Source: http://www.leagle.com/decision/1978438437US1_1438/BURKS%20v.%20UNITED%20STATES
Timestamp: 2017-06-22 18:30:10
Document Index: 280799629

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2113', '§ 2106', '§ 2106', '§ 2106', '§ 2106', '§ 2106', '§ 467', '§ 2106', '§ 2106', '§ 462']

BURKS v. UNITED STATES | 437 U.S. 1 (1978) | Leagle.com
Citing Case 437 U.S. 1 (1978)
Petitioner Burks was tried in the United States District Court for the crime of robbing a federally insured bank by use of a dangerous weapon, a violation of 18 U. S. C. § 2113 (d) (1976 ed.). Burks' principal defense was insanity. To prove this claim petitioner produced three expert witnesses who testified, albeit with differing diagnoses of his mental condition, that he suffered from a mental illness at the time of the robbery, which rendered him substantially incapable of conforming his conduct to the requirements of the law. In rebuttal the Government offered the testimony of two experts, one of whom testified that although petitioner possessed a character disorder, he was not mentally ill. The other prosecution witness acknowledged a character disorder in petitioner, but gave a rather ambiguous answer to the question of whether Burks had been capable of conforming his conduct to the law. Lay witnesses also testified for the Government, expressing their opinion that petitioner appeared to be capable of normal functioning and was sane at the time of the alleged offense.
On appeal petitioner narrowed the issues by admitting the affirmative factual elements of the charge against him, leaving only his claim concerning criminal responsibility to be resolved. With respect to this point, the Court of Appeals agreed with petitioner's claim that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict and reversed his conviction. 547 F.2d 968 (CA6 1976). The court began by noting that "the government has the burden of proving sanity [beyond a reasonable doubt] once a prima facie defense of insanity has been raised."2 Id., at 969. Petitioner had met his obligation, the court indicated, by presenting "the specific testimony of three experts with unchallenged credentials." Id., at 970. But the reviewing court went on to hold that the United States had not fulfilled its burden since the prosecution's evidence with respect to Burks' mental condition, even when viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, did not "effectively rebu[t]" petitioner's proof with respect to insanity and criminal responsibility. Ibid. In particular, the witnesses presented by the prosecution failed to "express definite opinions on the precise questions which this Court has identified as critical in cases involving the issue of sanity." Ibid.
The Court of Appeals assumed it had the power to order this "balancing" remedy by virtue of the fact that Burks had explicitly requested a new trial. As authority for this holding the court cited, inter alia, 28 U. S. C. § 2106,3 and Bryan v. United States, 338 U.S. 552 (1950). 547 F. 2d, at 970.
The position advanced by petitioner has not been embraced by our prior holdings. Indeed, as the Court of Appeals here recognized, Bryan v. United States, supra, would appear to be contrary. In Bryan the defendant was convicted in the District Court for evasion of federal income tax laws. Bryan had moved for a judgment of acquittal both at the close of the Government's case and when all of the evidence had been presented. After the verdict was returned he renewed these motions, but asked—in the alternative—for a new trial. These motions were all denied. The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction on the specific ground that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the verdict and remanded the case for a new trial. Certiorari was then granted to determine whether the Court of Appeals had properly ordered a new trial, or whether it should have entered a judgment of acquittal. In affirming the Court of Appeals, this Court decided, first, that the Court of Appeals had statutory authority, under 28 U. S. C. § 2106, to direct a new trial. But Bryan had also maintained that notwithstanding § 2106 a retrial was prohibited by the Double Jeopardy Clause, a contention which was dismissed in one paragraph:
Shortly after Sapir, in Yates v. United States, 354 U.S. 298 (1957), the Court adopted much the same reasoning as that employed by the Sapir concurrence. In Yates, this Court— without citing Sapir—ordered acquittals for some defendants in the case, but new trials for others, when one of the main contentions of the petitioners concerned the insufficiency of the evidence. As an explanation for the differing remedies, the Court stated:
"We think we may do this by drawing on our power under 28 U. S. C. § 2106, because under that statute we would no doubt be justified in refusing to order acquittal even where the evidence might be deemed palpably insufficient, particularly since petitioners have asked in the alternative for a new trial as well as for acquittal. See Bryan v. United States, 338 U.S. 552." 354 U. S., at 328.
