Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/613/391/198037/
Timestamp: 2019-11-14 11:38:57
Document Index: 499011616

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 952', '§ 32', '§ 841', '§ 2', '§ 952', '§ 2']

United States of America, Appellee, v. Kenneth Clark and Eric Romandi, Defendants-appellants, 613 F.2d 391 (2d Cir. 1979) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Second Circuit › 1979 › United States of America, Appellee, v. Kenneth Clark and Eric Romandi, Defendants-appellants
United States of America, Appellee, v. Kenneth Clark and Eric Romandi, Defendants-appellants, 613 F.2d 391 (2d Cir. 1979)
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit - 613 F.2d 391 (2d Cir. 1979) Argued Aug. 13, 1979. Decided Dec. 28, 1979
Kenneth Clark and Eric Romandi appeal from judgments of conviction in the District Court for the Eastern District of New York, entered by Judge Eugene H. Nickerson on April 2 and April 30, 1979, respectively. The defendant Clark was found guilty of Counts Six and Eight of importing or aiding and abetting the importation of substantial amounts of heroin from Bangkok, Thailand, into the United States in July and September 1977, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952(a) and 960(a) (1) and 18 U.S.C. § 32. Romandi was found guilty of Count Eight for the September importation.1
Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 510, 98 S. Ct. 824, 832, 54 L. Ed. 2d 717 (1978).
After some twelve days of deliberation resulting in a deadlocked jury, the record reveals no basis of support for appellant's claim of abuse of discretion. There were no reasonable alternatives to the ordering of a mistrial. Since the record itself fully supports this, the court was not required to make a finding of "manifest necessity." Arizona v. Washington, supra, 434 U.S. at 516, 98 S. Ct. 824; United States v. Klein, 582 F.2d 186, 194 (2d Cir. 1978).
It is firmly established "that the commission of the substantive offense and a conspiracy to commit it are separate and distinct offenses." Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, 643, 66 S. Ct. 1180, 1182, 90 L. Ed. 1489 (1946).
Id. at 643, 644, 66 S. Ct. at 1182.
However, there are some exceptions. Collateral estoppel may constitute a defense to the second prosecution where the doctrine operates to preclude consideration of those issues which were determined at the first trial, although the defenses differ. Sealfon v. United States, 322 U.S. 575, 578, 68 S. Ct. 237, 92 L. Ed. 180 (1948).
It is now firmly established that the doctrine of collateral estoppel is embodied in the Fifth Amendment guarantee against double jeopardy. Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 445, 90 S. Ct. 1189, 25 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1970). The majority opinion by Mr. Justice Stewart explains:
Id. at 443, 90 S. Ct. at 1194.
Id. at 444, 90 S. Ct. at 1194.
To prevail on their claim of collateral estoppel, the appellants must establish that the first jury could not reasonably have reached its verdict of acquittal on the charge of conspiracy to import and distribute heroin without also deciding that the defendants were innocent of actual importation. United States v. Jacobson, 547 F.2d 21, 23 (2d Cir. 1976), Cert. denied 430 U.S. 946, 97 S. Ct. 1581, 51 L. Ed. 2d 793 (1977). If the first jury could have reached its verdict without deciding the defendants' innocence or guilt of actually importing heroin
In pursuing the double inquiry of what the first jury decided and how the judgment of acquittal on the conspiracy count bears on the second trial for importation, we are mindful of the reality that the basis upon which the general verdict was reached usually cannot be demonstrated with certainty. United States v. Seijo, supra, 537 F.2d at 697; United States v. Gugliaro, 501 F.2d 68, 70 (2d Cir. 1974). As required by Ashe v. Swenson, supra, 397 U.S. at 444-45, 90 S. Ct. 1189, we must determine whether a rational jury could have grounded its verdict of acquittal on the conspiracy count on an issue other than importation. To do this, we turn first to the results of the original trial.
The verdicts of guilty on Count Two established that there was a conspiracy and that the Praetoriuses and Louis Juan were conspirators. The verdict of guilty on Count Five, which charged only Charles Praetorius with the substantive offense of distribution of heroin on July 15, 1977, speaks to the point that the object of the conspiracy was the unlawful distribution of heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) (1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. The verdict of acquittal, as to the defendants Clark, Romandi and Doris Jackson, concluded that these defendants were not members of the conspiracy to distribute in violation of Section 841.
Both appellants strenuously argue, as they did in the trial court, that the jury's acquittal on the conspiracy count at the first trial foreclosed the admission of the hearsay statements of Laws, Abruzzo and Pollitt at the retrial on substantive counts of importation. In admitting this evidence the trial court relied principally on United States v. Stanchich, 550 F.2d 1294 (2d Cir. 1977). The Court of Appeals rejected the contention in Stanchich and refers to the course charted in United States v. Geaney, 417 F.2d 1116 (2d Cir. 1969), Cert. denied sub nom. Lynch v. United States, 397 U.S. 1028, 90 S. Ct. 1276, 25 L. Ed. 2d 539 (1970).
United States v. Cafaro, 455 F.2d 323, 326 (2d Cir.) Cert. denied 406 U.S. 918, 92 S. Ct. 1769, 32 L. Ed. 2d 117 (1972).
