Opinion ID: 592253
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The District Court's Subsidiary Holdings on Issue Preclusion

Text: 27 Three rules govern the application of issue preclusion to criminal cases. 15 First, in Ashe, the Supreme Court held that: 28 the rule of collateral estoppel in criminal cases is not to be applied with the hypertechnical and archaic approach of a 19th century pleading book, but with realism and rationality. Where a previous judgment of acquittal was based upon a general verdict, as is usually the case, this approach requires a court to 'examine the record of a prior proceeding, taking into account the pleadings, evidence, charge, and other relevant matter, and conclude whether a rational jury could have grounded its verdict upon an issue other than that which the defendant seeks to foreclose from consideration.' 29 397 U.S. at 443, 90 S.Ct. at 1194 (quoting Sealfon v. United States, 332 U.S. 575, 579, 68 S.Ct. 237, 240, 92 L.Ed. 180 (1948)). Second, the Supreme Court refined Ashe in Dowling. In Dowling, the government wanted to prove the defendant's identity by introducing evidence that the defendant had committed a certain crime, even though the defendant had already been acquitted for that crime in a separate action. The Court held that introducing evidence of the defendant's identity did not offend the defendant's right to issue preclusion because the question whether the defendant had committed the other crime was not an ultimate issue in the [subsequent] prosecution. 493 U.S. at 348-51, 110 S.Ct. at 672-74 (emphasis added). To introduce evidence regarding the other crime, the government did not have to prove the defendant's identity in that crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b), the evidence was admissible if the jury can reasonably conclude that the act occurred and that the defendant was the actor. At 348, 110 S.Ct. at 672 (quoting Huddleston v. United States, 485 U.S. 681, 689, 108 S.Ct. 1496, 1501, 99 L.Ed.2d 771 (1988)). As a result, the Court held that even though there might have been insufficient evidence to convict Dowling of the other crime beyond a reasonable doubt, there could be sufficient evidence to permit the jury to consider it in determining Dowling's identity. Dowling thus establishes that issue preclusion in criminal cases only applies when the relevant issue is ultimate in the subsequent prosecution, i.e., when the issue must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. See Note, Collateral Estoppel Effect of Prior Acquittals, 46 Brooklyn L.Rev. 781 (1980) (anticipating Dowling). The third procedural rule involves the burden of proof. The defendant bears the burden of establishing that the issue was necessarily resolved by the prior jury. Dowling, 493 U.S. at 350, 110 S.Ct. at 673; Gentile, 816 F.2d at 1162. Combining these three procedural rules, the defendants have the burden of proving, based on the indictment, evidence, instructions, and verdict, that the jury's acquittals necessarily determined issues which, on retrial, must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. We review the district court's conclusion on this legal issue de novo. Gentile, 816 F.2d at 1161.