The Yates decision thus paralleled Sapir's concurrence in the sense that both would allow a new trial to correct evidentiary insufficiency if the defendant had requested such relief—even as an alternative to a motion for acquittal. But the language in Yates was also susceptible of a broader reading, namely, that appellate courts have full authority to order a new trial as a remedy for evidentiary insufficiency, even when the defendant has moved only for a judgment of acquittal.
"It is elementary in our law that a person can be tried a second time for an offense when his prior conviction for that same offense has been set aside by his appeal. United States v. Ball, 163 U.S. 662, 672 (1896). . . . Even though petitioner be right in his claim that he did not request a new trial with respect to the portion of the charge dealing with the statute of limitations, still his plea of double jeopardy must fail. Under 28 U. S. C. § 2106, the Court of Appeals has full power to go beyond the particular relief sought. See Ball, and other cases, supra." Id., at 425.
Until this stage in the Forman opinion the Court seemed to adopt the more expansive implication of Yates, i. e., that an appellate court's choice of remedies for an unfair conviction— whether reversal be compelled by failure of proof or trial error—would not turn on the relief requested by the defendant. The Forman decision, however, was not entirely free from ambiguity. In the course of meeting the petitioner's argument that Sapir demanded a judgment of acquittal, the Court noted two differences between those cases. In the first place, "the order to dismiss in Sapir was based on the insufficiency of the evidence, which could be cured only by the introduction of new evidence"; in Forman, however, "`[t]he jury was simply not properly instructed.'" 361 U. S., at 426. In addition, "Sapir made no motion for a new trial in the District Court, while here petitioner [Forman] filed such a motion. That was a decisive factor in Sapir's case." Ibid. (Emphasis added.)
It is unquestionably true that the Court of Appeals' decision "represente[d] a resolution, correct or not, of some or all of the factual elements of the offense charged." United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564, 571 (1977). By deciding that the Government had failed to come forward with sufficient proof of petitioner's capacity to be responsible for criminal acts, that court was clearly saying that Burks' criminal culpability had not been established. If the District Court had so held in the first instance, as the reviewing court said it should have done, a judgment of acquittal would have been entered5 and, of course, petitioner could not be retried for the same offense. See Fong Foo v. United States, 369 U.S. 141 (1962); Kepner v. United States, 195 U.S. 100 (1904). Consequently, as Mr. Justice Douglas correctly perceived in Sapir, it should make no difference that the reviewing court, rather than the trial court, determined the evidence to be insufficient, see 348 U. S., at 374. The appellate decision unmistakably meant that the District Court had erred in failing to grant a judgment of acquittal. To hold otherwise would create a purely arbitrary distinction between those in petitioner's position and others who would enjoy the benefit of a correct decision by the District Court. See Sumpter v. DeGroote, 552 F.2d 1206, 1211-1212 (CA7 1977).
The Double Jeopardy Clause forbids a second trial for the purpose of affording the prosecution another opportunity to supply evidence which it failed to muster in the first proceeding.6 This is central to the objective of the prohibition against successive trials. The Clause does not allow "the State . . . to make repeated attempts to convict an individual for an alleged offense," since "[t]he constitutional prohibition against `double jeopardy' was designed to protect an individual from being subjected to the hazards of trial and possible conviction more than once for an alleged offense." Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 187 (1957); see Serfass v. United States, 420 U.S. 377, 387-388 (1975); United States v. Jorn, 400 U.S. 470, 479 (1971).
Reconsideration must begin with Bryan v. United States. The brief and somewhat cursory examination of the double jeopardy issue there was limited to stating that "`where the accused successfully seeks review of a conviction, there is no double jeopardy upon a new trial,'" 338 U. S., at 560, citing Louisiana ex rel. Francis v. Resweber, 329 U.S. 459, 462 (1947), and Trono v. United States, 199 U.S. 521, 533-534 (1905). These two cited authorities, which represent the totality of the Court's analysis, add little, if anything, toward resolving the double jeopardy problem presented by Bryan. Resweber involved facts completely unrelated to evidentiary insufficiency. There, in what were admittedly "unusual circumstances," 329 U. S., at 461, the Court decided that a State would be allowed another chance to carry out the execution of one properly convicted and under sentence of death after an initial attempted electrocution failed due to some mechanical difficulty. In passing, the opinion stated: "But where the accused successfully seeks review of a conviction, there is no double jeopardy upon a new trial. United States v. Ball, 163 U.S. 662, 672." Id., at 462. Trono made a similar comment, citing Ball for the proposition that "if the judgment of conviction be reversed on [the defendant's] own appeal, he cannot avail himself of the once-in-jeopardy provision as a bar to a new trial of the offense for which he was convicted." 199 U. S., at 533-534.7
See United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332, 341 n. 9 (1975); Forman, 361 U. S., at 425. As we have seen in Part II, supra, the cases which have arisen since Ball generally do not distinguish between reversals due to trial error and those resulting from evidentiary insufficiency. We believe, however, that the failure to make this distinction has contributed substantially to the present state of conceptual confusion existing in this area of the law. Consequently, it is important to consider carefully the respective roles of these two types of reversals in double jeopardy analysis.