There was ample direct and documentary evidence to sustain the trial court's ruling as to Clark's participation with Abruzzo and Laws in the July trip to Bangkok without resort to the hearsay declarations. The evidence was admissible under Federal Rules of Evidence 801(d) (2) (D) and (E).10
The fact that the defendants were acquitted on the conspiracy count does not destroy the admissibility of the declarations of co-conspirators on the substantive charge. See United States v. Kohne, 358 F. Supp. 1053 (W.D. Pa. 1973), Affirmed 485 F.2d 679, 682, 487 F.2d 1394, 1395, Cert. denied 417 U.S. 918, 94 S. Ct. 2624, 41 L. Ed. 2d 224 (1974) (where there was strong evidence of conspiracy, fact that defendants convicted of substantive gambling charge were acquitted of conspiracy did not retroactively render inadmissible hearsay declarations of co-conspirators). The evidence of statements by co-conspirators or joint venturers concerning the Bangkok trips of July and September 1977 were properly received.
Quercia v. United States, 389 U.S. 466, 469, 53 S. Ct. 698, 698-99, 77 L. Ed. 1321 (1933) (Hughes, C. J.).
This appeal affords no occasion to belabor the firmly established principle that vigorous prosecution of a criminal offense imposes constraint against "improper suggestions, insinuations, and, especially, assertions of personal knowledge." Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 88, 55 S. Ct. 629, 633, 79 L. Ed. 1314 (1935). United States v. Burse, 531 F.2d 1151, 1155 (2d Cir. 1976). And, of course, the government's attorney may not interject his own credibility nor vouch for the credibility of witnesses on facts undisclosed in the record. United States v. Drummond, 481 F.2d 62, 63 (2d Cir. 1973).
Evidence of a chemical analysis of the substance is not essential to a valid conviction for a narcotic offense. Neither is it necessary that direct evidence be presented to prove the nature of the substance. United States v. Quesada, 512 F.2d 1043, 1045 (5th Cir. 1975) Cert. denied, 423 U.S. 946, 96 S. Ct. 356, 46 L. Ed. 2d 277 (1975). See United States v. Fantuzzi, 463 F.2d 683, 689 n.7 (2d Cir. 1972).
United States v. Agueci, 310 F.2d 817, 828 (2d Cir. 1962) Cert. denied 372 U.S. 959, 83 S. Ct. 1013, 10 L. Ed. 2d 11 (1963).
It is hardly open to question that the unexplained curtailment of cross-examination runs counter to the accused's right of confrontation. See e. g. Smith v. Illinois, 390 U.S. 129, 88 S. Ct. 748, 19 L. Ed. 2d 956 (1968); Alford v. United States, 282 U.S. 687, 51 S. Ct. 218, 75 L. Ed. 624 (1931). But the right to cross-examination is not without limits.
282 U.S. at 694, 51 S. Ct. at 220.
On or about the 27th day of September, 1977, within the Eastern District of New York, at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jamaica, Queens, New York, the defendants CHARLES PRAETORIUS, DIANE PRAETORIUS, KEN CLARK, VINCENT AULETTA, and ERIC ROMANDI and others, did knowingly and intentionally import into the United States from Bangkok, Thailand, approximately four kilograms of heroin, a Schedule I narcotic drug controlled substance. (Title 21, United States Code, §§ 952(a) and 960(a) (1) and Title 18, United States Code, § 2).
Commencing on or about September 1, 1976, and continuing up to and including the 1st day of March, 1978, both dates being approximate and inclusive, within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, the defendants CHARLES PRAETORIUS, DIANE PRAETORIUS, FREDERICK PRAETORIUS, KEN CLARK, VINCENT AULETTA, ERIC ROMANDI, LOUIS JUAN, JR., MICHAEL LANZA, GLENSTON PAGE LAWS, KENNETH LEBEL, WILLIAM BURLEY, KATHY PAIGE SARGENT, AUDREY PLUNKETT, GAIL HARRIS, BRENDA HOLLENBACK, JOSEPH SMITH, CARLOTTA RAGAN, and DORIS JACKSON and Daniel Warren, named herein as an unindicted co-conspirator, and others, did knowingly and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate, and agree to violate Sections 841(a) (1), 952(a) and 960(a) (1) of Title 21, United States Code.
This aspect of the court's instruction was in keeping with the evidence that there were several trips to Bangkok that could involve separate conspiracies. E. g. Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 66 S. Ct. 1239, 90 L. Ed. 1557 (1946); United States v. Taylor, 562 F.2d 1345, 1351 (2d Cir.), Cert. denied, 431 U.S. 909, 97 S. Ct. 2958, 53 L. Ed. 2d 1083 (1977)
While the rule refers to a co-conspirator, it is this committee's understanding that the rule is meant to carry forward the universally accepted doctrine that a joint venturer is considered a co-conspirator for the purposes of this rule even though no conspiracy has been charged. United States v. Rinaldi, 393 F.2d 97, 99 (2d Cir.) Cert. denied 393 U.S. 913, 89 S. Ct. 233, 21 L. Ed. 2d 198 (1968); United States v. Spencer, 415 F.2d 1301, 1304 (7th Cir. 1969).