Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/569/367/35132/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 02:18:06
Document Index: 544527810

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 892', '§ 894', '§ 1951', '§ 2255', '§ 2516', '§ 2518', '§ 2255', '§ 2255']

Ettore Coco, A/k/a Eddie Coco, Petitioner-appellant, v. United States of America, Respondent-appellee, 569 F.2d 367 (5th Cir. 1978) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Fifth Circuit › 1978 › Ettore Coco, A/k/a Eddie Coco, Petitioner-appellant, v. United States of America, Respondent-appelle...
Ettore Coco, A/k/a Eddie Coco, Petitioner-appellant, v. United States of America, Respondent-appellee, 569 F.2d 367 (5th Cir. 1978)
US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit - 569 F.2d 367 (5th Cir. 1978)
Ettore Coco was convicted in 1972 on charges of conspiring to make and making extortionate extensions of credit in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 892; conspiring to participate and participating in the use of an extortionate means to collect an extension of credit in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 894; and obstructing commerce by extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951. His conviction was affirmed on appeal. United States v. Nakaladski, 481 F.2d 289 (5th Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 1064, 94 S. Ct. 570, 38 L. Ed. 2d 469. Coco appeals from the denial of a motion to vacate sentence filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida. We find no merit in this, Coco's third collateral attack upon his conviction,1 and affirm.
In the district court Coco challenged the legitimacy of a wiretap which produced a damaging bit of evidence Coco's admonition concerning delinquent borrowers that he would "bust their heads with his knuckles." Coco sought to prove that the wiretap, the order authorizing interception, and the application for the order were inconsistent with and in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2516, 2517, and 2518, and that he received no inventory of the interception and recording, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2518(8) (d).
The district court denied Coco's motion to vacate, holding that, as to the legality of the wiretap, Coco had deliberately bypassed the orderly procedures provided at or before trial and by way of appeal. No evidentiary hearing was held. Coco asserts that under authority of the very cases relied upon by the district court for its dismissal, Kaufman v. United States, 394 U.S. 217, 89 S. Ct. 1068, 22 L. Ed. 2d 227 (1969), and McKnight v. United States,507 F.2d 1034 (5th Cir. 1975), an evidentiary hearing should have been held and habeas relief granted.
Section 2255 does not automatically require a hearing to dispose of every motion made under its statutory authority. See Kaufman, 394 U.S. at 227 n.8, 89 S. Ct. at 1075 n.8, 22 L. Ed. 2d at 238 n.8; Machibroda v. United States, 368 U.S. 487, 495, 82 S. Ct. 510, 514, 7 L. Ed. 2d 473, 479 (1962); Hodges v. United States, 368 U.S. 139, 82 S. Ct. 235, 7 L. Ed. 2d 184 (1961).
The record supports the district court's denial of the motion for an evidentiary hearing and the motion to vacate sentence. Coco had a full and fair opportunity to raise the issue of the lawfulness of the wiretap. Coco was represented at trial and on appeal by Frank Ragano, an attorney of demonstrated competence in criminal cases.2 Mr. Ragano participated in both Giordano v. United States, 394 U.S. 310, 89 S. Ct. 1163, 22 L. Ed. 2d 297 (1969), and Hoffa v. United States, 387 U.S. 231, 87 S. Ct. 1583, 18 L. Ed. 2d 738 (1967), which resulted in remands to determine the legality of the government's electronic surveillance. Mr. Ragano assisted the district court in structuring the way the wiretap evidence would be presented to the jury. Some twenty-five pages of trial transcript are devoted to the court's preparation for the presentation of the wiretap evidence (R. 67-93, Tr. Transcript 544-570).
