Source: http://openjurist.org/425/f3d/23/united-states-v-casas
Timestamp: 2013-12-19 12:32:51
Document Index: 136296909

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 841', '§ 841', '§ 841', '§ 2', '§ 841', '§ 2', '§ 3161', '§ 3161', '§ 3161', '§ 3161', '§ 3162', '§ 3162', '§ 3161', '§ 3161', '§ 3161', '§ 3161', '§ 3161', '§ 3161', '§ 3161', '§ 3161', '§ 3173', '§ 848', '§ 3593', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 5', '§ 3', '§ 3553', '§ 5', '§ 3553']

425 F3d 23 United States v. Casas | OpenJurist
425 F. 3d 23 - United States v. Casas	Home425 f3d 23 united states v. casas
425 F3d 23 United States v. Casas 425 F.3d 23
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,v.Angel CASAS, Defendant, Appellant.United States of America, Appellee,v.Jose Bonilla-Lugo, Defendant, Appellant.United States of America, Appellee,v.John Correy, a/k/a Earth, Defendant, Appellant.United States of America, Appellee,v.Angel Luis Pizarro-Morales, a/k/a Wee, Defendant, Appellant.United States of America, Appellee,v.Ramon Flores-Plaza, Defendant, Appellant.United States of America, Appellee,v.Raymond Nicolai-Cabassa, a/k/a Ray, Defendant, Appellant.
No. 02-1717.
No. 02-1708.
No. 02-1716.
No. 02-1996.
No. 02-2124.
Decided October 7, 2005.
Luis M. Cháves-Ghigliotty, for appellant Angel Casas.
Terrance J. McCarthy, for appellant José Bonilla-Lugo.
Donna R. Newman, for appellant John Correy.
Mauricio Hernández-Arroyo, for appellant Angel Luis Pizarro-Morales.
Rodney S. Dowell, with whom Berman & Dowell, was on brief, for appellant Ramón Flores-Plaza.
Linda George, for appellant Raymond Nicolai-Cabassa.
Miguel A. Fernández, with whom Lisa Snell-Rivera, Assistant United States Attorneys, and H.S. García, United States Attorney, were on brief, for appellee.
Appellants were convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute approximately 1400 grams of heroin and 9445 kilograms of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. They now challenge their convictions and their sentences. We affirm their convictions but vacate their sentences and remand for re-sentencing.
On May 21, 1994, Special Agents Jay Stoothoff ("Agent Stoothoff") of the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") and Richard Escalera of the Immigration and Naturalization Service were conducting surveillance at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, Puerto Rico. They saw two vehicles, a Pontiac TransAm carrying four people and an Isuzu Trooper carrying two people, pull up to the departure area together. After observing suspicious interactions between certain passengers of the vehicles and American Airlines employees, the agents approached the vehicles and identified themselves as police officers. One of the individuals fled on foot, while two individuals sped away in the TransAm. The Trooper was left with the doors open and engine running, and the agents detained the other three individuals. The agents secured four suitcases from the scene. These suitcases were found to contain eighty-one kilograms of cocaine. One of the detained individuals, Héctor Martínez-Medina ("Martínez-Medina"), accompanied the agents to a house where all six individuals met prior to going to the airport. The house belonged to the father of Israel Pérez-Delgado ("Pérez"). The Isuzu Trooper was registered to Pérez.1
This series of events eventually led to the exposure of the drug conspiracy that gave rise to this case. On August 8, 1996, the grand jury returned a six-count superseding indictment against sixty defendants, including appellants. Count One of the indictment charged all the defendants with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute approximately 1400 grams of heroin and 9445 kilograms of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846. Count Two charged appellant Angel Luis Pizarro ("Pizarro") and various co-defendants not part of this appeal with possession with intent to distribute approximately eighty-one kilograms of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. Count Three did not charge any of the appellants. Count Four charged appellants John Correy ("Correy") and Raymond Nicolai-Cabassa ("Nicolai"), as well as co-defendant Thomas Martínez ("Martínez"), who is not part of this appeal, with possession with intent to distribute approximately thirty-six kilograms of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. Counts Five and Six charged Correy and Nicolai with the intentional killings of José Miguel Blanco-Rodríguez ("Blanco") and Ramón de Jesús-Molina ("de Jesús").
