Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/933/843/35444/
Timestamp: 2020-02-24 18:10:42
Document Index: 505364338

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 3500', '§ 3500', '§ 3731', '§ 3731', '§ 3731', '§ 3731', '§ 3731', '§ 3731', '§ 3731', '§ 3731', '§ 3731', '§ 3500']

United States of America, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Peter Olympus Mavrokordatos, Defendant-appellee, 933 F.2d 843 (10th Cir. 1991) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Tenth Circuit › 1991 › United States of America, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Peter Olympus Mavrokordatos, Defendant-appellee
United States of America, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Peter Olympus Mavrokordatos, Defendant-appellee, 933 F.2d 843 (10th Cir. 1991)
US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit - 933 F.2d 843 (10th Cir. 1991) May 13, 1991
The government appeals the trial court's pretrial order excluding the testimony of six government witnesses because of violations of the Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3500, and Fed. R. Crim. P. 16 in relation to the discovery deadline.
On July 30, 1990, the morning of the trial, the trial court heard testimony and took evidence on the two motions raised by Mavrokordatos. The trial court ordered that six government witnesses would not be permitted to testify because their statements or reports were produced to defense counsel after the discovery deadline. The trial court thus excluded Gallo, Mullen, and Smith's testimony based upon violations of 18 U.S.C. § 3500 and Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a) (1) (C). Theide, Eaton, and McCloud's testimony was excluded for violations of Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a) (1) (D).
Upon the trial court's suppression of the government's six witnesses, Mavrokordatos withdrew his motion for a continuance. The government moved for a stay of the proceedings to seek appellate review pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3731. The government informed the trial court that the appeal was not to be taken for purposes of delay, but that without the six witnesses the government was not certain that it could put forth its case. The government requested two hours to file a notice of appeal. The trial court denied its motion stating that the discovery sanctions were not appealable under 18 U.S.C. § 3731.
The government contends that a timely notice of appeal was filed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3731; therefore, the trial court had been divested of jurisdiction to proceed with the trial before the jury was sworn.
It is apparent that the filing of a timely notice of appeal from an appealable order divests the trial court of jurisdiction and confers jurisdiction on the court of appeals. Thus the issue is whether there was an appealable order. Appeals under 18 U.S.C. § 3731 are not the "usual" appeals. The statute was intended to make appeals possible under the stated circumstances. In our view, the appeal here filed by the government directed to the suppression or exclusion of evidence was within Sec. 3731, and did not constitute a serious disruption of the proceeding. The defendant had asked for a continuance the Friday before the trial and the prosecution had agreed to it. This and other motions for a trial continuance were not ruled on. We must conclude, as mentioned, that the suppression of evidence ordered by the trial court was appealable under 18 U.S.C. § 3731. The statements of the prosecutor were sufficient to meet the non-delay and substantial proof requirements. The trial court was made aware of the fact that a notice of appeal was being prepared and would probably be filed before the jury was impaneled.
In ruling that discovery sanctions were not an appealable order, the trial court stated that 18 U.S.C. § 3731 only applied to "suppression hearings, Fourth Amendment violations, things of that nature,...." Tr. 7-30-90, Motions Hearing, pp. 121-122. The government contends that the trial court's order excluding the witnesses based upon discovery violations is an appealable order. 18 U.S.C. § 3731 provides in relevant part:
Although the Tenth Circuit has not specifically stated that discovery sanctions like these here concerned are appealable, in United States v. Wicker, 848 F.2d 1059 (10th Cir.), we reviewed an interlocutory appeal by the government contesting the exclusion of testimonial and documentary evidence based upon discovery sanctions. Other circuits have concluded that some discovery sanctions are appealable pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3731. See United States v. Mandel, 914 F.2d 1215 (9th Cir.); United States v. Presser, 844 F.2d 1275 (6th Cir.); United States v. Euceda-Hernandez, 768 F.2d 1307 (11th Cir.).
Mavrokordatos contends that the government's appeal is barred by the double jeopardy clause and we do not have jurisdiction to consider the government's appeal since the jury was impaneled and sworn. Willhauck v. Flanagan, 448 U.S. 1323, 1325-26, 101 S. Ct. 10, 11-12, 65 L. Ed. 2d 1147; United States v. Bizzell, 921 F.2d 263, 266 (10th Cir.).
The government filed its notice of appeal from an appealable order at 1:51 p.m. and the jury was impaneled and sworn at approximately 4:10 p.m. Thus the notice of appeal pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3731 was effective, and the trial court was thereby divested of jurisdiction to proceed before the jury was sworn.
As to the substance of the appeals, the government contends that the trial court erred when it excluded six government witnesses as sanctions for violating the discovery deadline. It specifically argues that the trial court was without authority to compel disclosure of pretrial Jencks material pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3500 and Fed. R. Crim. P. 16; therefore, the exclusion of the investigators Gallo, Mullen, and Smith's testimony as sanctions for violating this order was error. Further, the government argues that the trial court's exclusion of Theide, Eaton, and McCloud's handwriting testimony pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a) (1) (D) was an abuse of discretion.
In its exclusion of Gallo, Mullen, and Smith's testimony, the trial court focused, in addition to the Jencks Act, on Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a) (1) (C) which provides for the pretrial disclosure of documents and tangible objects. The government contends that the trial court's reliance on this provision is misplaced because Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a) (2) does not require the disclosure of such statements except as provided under the Jencks Act. However, the matter is also determined by the prosecutor's agreement to the 15 days before trial discovery deadline.
We review a trial court's imposition of sanctions pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 16 for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Dennison, 891 F.2d 255, 259 (10th Cir.). In Wicker, we set out the following factors which the trial court must follow in determining the appropriate sanction for noncompliance of a discovery order. Those factors are: