Source: http://openjurist.org/117/f3d/1427/united-states-of-america-v-walt
Timestamp: 2014-07-30 09:52:50
Document Index: 235047140

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1294', '§ 3742', '§ 841', '§ 841', '§ 2', '§ 853', '§ 853']

117 F3d 1427 United States of America v. Walt | OpenJurist
117 F. 3d 1427 - United States of America v. Walt	Home117 f3d 1427 united states of america v. walt
117 F3d 1427 United States of America v. Walt 117 F.3d 1427
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee/Cross-Appellant,v.Scott Howard WALT, aka Michael Forester,Defendant-Appellant, Cross-Appellee.
Nos. 95-50328, 95-50329.
Argued and Submitted December 10, 1996.Submission deferred December 19, 1996.Submitted June 26, 1997.Decided July 1, 1997.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Nos. CR-94-00159-HBT, CR-94-01159-1 HBT; Howard B. Turrentine, District Judge, Presiding.
Scott Howard Walt appeals his narcotics conspiracy and aiding and abetting convictions on both constitutional and evidentiary grounds. He also appeals his sentence, which the government cross-appeals on other grounds.
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1294(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a)-(b). We affirm Walt's conviction and sentence.
* Officers of the Drug Enforcement Agency ("DEA") arrested Walt for drug trafficking on October 4, 1994 in Encinitas, California. Walt headed a marijuana smuggling operation, which purchased marijuana in Mexico for distribution in the midwestern United States. The government arrested several suspects connected with Walt's operation and initiated prosecution in both California and Minnesota. These arrests were the culmination of an investigation headed by Agent Perry Bryant.
Walt was the only California defendant to stand trial. On March 13, 1995, a jury found Walt guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846, and two counts of aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. The jury also found certain property subject to forfeiture. Judge Turrentine sentenced Walt to 292 months incarceration.
Juergon Hans Thode, another California defendant, pled guilty to various charges, agreed to forfeit his interest in $104,080 seized by the government in a prior search and testified against Walt. Thode received a significant sentence reduction in return for his cooperation. Judge Keep sentenced Thode to 12 months imprisonment.
Of the Minnesota defendants only Robert Towey proceeded to trial. A jury convicted Towey in February, 1995, on possession and conspiracy charges. That jury also determined that $115,050 in cash was subject to forfeiture. The government seized the $115,050 from Mail Box, Inc. in Maple Grove, Minnesota on June 9, 1994, after Thode had attempted to mail the cash, allegedly drug proceeds, to Walt in California. The DEA had initiated administrative forfeiture proceedings against the $115,050 in November, 1994, and notified Walt of these proceedings. Walt filed a claim for the cash. The DEA notified Walt that his claim was defective, but Walt never filed a corrected claim. Ultimately, the DEA terminated its proceedings in light of the Minnesota indictment.
Walt first argues that the district court erred in failing to dismiss his indictment on double jeopardy grounds; we review such claims de novo. See United States v. Chick, 61 F.3d 682, 686 (9th Cir.1995), cert. denied, 116 S.Ct. 1416 (1996).
The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment prohibits: " a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal; a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction; and multiple punishments for the same offense." United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435, 440 (1989). The bar against a second punishment or prosecution arises only after jeopardy has attached in the first action. See Serfass v. United States, 420 U.S. 377, 389 (1975).
Walt claims that he was twice punished for the same offense, first by the government's forfeiture actions against the seized $104,080 and the $115,050 cash, and second by his sentence of incarceration. We disagree. Walt was never "twice put in jeopardy." U.S. Const. Amend. V. Jeopardy attached in Walt's criminal trial; he was tried and convicted on three criminal counts. This was the first and only jeopardy that has attached in this matter, however. Jeopardy for Walt's interest in the seized cash has not attached; jeopardy does not attach simply when property is seized. See United States v. Washington, 69 F.3d 401, 403 (9th Cir.1995). Generally, jeopardy does not attach until some risk of guilt or an adverse determination arises. See Serfass, 420 U.S. at 388, 391-92. Walt has not been prosecuted or punished in any way for the cash seizures.
Walt's interest in the cash was not at issue in any of the proceedings of his co-defendants, as he contends. Title 21 U.S.C. § 853(k) bars third party intervention "in a trial or appeal of a criminal case involving the forfeiture of [ ] property".1 To date, the government has not published the required 21 U.S.C. § 853(n) notice of forfeiture and there have been no ancillary proceedings as to the seized cash. The government's failure to do so does not convert Towey's and Thode's sentencings into a final adjudication of Walt's interest in the seized cash. Any double jeopardy issues arising from future proceedings must necessarily be addressed at that time.
Walt argues that Agent Bryant's testimony violated his rights under the Confrontation Clause because Bryant's testimony continually referred to the observations of other surveillance agents who were not available for cross-examination. We review challenges under the Confrontation Clause de novo, United States v. Conteras, 63 F.3d 852, 857 (9th Cir.1995), and apply harmless error analysis, United States v. Bernard S., 795 F.2d 749, 756 (9th Cir.1986). Walt's failure to specifically state that his objection to Bryant's testimony was based on Confrontation Clause grounds does not alter our standard of review. The objection by Walt's attorney, although not directly citing the Confrontation Clause as the basis for his objection, sufficed to preserve his objection.
The Confrontation Clause provides that a criminal defendant shall have the right "to be confronted with the witnesses against him." U.S. Const., Amend. VI. Bryant's testimony did not violate the Confrontation Clause; he testified himself and was available for cross-examination. Bryant was well informed about t