Appellants Correy, Pizarro, and Nicolai argue that their convictions should be reversed and the indictments against them dismissed because the delay between their indictment and trial violated their rights under the Speedy Trial Act ("STA"), 18 U.S.C. § 3161, and the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution. Appellants were originally indicted on December 13, 1995, and a superseding indictment was filed on August 8, 1996. Trial commenced on May 12, 1999, approximately forty-one months after appellants were indicted.
We review decisions on issues of fact relevant to the STA for clear error and review questions of law de novo. United States v. Maxwell, 351 F.3d 35, 37 (1st Cir.2003). The STA requires that trial commence within seventy days of the filing of an indictment, or the first appearance of the defendant in court, whichever is later. 18 U.S.C. § 3161(c)(1). Periods of delay arising from the causes outlined at 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(1)-(9) are excluded from the calculation. Included in these periods of delay are those "resulting from any pretrial motion, from the filing of the motion through the conclusion of the hearing on, or other prompt disposition of, such motion." Id. § 3161(h)(1)(F). If trial does not commence by the end of seventy days plus the excluded periods, the "indictment shall be dismissed on motion of the defendant." Id. § 3162(a)(2). Nicolai moved to dismiss on the basis of an STA violation on March 3, 1998, and Pizarro claims to have joined the motion.3 Correy filed a pro se motion to dismiss for delay on July 22, 1998 and moved to dismiss for lack of prosecution and violation of the Sixth Amendment on April 30, 1999. Although Correy's motions never mentioned the STA by name, we will assume, as did the prosecution and district court, that his motions were sufficient for purposes of § 3162(a)(2). Our review of the district court's refusal to dismiss the indictment turns on whether delays resulting from the pendency of motions filed by appellants and their co-defendants are excluded from the seventy-day limit.
Appellants each claim that the STA clock began running on their respective dates of first appearance, and that the seventy-day deadline was far exceeded. However, among the periods excluded from the STA limit are "reasonable period[s] of delay when the defendant is joined for trial with a codefendant as to whom the time for trial has not run and no motion for severance has been granted." Id. § 3161(h)(7). The Supreme Court has interpreted this section to mean that the clock does not, in effect, begin to run until the date of the most recent defendant's initial appearance before the court. See Henderson v. United States, 476 U.S. 321, 323 n. 2, 106 S.Ct. 1871, 90 L.Ed.2d 299 (1986) (finding that STA clock begins on the date of last co-defendant's arraignment because "[a]ll defendants who are joined for trial generally fall within the speedy trial computation of the latest codefendant") (citing 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)); United States v. Barnes, 251 F.3d 251, 257-59 (1st Cir.2001) (applying Henderson to find that district court properly reset STA clock on date superseding indictment was filed to add a new defendant); see also United States v. Maxwell, 351 F.3d 35, 38 (1st Cir.2003) (applying Barnes to find that period between appellant's arraignment and co-defendant's later arraignment is excluded from STA calculation). Appellants were among ten defendants severed for trial from the remaining fifty who were charged in the superseding indictment. The last of these ten to appear before the court was Nicolai, on November 6, 1996. Accordingly, the STA clock started no earlier than that date, 917 days before trial.4
Our precedent makes clear that "any defendant's motion resulting in excludable time toll[s] the STA clock for his codefendants." United States v. Santiago-Becerril, 130 F.3d 11, 19 (1st Cir.1997) (collecting cases). Accordingly, the government argues that delays during the pendency of motions filed by appellants' co-defendants must be excluded from the STA calculation. See 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(1)(F), (h)(7). The government argues that once the delays during the pendency of motions filed by appellants' co-defendants are counted, fewer than seventy non-excludable days accrued. Unfortunately, the government neglected to provide this court with the dates or length of any delays so occasioned during the more than two-year interval between Nicolai's initial appearance and trial.5
Appellants Pizarro and Nicolai argue that the exclusion of delays during the pendency of a co-defendant's motion must be reasonable, see 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7), and therefore other considerations — such as whether the defendant seeking dismissal asserted his speedy trial rights or contributed to the delay — play a role in calculating the number of excludable days. Defendants rely on Barnes. See 251 F.3d at 259 (finding no STA violation but noting that "[t]he Henderson rule anticipates exceptions" and that "in other, less exigent circumstances, the clock may not prove to be so elastic"). According to appellants, because they did not contribute to their delay and because they asserted their speedy trial rights, their STA clocks should be considered separately from the clocks of their co-defendants. Appellants have not argued that the joining of various co-defendants for trial was unreasonable for STA purposes.
