Opinion ID: 783051
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether importation charge should be dismissed

Text: 31 Our inquiry is not complete, however, as we still must determine whether the Speedy Trial Act violation precludes the Government from charging Defendants with the substantive importation offense. The District Court rejected the Government's argument that it was permitted to do so under our decision in United States v. Oliver, 238 F.3d 471 (3d Cir.2001). As much of today's decision rests on our understanding of Oliver, we first revisit its holding. 32 Gerold Oliver, on leave from the Post Office, sought and received total disability benefits while also working as a registered nurse. The Government filed a complaint charging him with false application for benefits, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1920-1922 and 18 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1002. Following a series of continuances, the Government moved to dismiss its own complaint, which the Magistrate Judge granted without prejudice. A grand jury later indicted Oliver for embezzling Government property, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 641-642. After he argued unsuccessfully to dismiss the indictment because it violated the Speedy Trial Act, Oliver was convicted. Id. at 472. 33 On appeal he again raised his Speedy Trial Act argument, asserting the indictment was an invalid evasion of the statutory time limits and that the Government brought the subsequent charges only because the original charges were time-barred. Id. at 473. Oliver claimed that evidence of a run-around is clear because the charges in the indictment are based on the same underlying conduct as the initial complaint. Id. We rejected both of these arguments. First, our review of decisions by other courts of appeals reveals a consensus that the Speedy Trial Act requires the dismissal of only those charges that were made in the original complaint that triggered the thirty-day time period. 5 Second, courts have rejected the application of the transactional test suggested by Oliver and point out that Congress itself considered and rejected this option. 6 We adopted the position of these courts and affirm[ed] the District Court's decision not to dismiss the indictment against Oliver which contained no overlapping charges with the original complaint against him. Id. 34 The District Court in this case distinguished Oliver on three specific grounds and one general policy concern. 35 First, in Oliver, the dismissal of the earlier indictment was without prejudice. Second, the later indictment in Oliver contained no overlapping charges with the original complaint against the Defendant. Oliver, 238 F.3d at 474. Cf. United States v. Napolitano, 761 F.2d 135, 138 (2d Cir.1985) (a subsequent prosecution may be barred if it is based on an indictment which merely `gilds' an earlier charge). Third, the cases at bar involve[] evidence of a run-around not present in Oliver. Here, it was only after the indictment was dismissed with prejudice that the Government advanced its argument, premised on its disingenuous reading of the affidavit of probable cause, that the prosecution of the importation offense is permissible. 36 Moreover, the broader implications of the Government's argument are troubling. The Government advances an interpretation of the Speedy Trial Act that would not merely encourage irresponsible gamesmanship, but eviscerate the Act altogether. Under its interpretation of Oliver, the Government would be free to file a complaint charging only conspiracy, knowing full well that in the event of a dismissal for violations of the Speedy Trial Act it would nevertheless be free to prosecute the substantive offense which the defendant allegedly conspired to do. For this reason, as well, the Government's position is untenable. 37 200 F.Supp.2d at 492 (internal footnote omitted). We address each of these well-made reasons in turn.
