Opinion ID: 590217
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: State Law Bribery

Text: 30 1. Witness as required by § 215.00 of New York Penal Law. Weinstein, Rella, Morganti, and Fishman all attack various witness bribery racketeering acts by arguing that the individual allegedly bribed was not a witness or a person about to be called as a witness within the meaning of Section 215.00 of the New York Penal Law. The statute provides in pertinent part: 31 A person is guilty of bribing a witness when he confers, or offers or agrees to confer, any benefit upon a witness or a person about to be called as a witness in any action or proceeding upon an agreement or understanding that (a) the testimony of such witness will thereby be influenced, or (b) such witness will absent himself from, or otherwise avoid or seek to avoid appearing or testifying at, such action or proceeding. N.Y.Penal Law § 215.00 (McKinney 1988) 32 The New York Court of Appeals has held that a person's status as a witness under section 215.00 depends upon the evidence he can supply the court, not the immediacy of the need for the evidence, nor whether a subpoena has been issued in order to secure it. People v. Bell, 73 N.Y.2d 153, 164, 538 N.Y.S.2d 754, 760, 535 N.E.2d 1294, 1300 (1989). The Court stated that if the evidence is sufficient to support a finding that defendant reasonably should have believed that the person would be a witness and that he intentionally attempted to influence the witness's testimony ... the crime is complete. Id. 33 Weinstein challenges the witness bribery racketeering act in one of the fraudulent tort cases, Metrano, on the ground that there was insufficient evidence that Alberto Troche was a witness or a person about to be called as a witness within the meaning of section 215.00. The Metrano case arose from injuries sustained by Metrano when he was shot in the leg by a Manhattan parking lot attendant, Alberto Troche, during a row over a parking lot fee. Metrano subsequently retained the Eisen firm, which brought a civil suit against Troche and Troche's employer, Simone Grossman. The action against Grossman was based on allegations that Grossman should have known that Troche was dangerous and carried a gun. The Eisen firm retained Weinstein as the investigator on the case, which settled on the eve of trial for $300,000. 34 At the Eisen trial, Troche testified that Weinstein had come to his home and offered him $5,000 to testify that his employer was aware that he had dangerous propensities and that he carried a gun. Troche had secretly taped this meeting, and the tape was introduced into evidence at the Eisen trial. 35 Troche, having inflicted the injury that formed the basis of the tort action, was clearly someone Weinstein reasonably should have believed would be a witness in the case. On the tape, Weinstein made repeated references to what Troche must do when he comes to court or when he takes the stand, showing that he clearly anticipated that Troche would be a key witness in the case. 36 In an effort to avoid Troche's obvious status as a witness, Weinstein argues that he did not commit bribery against Troche, but that Troche committed extortion against him. The extortionate conduct, he contends, defeats a section 215.00 violation because it negates the essential element of mens rea in the crime of bribery. Although the tape recording provides some support for Weinstein's contention that Troche might have offered his testimony to the highest bidder, other aspects of the tape recording and Troche's testimony at the Eisen trial provide sufficient evidence that Weinstein had the requisite intent to bribe Troche and that Weinstein's conduct fits easily within the proscription of section 215.00. Both the tape recording and the trial testimony reveal that Weinstein initiated the contact with Troche, that Weinstein was the first to broach the subject of money during their taped meeting, and that Weinstein described the testimony he sought to buy from Troche. Clearly a reasonable jury could find that Troche was a person about to be called as a witness in the Metrano trial and that Weinstein had the requisite intent to bribe Troche. 37 Rella argues that Eddie Goldstein, who testified in the Rehberger case was not a witness within the meaning of section 215.00, and Morganti makes the same claim with respect to Arnold Lustig, who testified in the Schwartz and Aboud cases, because neither Goldstein nor Lustig had observed the accidents about which they testified but were paid to offer completely fraudulent testimony. The claim that Goldstein and Lustig do not meet the statutory definition of witness because their testimony was entirely fraudulent and thus they had no evidence to supply the court is frivolous. In the dictionary sense, a witness is one who, being present, personally sees or perceives a thing, or one whose declaration under oath (or affirmation) is received as evidence for any purpose. See Black's Law Dictionary 1438 (5th ed. 1979). Section 215.00 contains no indication that it is limited to this core definition of this term to the exclusion of a more functional definition. The section, which explicitly reaches attempts to influence the testimony of a witness as well as those about to be called as a witness, applies to benefits conferred in order to induce someone to hold himself out as a witness and offer wholly fraudulent testimony to the court. The statute is not limited to payments for testimony that is false only in part. Both Goldstein and Lustig were paid money to give false testimony, both were prepared to testify falsely, and both were called to testify falsely at personal injury trials. It is of no consequence that the evidence offered and the status of the men as witnesses was entirely an outgrowth of the defendants' criminal designs. 