Appellants' reliance on Barnes is misplaced, and their claims that they were not responsible for any delays are inaccurate. Barnes involved the re-trial of a defendant after this court vacated her original conviction and ordered her indictment dismissed without prejudice because the government had violated the STA. See id. at 254. A grand jury promptly issued a second indictment. One day before the defendant-appellant's STA deadline, a grand jury issued a superseding indictment that added a second defendant. This court found no STA violation but expressed concern because the government, "after once violating the appellant's STA rights, . . . filed the superseding indictment only one day before the STA clock was to expire again." Id. at 259 (emphasis in original). In other words, the Barnes court was concerned with the appearance of possible manipulation of the STA by the government. In the instant case, however, the causes of delay were the numerous motions filed by the co-defendants, including appellants Pizarro and Nicolai, who between them filed at least thirty-six motions from November 6, 1996 through May 12, 1999, the date trial began.
Further, Barnes involved the joining of a co-defendant, not the filing of pretrial motions, and therefore concerned § 3161(h)(7), not § 3161(h)(1)(F). The Supreme Court has interpreted § 3161(h)(1)(F) not to have any "reasonableness" requirement such as the one present in § 3161(h)(7). See Henderson, 476 U.S. at 326-28, 106 S.Ct. 1871; Maxwell, 351 F.3d at 38. Therefore, appellants' argument that delays caused by pretrial motions filed by their co-defendants were unreasonable finds no support in Barnes and has been rejected by the Supreme Court in Henderson.7
Although unusual, it is possible for a delay that does not violate the STA to run afoul of the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of a speedy trial. United States v. Salimonu, 182 F.3d 63, 69 (1st Cir.1999); see also 18 U.S.C. § 3173 (STA not a bar to Sixth Amendment claim). Appellants allege that delays between their indictment and trial, and between their conviction and sentencing, violated the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of "a speedy and public trial." U.S. Const. amend. VI.
In Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972), the Supreme Court identified four factors to be considered in determining whether an appellant's speedy trial rights have been violated: (1) the length of the delay, (2) the reasons for the delay, (3) the defendant's assertion of his speedy trial right, and (4) prejudice to the defendant caused by the delay. Id. at 530-32. However, "none of the four factors . . . [is] either a necessary or sufficient condition to the finding of a deprivation of the right of speedy trial. Rather, they are related factors and must be considered together with such other circumstances as may be relevant." Id. at 533.
The second factor, however, weighs against appellants. They allege that the delay was caused largely by the unpreparedness of the government, and the inability of the judicial system to cope with their case. We disagree. Sixty people were indicted in this large, complex drug conspiracy case. Well over 350 pretrial motions were filed between the initial indictment and trial. Pizarro filed thirteen pretrial motions, including two motions to continue the trial (Docket No. 504, 531);8 two motions to change his plea (Docket Nos. 701, 916), each of which was withdrawn months later, shortly before the scheduled change of plea hearing (Docket Nos. 766, 974); and three motions for his court-appointed attorney to withdraw (Docket Nos. 635, 746, 974), resulting in additional delay while a new attorney was appointed. Correy filed nineteen pretrial motions, including one to continue the trial. (Docket No. 533).9 Nicolai filed twenty-eight pretrial motions, including two for a continuance or severance. (Docket No. 532, 1040).
We evaluate the fourth factor, prejudice, "in the light of the interests of defendants which the speedy trial right was designed to protect[:] . . . (i) to prevent oppressive pretrial incarceration; (ii) to minimize anxiety and concern of the accused; and (iii) to limit the possibility that the defense will be impaired." Barker, 407 U.S. at 532, 92 S.Ct. 2182. All three appellants were detained for more than forty-one months prior to trial and likely experienced the disadvantages thereof identified by the Supreme Court in Barker, such as idleness, loss of employment, and disruption of family relationships.11 Id. Lengthy detention is not necessarily, however, "[ ]sufficient to establish a constitutional level of prejudice." Santiago-Becerril, 130 F.3d at 23 (finding fifteen months' pretrial detention insufficient to establish prejudice); see also Barker, 407 U.S. at 533-34, 92 S.Ct. 2182 (finding that "prejudice was minimal" despite "extraordinary" five-year delay because defendant was only held in pretrial detention for ten months).
The fact that appellants' detention was forty-one months (almost three times the length considered in Santiago-Becerril) causes us great concern. However, we believe that other counterbalancing factors outweigh this deficiency and prevent constitutional error. Appellants have not alleged that the conditions of their confinement were unduly oppressive, and the time served was credited against the sentences they received upon conviction. Cf. Barker, 407 U.S. at 533, 92 S.Ct. 2182 (stating that "[i]t is especially unfortunate to impose [the disadvantages of pretrial detention] on those persons who are ultimately found to be innocent"). Moreover, at least some of the delay during appellants' pretrial detention was attributable to their own actions, insofar as the many motions they filed required consideration and disposition by the district court.
Appellants also allege that they suffered prejudice in the form of "anxiety and concern," id. at 532, about the outcome of the proceedings. However, "[w]hile this type of prejudice is not to be brushed off lightly, considerable anxiety normally attends the initiation and pendency of criminal charges; hence only undue pressures are considered." United States v. Henson, 945 F.2d 430, 438 (1st Cir.1991) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted); see also United States v. Colombo, 852 F.2d 19, 25 (1st Cir.1988) (emphasizing that Barker requires minimization, not elimination, of "the natural consequences of an indictment"). Correy and Nicolai both claim that, because they were indicted on murder charges, they experienced heightened concern that they might have to defend themselves against a death sentence, and Correy claims that he was distracted thereby from preparing his defense on other charges. See 21 U.S.C. § 848(e) (providing for death penalty). The government, however, never filed notice that it would seek the death penalty. See 18 U.S.C. § 3593. Accordingly, we think that the potential anxiety arising from Correy and Nicolai's indictment on a death-eligible charge was minimized and did not exert "undue pressure" upon them.
Finally, Nicolai and Pizarro claim that their defense was impaired as a result of the delay between indictment and trial. The Supreme Court identified this as "the most serious [consequence of delay] . . . because the inability of a defendant adequately to prepare his case skews the fairness of the entire system." Barker, 407 U.S. at 532, 92 S.Ct. 2182. In particular, Nicolai notes that government agents' debriefing notes of government witness José Vélez-Román ("Vélez") were unavailable because they had been destroyed by Hurricane George in 1998, and that he was unable to present Alexandra Brocksman as a defense witness because she became ill. We note that the issue of the missing notes came up at trial while Pizarro's counsel, not Nicolai, was cross-examining a government witness. Nicolai does not appear to have ever sought access to the notes and has not explained how the destruction of the notes prejudiced him in any way. Regarding the availability of Alexandra Brocksman, Nicolai has not explained how the passage of time prevented him from calling Brocksman as a witness. We note also that, while Nicolai states in his brief that Brocksman did not appear because she was ill, he alleged below that Pérez had threatened Brocksman prior to her failure to appear as a defense witness. See United States v. Nicolai-Cabassa, No. 95-405 (D.P.R. Dec. 9, 1999) (order requiring transcript of Nicolai's statement regarding alleged threats made by Pérez to Brocksman). Further, the parts of the record Nicolai cites in his brief do not even mention Brocksman at all. For these reasons, we are unable to see how these alleged instances were either tied to passage of time or prejudiced Nicolai in any way.