Various rationales have been advanced to support the policy of allowing retrial to correct trial error,9 but in our view the most reasonable justification is that advanced by Tateo, supra, at 466:
See Wilson, supra, at 343-344, n. 11; Wade v. Hunter, 336 U.S. 684, 688-689 (1949). In short, reversal for trial error, as distinguished from evidentiary insufficiency, does not constitute a decision to the effect that the government has failed to prove its case. As such, it implies nothing with respect to the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Rather, it is a determination that a defendant has been convicted through a judicial process which is defective in some fundamental respect, e. g., incorrect receipt or rejection of evidence, incorrect instructions, or prosecutorial misconduct. When this occurs, the accused has a strong interest in obtaining a fair readjudication of his guilt free from error, just as society maintains a valid concern for insuring that the guilty are punished. See Note, Double Jeopardy: A New Trial After Appellate Reversal for Insufficient Evidence, 31 U. Chi. L. Rev. 365, 370 (1964).
The same cannot be said when a defendant's conviction has been overturned due to a failure of proof at trial, in which case the prosecution cannot complain of prejudice, for it has been given one fair opportunity to offer whatever proof it could assemble.10 Moreover, such an appellate reversal means that the government's case was so lacking that it should not have even been submitted to the jury. Since we necessarily afford absolute finality to a jury's verdict of acquittal—no matter how erroneous its decision—it is difficult to conceive how society has any greater interest in retrying a defendant when, on review, it is decided as a matter of law that the jury could not properly have returned a verdict of guilty.
The importance of a reversal on grounds of evidentiary insufficiency for purposes of inquiry under the Double Jeopardy Clause is underscored by the fact that a federal court's role in deciding whether a case should be considered by the jury is quite limited. Even the trial court, which has heard the testimony of witnesses firsthand, is not to weigh the evidence or assess the credibility of witnesses when it judges the merits of a motion for acquittal. See United States v. Wolfenbarger, 426 F.2d 992, 994 (CA6 1970); United States v. Nelson, 419 F.2d 1237, 1241 (CA9 1969); McClard v. United States, 386 F.2d 495, 497 (CA8 1968); Curley v. United States, 81 U. S. App. D. C. 389, 392, 160 F.2d 229, 232-233, cert. denied, 331 U.S. 837 (1947). The prevailing rule has long been that a district judge is to submit a case to the jury if the evidence and inferences therefrom most favorable to the prosecution would warrant the jury's finding the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. See C. Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure § 467, pp. 259-260 (1969); e. g., Powell v. United States, 135 U. S. App. D. C. 254, 257, 418 F.2d 470, 473 (1969); Crawford v. United States, 126 U. S. App. D. C. 156, 158, 375 F.2d 332, 334 (1967). Obviously a federal appellate court applies no higher a standard; rather, it must sustain the verdict if there is substantial evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, to uphold the jury's decision. See Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80 (1942). While this is not the appropriate occasion to re-examine in detail the standards for appellate reversal on grounds of insufficient evidence, it is apparent that such a decision will be confined to cases where the prosecution's failure is clear.11 Given the requirements for entry of a judgment of acquittal. the purposes of the Clause would be negated were we to afford the government an opportunity for the proverbial "second bite at the apple."
In our view it makes no difference that a defendant has sought a new trial as one of his remedies, or even as the sole remedy. It cannot be meaningfully said that a person "waives" his right to a judgment of acquittal by moving for a new trial. See Green v. United States, 355 U. S., at 191-198. Moreover, as Forman, 361 U. S., at 425, has indicated, an appellate court is authorized by § 2106 to "go beyond the particular relief sought" in order to provide that relief which would be "just under the circumstances." Since we hold today that the Double Jeopardy Clause precludes a second trial once the reviewing court has found the evidence legally insufficient, the only "just" remedy available for that court is the direction of a judgment of acquittal. To the extent that our prior decisions suggest that by moving for a new trial, a defendant waives his right to a judgment of acquittal on the basis of evidentiary insufficiency, those cases are overruled.
