Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/58/78/574532/
Timestamp: 2018-11-22 10:58:59
Document Index: 223328358

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 371', '§ 1341', '§ 371', '§ 1958']

United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Keith Gordon Ham, A/k/a Kirtanananda, A/k/a K. Swami, A/k/akirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada, A/k/a Srilabhaktipada, A/k/a Number One, Defendant-appellant, 58 F.3d 78 (4th Cir. 1995) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Fourth Circuit › 1995 › United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Keith Gordon Ham, A/k/a Kirtanananda, A/k/a K. Swam...
United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Keith Gordon Ham, A/k/a Kirtanananda, A/k/a K. Swami, A/k/akirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada, A/k/a Srilabhaktipada, A/k/a Number One, Defendant-appellant, 58 F.3d 78 (4th Cir. 1995)
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit - 58 F.3d 78 (4th Cir. 1995)
Argued March 6, 1995. Decided June 20, 1995
Keith Gordon Ham, also known as Kirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada ("Swami"), is the spiritual leader of the New Vrindaban Hare Krishna community in West Virginia. In May 1990, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Swami with three counts of violating the RICO statute (18 U.S.C. § 1962), six counts of mail fraud, and two counts regarding a related murder.1 The indictment also included a separate forfeiture count in which the government sought forfeiture of all of the property owned by the New Vrindaban community. After a trial, the jury convicted Swami on the RICO and mail fraud counts but failed to reach a verdict on the murder counts.
1) STEPHEN BRYANT MURDER __________ 2) CHARLES ST. DENNIS MURDER __________ 3) DEVON WHEELER KIDNAPPING __________ 4) MAIL FRAUD: FUNDRAISING __________ 5) MAIL FRAUD: ALLSTATE INSURANCE __________
Swami appealed to this Court, and we vacated Swami's convictions and remanded for a new trial.2 United States v. Ham, 998 F.2d 1247 (4th Cir. 1993). This Court concluded that the district court erred in admitting evidence of child molestation, homosexuality, and mistreatment of women because the danger of unfair prejudice outweighed the probative value of the evidence.
The Fifth Amendment provides that no person shall "be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb." U.S. Const. amend. V. The Double Jeopardy Clause unequivocally prohibits the State from retrying a defendant after an acquittal. Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 503, 98 S. Ct. 824, 829, 54 L. Ed. 2d 717 (1978). As the Supreme Court has explained:
Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 187-88, 78 S. Ct. 221, 223, 2 L. Ed. 2d 199 (1957). Thus, a verdict of acquittal is final and a bar to all subsequent prosecution for the same offense, even where the acquittal was based upon an egregiously erroneous foundation. Washington, 434 U.S. at 503, 98 S. Ct. at 829.
However, a verdict of guilt or innocence is not required for the double jeopardy bar to apply. The Double Jeopardy Clause also protects a defendant's right to have his trial completed by the particular tribunal he or she has chosen. Id. Jeopardy attaches once a defendant is put to trial before a jury, and the Double Jeopardy Clause generally bars retrial if the jury is discharged without the defendant's consent. Green, 355 U.S. at 188, 78 S. Ct. at 224. "This prevents a prosecutor or judge from subjecting a defendant to a second prosecution by discontinuing the trial when it appears that the jury might not convict." Id. Thus, the government is entitled to only "one fair opportunity to offer whatever proof it [can] assemble." Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 16, 98 S. Ct. 2141, 2150, 57 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1978). If the government cannot meet its burden of proof at the first trial, the Double Jeopardy Clause prevents the court from withholding the issue from the jury and allowing the government to reprosecute before a more favorable jury.
Washington, 434 U.S. at 505, 98 S. Ct. at 830. The Supreme Court has long since formulated the following rules for determining whether double jeopardy bars reprosecution after a mistrial. If a judge declares a mistrial over the defendant's objection or without the defendant's consent, the defendant cannot be retried unless there was "manifest necessity" for the termination of the first trial. Arizona, 434 U.S. at 509-10, 98 S. Ct. at 832-33; Green, 355 U.S. at 188, 78 S. Ct. at 223-24; United States v. Perez, 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 579, 6 L. Ed. 165 (1824); United States v. Council, 973 F.2d 251, 255 (4th Cir. 1992). However, if the defendant moved for mistrial or otherwise consents to the mistrial, the defendant can be reprosecuted unless he can demonstrate that the prosecutor or judge provoked the mistrial. Oregon v. Kennedy, 456 U.S. 667, 676, 102 S. Ct. 2083, 2089-90, 72 L. Ed. 2d 416 (1982).