Both Nicolai and Pizarro claim that the principal government witness, Pérez, blamed the passage of time for his inability to recall certain details of the drug conspiracy he ran. However, "the clouded recollection of a key prosecution witness would seem to be helpful, rather than harmful, to the defense." Rashad v. Walsh, 300 F.3d 27, 42-43 (1st Cir.2002); see also United States v. Casas, 356 F.3d 104, 113 (1st Cir.2004) (holding that diminished witness recall resulting from delay "`is a two-edged sword . . . [because] [i]t is the Government that bears the burden of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt'") (quoting United States v. Loud Hawk, 474 U.S. 302, 315, 106 S.Ct. 648, 88 L.Ed.2d 640 (1986)). Indeed, two of Pérez's eight references to the time lapse identified by appellants are taken from cross-examinations that focused specifically on discrediting Pérez's testimony on the basis of his inability to recall specific details. (TT 6/7/99: 84-89; TT 6/9/99: 51-53). We cannot conclude that appellants suffered any prejudice as a result of Pérez's limited recollection.
Finally, Pizarro and Nicolai argue that the delay between their conviction and sentencing resulted in a denial of their Sixth Amendment rights. They were sentenced on July 11 and July 31, 2002, respectively, approximately thirty-one months after their December 14, 1999 convictions. While "[t]he Supreme Court has not definitively held that [the right to a speedy trial] extends to the sentencing phase," United States v. Nelson-Rodríguez, 319 F.3d 12, 60 (1st Cir.2003) (citing Pollard v. United States, 352 U.S. 354, 361, 77 S.Ct. 481, 1 L.Ed.2d 393 (1957)), we will assume, without deciding, that it does. See id.; see also Fed.R.Crim.P. 32(b)(1) (sentence must be imposed "without unnecessary delay"). While the delay between conviction and sentence was, again, unusually long in this case, it was not without good reason. It was necessary for transcripts of the seven-month trial to be prepared and reviewed in order to produce pre-sentence reports (PSRs) for the defendants. In addition, a number of post-trial motions were filed by appellants and their co-defendants. Nicolai filed twenty-two motions following his conviction, at least three of which requested continuances or extensions of time. Pizarro filed seventeen motions, requesting seven continuances or extensions of time. Neither appellant claims to have asserted a constitutional right to a speedy sentence. Nor do they explain what prejudice resulted from the delay, except to suggest that they were prejudiced by having to wait to file the instant appeal. We are not convinced that they were prejudiced, especially since some of the sentencing delay was to give defendants the opportunity to file Rule 29 motions for acquittal and motions for a new trial, which might have mooted the appeal had they been successful. Thus, we find that the delay between appellants' conviction and sentencing caused no violation of their rights under the Sixth Amendment.
Id. (internal citations omitted). See generally Zafiro v. United States, 506 U.S. 534, 537, 113 S.Ct. 933, 122 L.Ed.2d 317 (1993) (noting "a preference in the federal system for joint trials of defendants who are indicted together").
Nicolai claims to have been prejudiced by delay that resulted from being tried jointly with multiple co-defendants and points to the faster resolution of the trials of other co-defendants who were severed before trial. Regardless of whether Nicolai's trial might have been speedier had it been severed, the delays did not cause significant prejudice, nor did they result in the denial of a fair trial or a miscarriage of justice. See United States v. LiCausi, 167 F.3d 36, 48-49 (1st Cir.1999) (determining that appellant must show "`prejudice greater than that which necessarily inheres whenever multiple defendants. . . are jointly tried'") (quoting United States v. Walker, 706 F.2d 28, 30 (1st Cir.1983)). We therefore find no abuse of discretion in the district court's denial of Nicolai's motions to sever.
Casas and Bonilla-Lugo ("Bonilla") seek dismissal of the indictment, arguing that the prosecutor engaged in misconduct before the grand jury by failing to disclose the existence of alleged secret agreements with Pérez and Martínez for immunity for the Blanco and de Jesús murders, and by knowingly presenting false testimony. Casas argues that the false testimony came in the form of conflicting accounts of the murders from Pérez and Martínez, while Bonilla bases his argument on statements Martínez made at trial that were not made in his grand jury testimony.12 Casas also outlines each overt act in which he was implicated, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support his participation.