38 2. Falsity of influenced testimony. Section 215.00 provides in pertinent part that a person is guilty of bribing a witness when he confers, or offers or agrees to confer, any benefit upon a witness or a person about to be called as a witness ... upon an agreement or understanding that (a) the testimony of such witness will thereby be influenced,.... On its face, the statute requires just two elements of proof: the offer of a benefit to a witness and the agreement or understanding that the witness's testimony will be influenced by such benefit. See People v. Shaffer, 130 A.D.2d 431, 432, 515 N.Y.S.2d 470, 471 (1st Dep't 1987) (All that is required for a bribery to be complete is the offer or agreement to confer a benefit upon the defendant's agreement or understanding that the witness' testimony will thereby be influenced.). Understanding, as used in the statute, has long been construed as tantamount to the defendant's intent, see People v. Kathan, 136 A.D. 303, 120 N.Y.S. 1096 (1910), and it is not necessary for conviction that the jury find that the bribe's intended recipient shared that intent. See People v. Kramer, 132 Misc.2d 753, 505 N.Y.S.2d 769 (Sup.Ct.), modified on other grounds, 132 A.D.2d 708, 518 N.Y.S.2d 189 (2d Dep't 1986). The statute contains no requirement that the benefit actually be conferred or that the testimony actually be influenced. See Shaffer, 130 A.D.2d at 432, 515 N.Y.S.2d at 471. 39 Weinstein argued in the District Court that section 215.00 requires two additional elements of proof: (a) that the defendant subjectively believe that testimony, influenced as he desires, would be untruthful and (b) that testimony so influenced would in fact be untruthful. Although the District Judge originally incorporated both requirements in the proposed charge, he reconsidered his view following the Government's timely objection. Weinstein now complains about the substance and the timing of that ruling. 40 The charge that Judge Sifton ultimately gave incorporated one of the elements proposed by Weinstein. He instructed the jurors that with respect to the intent element on the charge of witness bribery, they must find that the defendant paid money to a witness in order to get the witness to modify the substance of his testimony in a way that the defendant believed would be false. He did not instruct the jury that it would be a defense to the crime if by sheer happenstance the testimony so influenced turned out to be true. 41 The essence of bribery is the intent to influence improperly the conduct of another by bestowing a benefit, see 39 N.Y.Penal Law § 215.00, at 553 (Practice Commentaries) (McKinney 1988); as there is no requirement that the intended result be accomplished, see Shaffer, 130 A.D.2d at 432, 515 N.Y.S.2d at 471, the District Judge properly refused to charge the jury that the fortuity that the testimony, as influenced, turned out to be truthful would be a defense to the charge. 3 42 Weinstein also complains that the District Court's charge on the elements of bribery violated Rule 30 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, requiring a trial court to issue rulings on requests to charge prior to summations in order to afford the parties an opportunity to frame their closing remarks in light of the court's subsequent legal instructions. See United States v. Lyles, 593 F.2d 182, 186 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 972, 99 S.Ct. 1537, 59 L.Ed.2d 789 (1979); United States v. Tourine, 428 F.2d 865, 868-69 (2d Cir.1970), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 1020, 91 S.Ct. 581, 27 L.Ed.2d 631 (1971). If the Rule is violated, reversal is required where the defendant can show that he was substantially misled in formulating his arguments or otherwise prejudiced. United States v. Smith, 629 F.2d 650, 653 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 994, 101 S.Ct. 532, 66 L.Ed.2d 291 (1980). See Lyles, 593 F.2d at 186; United States v. Conlin, 551 F.2d 534, 539 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 831, 98 S.Ct. 114, 54 L.Ed.2d 91 (1977). 43 Weinstein was not prejudiced by Judge Sifton's decision, made after the charging conference, to revise the proposed charge as to the elements of witness bribery. When the issue was raised in the charging conference, the Government objected to the proposed charge. Following an exchange between the Court and the Government on the question of whether the Government had to prove the actual falsity of the testimony sought by the defendant, Judge Sifton said, All right. I'll consider that exception. Weinstein was on notice that his requested charge was the subject of further consideration and could not have been substantially misled by the Court in formulating his summation argument, which contended that the Government had to prove the actual falsity of the testimony sought. Cf. Wright v. United States, 339 F.2d 578, 579-80 (9th Cir.1964) (reversal required where court did not respond to defense request for pre-summation rulings on requests to charge, advised counsel to go ahead and argue the case any way you want to argue it, and in its charge rejected the theory of defense offered in summation). Moreover, following the summation, the court advised Weinstein's counsel that the charge was not in accord with his argument and offered counsel an opportunity to address the jury again. Having ignored this offer, counsel has no valid claim of prejudice.