30 Bailin argues that the government is precluded from retrying him on Counts 104, 115, 117, 239, 240, 276, 277, and 284 of the indictment, because the jury's acquittals on other counts necessarily preclude the government from proving guilt on these counts. In deciding this issue below, the district court held that the defendants do not point to any essential element of a remaining count that is clearly established against the government based on any of the not guilty verdicts. O.R. (91-2604) 988 at 6. This holding is correct. In the district court, Bailin and the other defendants 16 barely argued issue preclusion at all. In his Motion to Preclude Retrial on Counts 104, 115, 117, 239, 240, 277, 276 and 284, O.R. (91-2604) 930 at 3, Bailin relied on the Double Jeopardy Clause as construed in Grady v. Corbin, and simply mentioned other double jeopardy principles. Bailin's most specific argument was: 31 Under the government's charging theory and due to the elements of the pertinent offenses, the cheat and defraud charge set forth in Count 104 constitutes a lesser offense of the mail fraud charge in Count 105. As the jury found Bailin not guilty of the mail fraud charge, he cannot be retried for the subsumed cheating and defrauding offense. 32 Id. at 4. 33 Focusing on greater and lesser offenses is a double jeopardy argument, not an issue preclusion argument. As discussed above, Bailin needed to 1) identify specific issues that were relevant to the acquittals, 2) prove that those issues were necessarily decided by the acquittals, through reliance on the pleadings, evidence, charge, and other relevant matter, Ashe, 397 U.S. at 443, 90 S.Ct. at 1194, and 3) prove that those issues will be ultimate in the retrial. Bailin did not get to square one; he did not identify any specific issues. Even on appeal, Bailin's arguments are only slightly more specific. For example, Bailin argues that reprosecution of Count 104 is barred because the jury conclusively resolved that Bailin did not aid and abet a cheat and defraud offense by finding him not guilty of mail fraud (Count 105) which of course has 'intent to defraud' as an essential element. Bailin Br. at 30. Then, in a footnote, Bailin argues that he did not contest the mailings; therefore, it cannot be said that the jury found Bailin not guilty because the mailings did not occur. Id. at 30 n. 14. It is debatable whether this argument would have been sufficiently specific had Bailin made it to the district court. But he did not. Moreover, even if Bailin had made this argument to the district court, it would not have been availing. Although Bailin did not contest the mailings, other defendants did, 17 and Bailin does not establish that the jury necessarily acquitted him of mail fraud for other reasons. At oral argument, Bailin contended that it was not necessary for the defendants to argue issue preclusion with great specificity before the district court because the district court was familiar with the evidence presented at trial. We strongly disagree with this contention. When a case involves a general verdict, establishing that the verdict necessarily determined any particular issue is extremely difficult. Ashe, at 443, 90 S.Ct. at 1194; Johnson v. Estelle, 506 F.2d 347, 352 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 422 U.S. 1024, 95 S.Ct. 2619, 45 L.Ed.2d 682 (1975). As a result, the district court's familiarity with the proceedings did not render the defendants' burden any lighter below than it is here. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's finding that the defendants did not establish that the acquittals necessarily decided any issue against the government. 18 34 In its cross-appeal, the government argues that, even if issue preclusion does apply on retrial, the district court construed issue preclusion much too broadly. More specifically, the government argues that the district court erroneously precluded it from introducing evidence that relates to counts for which the defendants were already acquitted for any purpose at the retrial. The government asserts that it may introduce evidence relevant to the acquitted counts for numerous issues that are not ultimate in the retrial. The district court made no contrary holding in its written opinion. Precisely opposite the government's contention, the court held that collateral estoppel will only be applied to preclude proof of any acquitted counts as RICO predicate acts on retrial. O.R. (91-2604) 988 at 6 (emphasis added). During a post-trial conference, however, the government asked the district court to clarify its ruling. The district court expressly stated that it would do so only after receiving written briefs from the parties. Tr. 80-4. Despite this ruling, the government insisted on pressing the issue later in the conference. The judge finally made some comments which the government interprets as a ruling on this issue; the major comment was that the district court could not think of any purpose for which the acquitted counts could be proven. Id. at 8-9. We believe that the district court's comment was ambiguous and not intended to be final, 19 and that the government's interpretation of it directly contradicts the written opinion. Moreover, based on the written opinion, we have no reason to believe that the district court is unfamiliar with Dowling. As a result, we believe that the government is attempting to create an issue out of thin air. We will construe the district court's written order only.
35 The government also challenges the district court's holding that the government is estopped from proving acquitted offenses as predicate acts for substantive RICO violations. This argument rests on the government's contention that issue preclusion does not apply to a retrial of mistried counts, a contention that we have already rejected. If issue preclusion does apply, however, the government concedes that Dowling would not allow evidence relating to acquitted mail or wire counts to be used to establish proof of the specific corresponding racketeering act charged in the substantive racketeering counts. Gov't Br. at 72-73 n. 40. 20 Because we have already held that issue preclusion will apply on retrial, we affirm the district court on this holding as well.