The petit jury's finding beyond a reasonable doubt that appellants were guilty of the charges alleged in the indictment "demonstrates a fortiori that there was probable cause to charge the defendants with the offenses for which they were convicted." United States v. Mechanik, 475 U.S. 66, 67, 106 S.Ct. 938, 89 L.Ed.2d 50 (1986). Accordingly, "all but the most serious errors before the grand jury are rendered harmless by a conviction at trial." Soto-Beníquez, 356 F.3d at 25 (internal quotation marks omitted). "`Only a defect so fundamental that it causes the grand jury no longer to be a grand jury, or the indictment no longer to be an indictment' is sufficient to invalidate a subsequent conviction." Id. (quoting United States v. Reyes-Echevarría, 345 F.3d 1, 4 (1st Cir.2003)). None of the alleged errors before the grand jury rose to this level.
With regard to the first claim, we note that the government denies the existence of any immunity agreements for the murders prior to the creation of supplemental cooperation agreements during trial. See infra at 33-38. Even if we were to assume that the agreements did exist, the prosecution's failure to notify the grand jury thereof would not warrant dismissal of the indictment. Because of the nature of the grand jury's function, "[t]he prosecutor before a grand jury is not normally under a duty to disclose exculpatory evidence. Nor . . . is the prosecutor obligated to impeach the credibility of his own witnesses." United States v. Latorre, 922 F.2d 1, 7 (1st Cir.1990) (internal quotations omitted). Moreover, the petit jury's conviction on the conspiracy count, made with knowledge that Pérez and Martínez were immune at trial and believed themselves to have been immune prior to trial for liability for the murders, leads us to seriously doubt "that a similarly informed grand jury would not have found probable cause." United States v. Mangual-Corchado, 139 F.3d 34, 42 (1st Cir.1998).
Next, neither the fact that the accounts of Pérez and Martínez contradicted each other in certain respects, nor that Martínez's trial testimony went beyond the scope of his grand jury testimony, indicate that the prosecutor knowingly presented false testimony. See United States v. Lebon, 4 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir.1993) ("[T]he fact that a witness contradicts herself or changes her story does not establish perjury."); United States v. Doherty, 867 F.2d 47, 70 (1st Cir.1989) (finding no decision that "prohibits a prosecutor from calling witnesses who will present conflicting stories"); United States v. Hemmer, 729 F.2d 10, 17 (1st Cir.1984) ("Simply because there exist[s] inconsistencies between [a witness's] grand jury and trial testimony does not warrant the inference that the government knowingly introduced perjurious testimony."). Absent evidence of "prosecutorial misconduct that actually biases the grand jury in performing its fact-finding function," United States v. Maceo, 873 F.2d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1989), we can go no further.13 An indictment returned by a legally constituted and unbiased grand jury "is not subject to challenge on the ground that the grand jury acted on the basis of inadequate or incompetent evidence." United States v. Calandra, 414 U.S. 338, 363, 94 S.Ct. 613, 38 L.Ed.2d 561 (1974). For the same reason, we will not inquire into Casas's claim that there was insufficient evidence before the grand jury of his participation in the overt acts listed in the indictment. A grand jury proceeding is not a trial; only after conviction following a trial is sufficiency of the evidence an appropriate issue. See, e.g., Reyes-Echevarría, 345 F.3d at 5.
All six appellants claim that the proceedings below were infected with prosecutorial misconduct to such an extent that they were denied a fair trial. In determining "whether prosecutorial misconduct has so poisoned the well that a new trial is required," we weigh several factors: "(1) the severity of the misconduct; (2) the context in which it occurred; (3) whether the judge gave any curative instructions and the likely effect of such instructions; and (4) the strength of the evidence against the defendant." United States v. Manning, 23 F.3d 570, 574 (1st Cir.1994). Taking a "balanced view of the evidence in the record," United States v. Rodríguez-De Jesús, 202 F.3d 482, 485 (1st Cir.2000), we evaluate the Manning factors to determine whether the misconduct likely affected the trial's outcome. See Manning, 23 F.3d at 574. We have noted, however, that "[t]he remedy of a new trial is rarely used; it is warranted only where there would be a miscarriage of justice or where the evidence preponderates heavily against the verdict." Rodríguez-De Jesús, 202 F.3d at 486 (internal quotation marks omitted).
a. Deception of Court
Appellants all complain that the circumstances surrounding the sentencing of Pérez and Martínez resulted from an abuse of prosecutorial discretion insofar as prosecutors allegedly misled the probation department and sentencing courts15 about the Pérez's and Martínez's relevant conduct in order to secure their cooperation as witnesses against appellants.