FootNotes 1. Petitioner did not file a post-trial motion for judgment of acquittal, which he was entitled to do under Fed. Rule Crim. Proc. 29 (c).
2. Although the Court of Appeals did not cite Davis v. United States, 160 U.S. 469 (1895), that decision would require this allocation of burdens.
3. Title 28 U. S. C. § 2106 provides:
4. There is no claim in this case that the trial court committed error by excluding prosecution evidence which, if received, would have rebutted any claim of evidentiary insufficiency.
5. When a district court determines, at the close of either side's case, that the evidence is insufficient, it "shall order the entry of [a] judgment of acquittal . . . ." Fed. Rule Crim. Proc. 29; see C. Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure § 462, p. 245 (1969).
6. We recognize that under the terms of the remand in this case the District Court might very well conclude, after "a balancing of the equities," that a second trial should not be held. Nonetheless, where the Double Jeopardy Clause is applicable, its sweep is absolute. There are no "equities" to be balanced, for the Clause has declared a constitutional policy, based on grounds which are not open to judicial examination.
7. Trono arose from a murder prosecution in the Philippines. After a nonjury trial the defendants were acquitted of the crime of murder, but were convicted of the lesser included offense of assault. They appealed to the Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands, which reversed the judgment and entered convictions for murder, increasing their sentences as well. This Court affirmed, although "it seems apparent that a majority of the Court was unable to agree on any common ground for the conclusion that an appeal of a lesser offense destroyed a defense of a former jeopardy on a greater offense for which the defendant had already been acquitted." Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 187 (1957). Green expressly confined the Trono decision to "its peculiar factual setting," namely, an interpretation of a "statutory provision against double jeopardy pertaining to the Philippine Islands." 355 U. S., at 187; see Price v. Georgia, 398 U.S. 323, 327-328, n. 3 (1970).
8. Hopt v. Utah, 120 U.S. 430 (1887), was the last of four appeals by a defendant from a murder conviction in the Territory of Utah. On the first three appeals the convictions were reversed and new trials ordered because of trial errors, e. g., improper instruction, 104 U.S. 631 (1882); absence of the accused during a portion of the trial, improper hearsay testimony received, and prejudicial instruction, 110 U.S. 574 (1884); and inadequate record due to failure to record jury instructions, 114 U.S. 488 (1885). No claim of evidentiary insufficiency was sustained by the Court, and indeed no discussion of double jeopardy appears. Commonwealth v. Gould, 78 Mass. 171 (1858), was a state case in which a defendant was ordered tried on a superseding indictment, after the original indictment had been challenged. Finally, in the English case, Queen v. Drury, 3 Cox Crim. Cas. 544, 175 Eng. Rep. 516 (Q. B. 1849), the defendants had been given an improper sentence after being found guilty at a trial to which no other error was assigned. The court allowed a retrial, saying:
9. It has been suggested, for example, that an appeal from a conviction amounts to a "waiver" of double jeopardy protections, see Trono v. United States, 199 U.S. 521, 533 (1905); but see Green, supra, at 191-198; or that the appeal somehow continues the jeopardy which attached at the first trial, see Price v. Georgia, supra, at 326; but see Breed v. Jones, 421 U.S. 519, 534 (1975).
10. In holding the evidence insufficient to sustain guilt, an appellate court determines that the prosecution has failed to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See American Tobacco Co. v. United States, 328 U.S. 781, 787 n. 4 (1946).
11. When the basic issue before the appellate court concerns the sufficiency of the Government's proof of a defendant's sanity (as it did here), a reviewing court should be most wary of disturbing the jury verdict:
"There may be cases where the facts adduced as to the existence and impact of an accused's mental condition may be so overwhelming as to require a judge to conclude that no reasonable juror could entertain a reasonable doubt. But in view of the complicated nature of the decision to be made—intertwining moral, legal, and medical judgments—it will require an unusually strong showing to induce us to reverse a conviction because the judge left the critical issue of criminal responsibility with the jury." King v. United States, 125 U. S. App. D. C. 318, 324, 372 F.2d 383, 389 (1967) (footnote omitted).