38 The District Court's statement that in Oliver, the dismissal of the earlier indictment was without prejudice, id., is not correct. In Oliver, the earlier dismissal without prejudice was of the complaint, not the indictment. 238 F.3d at 472. More importantly, whether an initial dismissal of a complaint was without prejudice was not a dispositive factor relied on by the cases cited with approval in Oliver. For example, in both Miller, 23 F.3d at 198, and Derose, 74 F.3d at 1180-81, the Eighth and Eleventh Circuits, respectively, held that even though the initial complaint was dismissed with prejudice, the Speedy Trial Act did not preclude the later indictment and prosecution for a separate offense not contained in the complaint. 39
40 The second point on which the District Court distinguished Oliver — the so-called gilding exception to the Speedy Trial Act — is the dominant disagreement between the parties on appeal. The District Court's cited source of the phrase, the Second Circuit's 1985 decision in Napolitano, does not provide much content to the term beyond recognizing that some cases hold only that a subsequent prosecution may be barred if it is based on an indictment which merely `gilds' an earlier charge or if the subsequent charge is a mere difference in accusational dates. 761 F.2d at 138. In Napolitano, the initial charge against the defendant for making a false application for a bank account was entirely different from and based on different proof than the later indictment for larceny of bank funds. Id. 41 Other courts similarly have recognized the existence of the gilding exception, but also failed to provide any significant explanation of the doctrine's contours. For example, in United States v. Giwa, 831 F.2d 538 (5th Cir.1987), the Fifth Circuit accepted that there does exist a notable exception to the general rule that an arrest on one charge does not trigger the right to a speedy trial on another charge filed after arrest. Id. at 542. If a subsequent charge merely `gilds' the initial charge filed against an individual and the different accusatorial dates between the two charges are not reasonably explicable, the date of the initial arrest may trigger the applicable time periods of the Act as to prosecution for both offenses. Id. (citing Napolitano, 761 F.2d at 138); United States v. Nixon, 634 F.2d 306, 309 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 828, 102 S.Ct. 120, 70 L.Ed.2d 103 (1981) (quoting United States v. DeTienne, 468 F.2d 151, 155 (7th Cir.1972), cert. denied, 410 U.S. 911, 93 SCt. 974, 977, 35 L.Ed.2d 274 (1973)). The defendant in Giwa had been arrested and charged with credit card fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(3). After a Speedy Trial Act violation, he was indicted for mail fraud and use of a false Social Security number in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 and 42 U.S.C. § 408(g)(2). Id. Because [t]he offenses for which Giwa was arrested and indicted, while arising from the same criminal transaction, are separate and distinct offenses each requiring proof of different elements, the Fifth Circuit concluded that the `gilding' exception does not apply and section 3162(a)(1) bars prosecution of only the initial offense charged, the charge of credit card fraud. Id. at 543. 42 A more recent discussion of the gilding exception is found also in a Fifth Circuit decision, United States v. Bailey, 111 F.3d 1229 (5th Cir.1997). The Court again acknowledged the existence of the exception, and noted, as had at least one other court, that dictionaries variously define gilding as embellishing and unnecessary ornamentation. Id. at 1236 (quoting Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Webster's Collegiate Dictionary; citing United States v. Oliver, 683 F.Supp. 35, 38 (E.D.N.Y.1988)). Thus, a gilded charge is one that merely annotates in more detail the same charge alleged in the initial accusatory instrument.... Id. The Court also concluded that its interpretation of the gilding exception aligned with the Supreme Court's approach to analyzing multiple prosecutions for double jeopardy purposes. Id. Under the so-called same-elements test — based on the Supreme Court's decision in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932) — a court inquires whether each offense contains an element not contained in the other; if not, they are the `same offense' and double jeopardy bars additional punishment and successive prosecution. Bailey, 111 F.3d at 1236 (quoting United States v. Dixon, 509 U.S. 688, 696, 113 S.Ct. 2849, 125 L.Ed.2d 556 (1993)). In other words, different charges will be construed as the same if they contain the same elements. Applied to the circumstances in Bailey, the Fifth Circuit concluded the gilding exception did not apply where felony and misdemeanor charges for receipt of the same stolen handgun contained different elements as to the valuation of the weapon. Id. at 1236-37. 43 We have not heretofore addressed the gilding exception, and other courts question whether it even exists. United States v. Archer, 984 F.Supp. 321, 325 n. 4 (E.D.Pa.1997) (noting both points). For example, in Derose — a case we already have cited for analyzing whether unstated charges may be found in a complaint — the Eleventh Circuit declined to decide whether the gilding exception was a viable doctrine, but concluded that, even assuming it was, the exception would not apply to the facts of that case. 74 F.3d at 1183. The defendants argued that the charged offenses — conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana — arose from the same events, were both contained in the complaint, and therefore the application of the gilding exception is appropriate here because the two counts are not separate and distinct. Id. The Eleventh Circuit disagreed on two grounds. 