Pérez was indicted, along with the three individuals arrested for the March 21, 1994 attempt to smuggle cocaine through the Carolina airport, on a single charge of aiding and abetting in the possession with intent to distribute eighty-one kilograms of cocaine. After being captured as a fugitive in October 1994, Pérez chose to cooperate with prosecutors. On December 14, 1994, he entered into a plea agreement with the government, under which he received immunity in the District of Puerto Rico for "any other crimes committed (except crimes of violence such as, but not limited to, murder) about which [Pérez] has informed the United States." The government agreed to recommend a Guidelines sentence with a base offense level ("BOL") of 32,16 a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1, and a two-level reduction for having a minor role in the offense under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2. The record reflects that by the time of Pérez's sentencing on September 8, 1995, the prosecutor was aware that Pérez's role in the larger conspiracy was far from minor, and that he had been involved in the murders of Blanco and de Jesús. Nonetheless, the prosecutor failed to bring information about the full extent of Pérez's relevant criminal conduct to the attention of the probation department or sentencing judge, failed to inform the probation department or judge that financial and other information provided by Pérez for the pre-sentence report was inaccurate, and failed to object to the pre-sentence report's recommendations of guidelines reductions for acceptance of responsibility and minor role.17 Accordingly, the sentencing judge accepted the plea recommendations, departing, on the government's motion, even farther below the Guidelines range for substantial assistance under U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1.18 The resulting sentence was for sixty months' imprisonment.
Martínez was indicted along with appellants and eventually agreed to plead guilty to Count Four (aiding and abetting in the possession with intent to distribute thirty-six kilograms of cocaine). The government agreed to a sentence based on 4.9 kilograms of cocaine, with a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1 and an additional two-level reduction if the "safety valve" provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) and U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2 were found to apply. Among other things, the "safety valve" requires that "the defendant did not use violence or credible threats of violence . . . in connection with the offense; [and] the offense did not result in death or serious bodily injury to any person." 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)(2)-(3). Although AUSA Miguel Fernández had been present at Martínez's grand jury testimony concerning his participation in the Blanco and de Jesús murders (Appendix: 168, 172-79), the government's motion requesting downward departure represented that Martínez did qualify for the "safety valve." (Appendix: 83). The government did not inform the sentencing judge19 — who also presided at appellants' trial — of the extent of Martínez's participation in the drug trafficking conspiracy, nor of his participation in the Blanco and de Jesús murders. (TT 9/30/99: 48). On February 26, 1998, Martínez was sentenced to twenty-four months' imprisonment.
It appears that the prosecutors misled the probation department and that sentencing courts as to the sentences of Pérez and Martínez. Prosecutors have a duty of candor to the court. See ABA Model Rules of Prof'l Conduct R. 3.3 (2002). That does not mean that these defendants/appellants have any right to complain about what happened with other defendants. But even if we assume that the Manning factors can be used when the purported misconduct is not directed against appellants themselves, the context in which it occurs — the sentencing of cooperating defendants — renders it unlikely to have affected the outcome of appellants' trial.20 Further, while the courts that sentenced Pérez and Martínez may not have been aware of the full extent of their involvement in the drug conspiracy, the nature of both witness' activities within the organization, including their involvement in the murders, came out in their testimony on direct and cross-examination.21 The evidence that they received lenient sentences in exchange for their cooperation with the government was exploited by the defense for its impeachment value. (TT 6/7/99: 23-36; TT 9/24/99: 12-16, 73-104). The jury was also presented evidence indicating that these sentences resulted from the government's failure to present all relevant evidence to the probation department and sentencing judges, in the form of testimony from the probation officers involved in preparing Pérez's and Martínez's pre-sentence reports and the federal prosecutor who handled Pérez's plea agreement and sentencing. Pérez was also cross-examined with regard to his PSR and admitted that he lied to the probation officer who prepared it. (TT 6/15/99: 79). Thus, we cannot conclude that the government's misconduct in securing low sentences for its cooperating witnesses likely affected the outcome of appellants' trial to their detriment.
b. Failure to disclose immunity agreements