Swami did not expressly consent to the dismissal of the jury before it decided the Rule 31(e) forfeiture issue. Nonetheless, Swami's consent may be implied from his failure to object to the district court's dismissal of the jury. In mistrial situations, a number of circuits have held that a defendant impliedly consents to a mistrial if the defendant had an opportunity to object to the mistrial but fails to do so. See United States v. DiPietro, 936 F.2d 6, 9-10 (1st Cir. 1991) (implied consent where defendant did not object to mistrial even though defendant should have anticipated declaration of mistrial and where trial judge remained in courtroom afterward to discuss case with attorneys); Camden v. Circuit Court of Second Judicial Cir., Crawford County, Ill., 892 F.2d 610, 614-18 (7th Cir. 1989) (implied consent where defendant did not object to mistrial although " [d]efense counsel should have anticipated the possibility of a mistrial and been prepared to object or suggest more acceptable alternatives when the trial judge announced his ruling"), cert. denied, 495 U.S. 921, 110 S. Ct. 1954, 109 L. Ed. 2d 316 (1990); United States v. Puleo, 817 F.2d 702, 705 (11th Cir.) (implied consent where trial judge expressed clear intent to declare mistrial and defense counsel had opportunity to object but did not), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 978, 108 S. Ct. 491, 98 L. Ed. 2d 489 (1987); United States v. Smith, 621 F.2d 350, 352 (9th Cir. 1980) (implied consent where defendant did not object after declaration of mistrial although, before dismissal of jury, court and attorneys discussed instructions to jury upon dismissal and schedule for retrial), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1087, 101 S. Ct. 877, 66 L. Ed. 2d 813 (1981); United States v. Goldstein, 479 F.2d 1061, 1067 (2d Cir.) ("Consent need not be express, but may be implied from the totality of circumstances attendant on a declaration of mistrial."), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 873, 94 S. Ct. 151, 38 L. Ed. 2d 113 (1973). But see Glover v. McMackin, 950 F.2d 1236 (6th Cir. 1991) (holding that consent should be implied "only where the circumstances positively indicate a defendant's willingness to acquiesce in the [mistrial] order"); United States v. White, 914 F.2d 747, 753 (6th Cir. 1990) (same).3 However, a defendant's failure to object does not constitute implied consent if he had no opportunity to object. United States v. Jorn, 400 U.S. 470, 487, 91 S. Ct. 547, 558, 27 L. Ed. 2d 543 (1971) (trial judge did not exercise sound discretion when he abruptly discharged jury, offering no opportunity for defendant to object to mistrial); United States v. Bates, 917 F.2d 388, 393 (9th Cir. 1990) (no implied consent where defense counsel, immediately after judge declared mistrial, requested to talk to judge outside jury's presence, but judge did not grant request); Lovinger v. Circuit Court of the 19th Judicial Circuit, Lake County, Ill., 845 F.2d 739 (7th Cir.) (no implied consent where judge, immediately after declaring mistrial, left courtroom and "was gone before the defense had any reasonable opportunity to consider the import of his statement and act upon it"), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 851, 109 S. Ct. 136, 102 L. Ed. 2d 108 (1988).
Swami finds support for his argument in Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 78 S. Ct. 221, 2 L. Ed. 2d 199 (1957). In that case, Green was tried for both first and second degree murder; the jury convicted Green of second degree murder, but the verdict was silent on the first degree murder charge. Id. at 186, 78 S. Ct. at 223. Green successfully appealed his second degree murder conviction, and on remand for a new trial, Green argued that the Double Jeopardy Clause barred retrial of the first degree murder charge. The Supreme Court concluded that the "second trial for first degree murder placed Green in jeopardy twice for the same offense in violation of the Constitution." Id. at 190, 78 S. Ct. at 225.
The Supreme Court reasoned that Green had been forced to run the gauntlet once on the charge of first degree murder and that the jury had refused to convict him. Id. The jury had the choice between convicting him on first or second degree murder, and it chose the latter. Id. The Supreme Court regarded the jury's verdict as an implied acquittal on the first degree murder charge. Id. It relied on the fact that the jury had been dismissed without Green's consent and without its having returned an express verdict on the first degree murder charge. Id. at 191, 78 S. Ct. at 225-26. The Supreme Court reasoned that the jury "was given a full opportunity to return a verdict and no extraordinary circumstances appeared which prevented it from doing so." Id. Therefore, the Court concluded that "Green's jeopardy for first degree murder came to an end when the jury was discharged so that he could not be retried for that offense." Id.
More generally, the Supreme Court held in Green that "the double jeopardy clause precludes a prisoner's retrial for a greater offense after reversal of his conviction of a lesser included offense." United States v. Johnson, 537 F.2d 1170, 1174 (4th Cir. 1976); see also United States v. Tateo, 377 U.S. 463, 465 n. 1, 84 S. Ct. 1587, 1589 n. 1, 12 L. Ed. 2d 448 (1964) (Green "holds only that when one is convicted of a lesser offense included in that charged in the original indictment, he can be retried only for the offense of which he was convicted rather than that with which he was originally charged.").
A jury's failure to decide an issue will be treated as an implied acquittal only where the jury's verdict necessarily resolves an issue in the defendant's favor. See Schiro v. Farley, --- U.S. ----, ----, 114 S. Ct. 783, 792, 127 L. Ed. 2d 47 (1994) ("The failure to return a verdict does not have collateral estoppel effect ... unless the record establishes that the issue was actually and necessarily decided in the defendant's favor."). In Green, for instance, the failure to issue a verdict on the first degree murder charge was treated as an implied acquittal because "Green's conviction of second-degree murder established the existence of a fact (the state of mind required for that offense) that was inconsistent with his being guilty of first-degree murder...." Kennedy v. Washington, 986 F.2d 1129, 1134 (7th Cir. 1993), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S. Ct. 876, 127 L. Ed. 2d 73 (1994). Nothing in the jury's verdict in Swami's case establishes a fact inconsistent with a finding of guilt on the predicate acts.
More specifically, the indictment charged Swami with conspiring to conduct and participate in the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) (Count I), conducting the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) (Count II), investing income derived from a pattern of racketeering activity in the operation of an enterprise (Count III), two counts of conspiring to commit mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Counts VI and VIII), four counts of substantive mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 (Counts VII, IX, X, and XI), one count of conspiring to murder in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Count IV), and one count of aiding and abetting to commit murder in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1958 (Count V)
Although the Sixth Circuit does not follow the majority view, the First Circuit has concluded that the Sixth Circuit has actually not set a different standard. "Even where courts have held that the failure to object did not foreclose a good double jeopardy plea, they have generally done so because there was no opportunity to object." DiPietro, 936 F.2d at 10. The First Circuit noted that, in United States v. White, 914 F.2d 747 (6th Cir. 1990), the defendant's failure to object to the mistrial did not waive the double jeopardy bar to a new trial because the defense had no time to object. DiPietro, 936 F.2d at 10-11