The record, then, shows intelligent waiver of any claims of the wiretap's illegitimacy. Under Kaufman v. United States, 394 U.S. 217, 227 n.8, 89 S. Ct. 1068, 1075 n.8, 22 L. Ed. 2d 227, 238 n.8 (1969), "the § 2255 court may in a proper case deny relief to a federal prisoner who has deliberately bypassed the orderly federal procedures provided at or before trial and by way of appeal e. g., motion to suppress under Fed.Rule Crim.Proc. 41(e) or appeal under Fed.Rule App.Proc. 4(b)." Normally, where serious and fundamental rights are involved and the section 2255 motion is denied on a deliberate bypass theory, the district court must base its decision on facts developed at an evidentiary hearing. McKnight v. United States, 507 F.2d 1034, 1036 (5th Cir. 1975).3 But when the district court has completely and accurately reviewed the record and correctly concluded from it that a deliberate bypass is clearly shown, such a hearing is not required. United States ex rel. Cruz v. LaVallee, 448 F.2d 671, 676 (2d Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 406 U.S. 958, 92 S. Ct. 2064, 32 L. Ed. 2d 345.4 There is sufficient evidentiary development in this case for us to conclude, as did the district court, that the issue of the legality of the interception was deliberately bypassed at trial and on appeal.5
Coco suggests that his attorney's decision should not be considered a waiver by Coco of his right to a determination of the legality of the wiretap, since he did not participate in the decision. However, under Henry v. Mississippi, 379 U.S. 443, 451, 85 S. Ct. 564, 569, 13 L. Ed. 2d 408, 415 (1965), decisions of counsel relating to trial strategy, even when made without the consultation of the defendant, bar habeas review of claims thereby foregone, except where "the circumstances are exceptional." Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 91, 97 S. Ct. 2497, 2508, 53 L. Ed. 2d 594, 610 n.14 (1977). As the Second Circuit stated in Cruz, "A lawyer must be able to determine questions of strategy during trial, and unless there are exceptional circumstances or unless the lawyer is so incompetent as to deprive the defendant of the right to effective assistance of counsel, his decision regarding trial strategy must be binding." 448 F.2d at 679. Coco does not assert the denial of such a fundamental right as the right to plead not guilty or to be tried by a jury. No exceptional circumstances exist to permit him to second-guess the management of his trial and appeal by a competent retained attorney. See Wright v. Estelle, 556 F.2d 370 (5th Cir. 1977) (pending en banc) .
Two motions to vacate sentence, filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, were denied without an evidentiary hearing. Denial of the first motion was affirmed by this court at 505 F.2d 732 (1974); denial of the second motion was upheld pursuant to Local Rule 21 of this court on October 29, 1976, cert. denied, 430 U.S. 933, 97 S. Ct. 1555, 51 L. Ed. 2d 777 (1977)
Kaufman extended collateral review of Fourth Amendment claims to federal prisoners in part because of the logic and desirability of treating section 2255 motions and state prisoners' habeas motions consistently. In Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S. 465, 494, 96 S. Ct. 3037, 3052, 49 L. Ed. 2d 1067, 1088 (1976), the Court held that "where the State has provided an opportunity for full and fair litigation of a Fourth Amendment claim, a state prisoner may not be granted federal habeas corpus relief on the ground that evidence obtained in an unconstitutional search or seizure was introduced at his trial." The government argues that, in light of Stone v. Powell, Kaufman is no longer vital. Justice Brennan saw no reason to distinguish state from federal prisoners and concluded that "Kaufman obviously does not survive." 428 U.S. at 519 n.14, 96 S. Ct. at 3063 n.14, 49 L. Ed. 2d at 1102 n.14 (Brennan, J., dissenting). However, the Stone majority left open the possibility that Kaufman's holding regarding federal prisoners is supported by "the supervisory role of this Court over the lower federal courts." 428 U.S. at 481 n.16, 96 S. Ct. at 3045 n.16, 49 L. Ed. 2d at 1080 n.16. Given our finding of deliberate bypass, we do not address the government's argument
Mathews v. Weber, 423 U.S. 261, 270-71, 96 S. Ct. 549, 554, 46 L. Ed. 2d 483, 491-92 (1976).