succinct majority opinion with respect to the convictions of appellants Pesut and Matanic; and I regret that I must respectfully but emphatically disassociate myself from Judge Lumbard's dissenting opinion with respect to these appellants.
I agree with the majority judgment which affirms the convictions and sentences of all appellants on all counts.
Neither the prosecution nor the defense can go to the jury on both the lesser and the greater offense unless an element which distinguishes the two is actually disputed. United States v. Harary, 457 F.2d 471 (2d Cir. 1972).
"While the issue is not without difficulty, we conclude that the legislative history of the anti-hijacking legislation leads to a different result from that in Hardaway (United States v. Hardaway, 350 F.2d 1021 (6th Cir. 1965), which treated the sentencing language of the armed postal robbery statute as "mandatory" within the meaning of Section 7). We thus align ourselves with the position of the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Ortiz, 488 F.2d 175 (9th Cir. 1973), which held that 49 U.S.C. § 1472(i) does not provide for a mandatory penalty, therefore allowing the trial judge the discretion to impose an indeterminate sentence under § 4208. The statute does not expressly prohibit early parole and, as pointed out by the Ninth Circuit in Ortiz, supra, at 179 n.1 the earlier version of the statute was conceived by the Congress to be subject to the early parole provisions. House Report No. 958, Aug. 16, 1961, reprinted in 1961 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News P. 2568. Our conclusion is fortified by the observation that the 1974 amendments to the penalty provisions, pursuant to which Remling was sentenced, were passed after Ortiz and no dissatisfaction with the Ninth Circuit's construction was expressed."
"The summation is the high point in the art of advocacy; it is the combination and the culmination of all of its many elements. It is the climax of the case. It is the opportunity to rescue a cause until that time perhaps seemingly lost. It calls for every skill the advocate possesses. It calls for more than skill it is a summons to his courage, a testing ground of his character, a trial of his logic and reasoning powers, his memory, his patience and his tact, his ability to express himself in convincing words; in short, it is an assay of every power of persuasion he possesses."
Lloyd Paul Stryker, The Art of Advocacy, 111 (1954).
Ladies and Gentlemen, last night I interrupted Mr. Bergman several times in his summation. As you know, a summation is a review of the evidence and arguments that may be made upon the evidence. If there is no evidence to support the arguments, of course, then they are improper.
I made the interruption because, according to my recollections, some of these arguments had no basis in the evidence, but it was my recollection that I was acting upon and I could be wrong. It's your recollection of the evidence that counts, not mine. You're going to decide the facts, not I. I want to make that clear so that the interruptions would be understood.
I checked this morning and I found one of my interruptions was not justified. You recall that Mr. Bergman stated, I think, and as an argument that Mr. Matanic was really on the plane, his actions on the plane were for protection of the passengers. There was some evidence that he felt that he was coerced and that there would be disaster if he didn't follow Zvonko Busic's orders. From there on he made that argument.
There was evidence, some evidence, to support that argument. It's up to you to accept argument and give it such consideration as you feel proper or reject it, but the interruption was unjustified. That's because my recollection was faulty and that brings us back to the point about the principle that your recollection is going to count, not mine.
The transcript is not up. I will look at it before we close today and see if I made some other errors, but one must remember the purpose of summation and also the fact that any of those interruptions must not be considered as any reprimand of Mr. Bergman because it's the duty of the defense counsel to argue as strenuously as he can for his client, and sometimes, he, too, makes a mistake in that he thinks there's evidence to support his arguments.
The real point is that the result of this is predicated on whether Petar Matanic had any intent in hijacking the plane and predicated upon that basis of course, if he did not have intent to hijack the plane, then, of course, that must be an acquittal, but that depends upon the evidence, again, which is your recollection of the evidence and not the Court's recollection of the evidence. I simply want to clarify that so we understand the reason for the interruptions and the real issue involved.
In any event, I regard it important to know, in view of the grounds urged by the dissent for the reversal of the convictions of Pesut and Matanic, that the trial judge was Honorable John R. Bartels, Senior United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York. He has served with distinction as a federal trial judge for nearly two decades, preceded by service as a justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. He has been a member of the bar for more than half a century. He had extensive trial experience as a member of the bar. I take it to be common ground that Judge Bartels is generally regarded as one of the most conscientious and experienced federal trial judges in the United States.

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