44 First, Congress considered and declined to follow the suggestion that the Speedy Trial Act's dismissal sanctions should be applied to a subsequent charge if it arose from the same criminal transaction or event as those detailed in the initial complaint or were known or reasonably should have been known at the time of filing the initial complaint. United States v. Napolitano, 761 F.2d 135, 137-38 (2d Cir.1985) (citing A. Partridge, Legislative History of Title I of the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, pp. 194-195, Federal Judicial Center, 1980). Second, it is well established that conspiracies and substantive offenses are separate and distinct offenses requiring proof of different elements. E.g., Callanan v. United States, 364 U.S. 587, 593, 81 S.Ct. 321, 5 L.Ed.2d 312 (1961). Thus, it is questionable whether a substantive offense can ever gild a conspiracy charge, since they are separate and distinct offenses. 45 Id. at 1184. Accordingly, while not decid[ing] the fate of the gilding exception in this ruling, the Derose Court held the substantive offense contained in the indictment did not gild the conspiracy charge found in the complaint. Id. 46 We find Derose instructive in this context as well. Even assuming (without deciding) that the gilding exception to the Speedy Trial Act is viable, it does not apply in this case. We agree with the Eleventh Circuit that because conspiracies and substantive offenses contain different elements, it is questionable whether a substantive offense can ever gild a conspiracy charge. Id. This view is further supported by the statements of the Fifth Circuit — which explicitly has recognized the gilding exception — in Bailey analogizing the exception's operation to the Blockburger test for determining if multiple prosecutions are barred by principles of double jeopardy. See 111 F.3d at 1236. Under this formulation, the dismissal of the charge against Defendants for conspiracy to import cocaine does not preclude prosecution for the substantive offense of importation of cocaine because a substantive crime and a conspiracy to commit that crime are not the `same offence' for double jeopardy purposes. United States v. Felix, 503 U.S. 378, 389, 112 S.Ct. 1377, 118 L.Ed.2d 25 (1992). 47 Anticipating this hurdle, Defendants argue that the gilding exception should not be limited to a narrow comparison of the elements of the offenses; instead, a court should focus on whether the proofs underlying the two charges are the same. But a same-proofs test is untenable. Whether the proofs underlying the two charges are identical is no different than whether the charges in the indictment are based on the same underlying conduct as the initial complaint, i.e., the transaction test we specifically rejected in Oliver, 238 F.3d at 473. Defendants disagree, arguing that  Oliver did not have occasion to address the gilding exception because ... the two charges at issue there — making false statements and embezzlement — plainly required different proofs even though they both arose from the same criminal transaction. Appellees' Br. at 31. This distinction does not rehabilitate the same-proofs test. Conspiracy and substantive offenses require separate evidence. A conspiracy charge does not require proof of success in committing the offense (as does a substantive offense), only an agreement to commit it. And a conspiracy charge (unlike a substantive offense) also requires proof that multiple persons agreed to commit the crime in concert. See, e.g., United States v. Dansker, 537 F.2d 40, 51 (3d Cir.1976) (the crime of conspiracy is separate and distinct from the related substantive offense. It requires proof of the additional element of an agreement between the alleged co-conspirators. Hence, it is neither illogical nor impossible for a jury to find an alleged conspiracy nonexistent while, at the same time, convicting the defendants of the substantive offenses charged.) (citing Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, 66 S.Ct. 1180, 90 L.Ed. 1489 (1946); United States v. Pappas, 445 F.2d 1194 (3d Cir.1971)). 48 Even were we inclined to recognize the validity of a gilding exception to the Speedy Trial Act (a question left for another day), it would not prevent the prosecution of Defendants on the substantive importation charge following the dismissal of the related conspiracy charge. 49
50 The District Court's third stated reason for distinguishing Oliver — the cases at bar involve[] evidence of a run-around not present in Oliver  — is plausible on its face: [h]ere, it was only after the indictment was dismissed with prejudice that the Government advanced its argument, premised on its disingenuous reading of the affidavit of probable cause, that the prosecution of the importation offense is permissible. 200 F.Supp.2d at 492. Nonetheless, we view the record differently. First, the Government's reading of the affidavit is not, we discern, disingenuous. As explained above, we believe it is correct. Second, while the Government should have offered its arguments based on Oliver before the indictment was dismissed, its failure to do so does not mean that Oliver is distinguishable or that its construction of the Speedy Trial Act may be disregarded.
51 The District Court's final concern that the broader implications of the Government's argument are troubling, id., is an extension of its finding of a Government run-around. According to the Court, 52 [t]he Government advances an interpretation of the Speedy Trial Act that would not merely encourage irresponsible gamesmanship, but eviscerate the Act altogether. Under its interpretation of Oliver, the Government would be free to file a complaint charging only conspiracy, knowing full well that in the event of a dismissal for violations of the Speedy Trial Act it would nevertheless be free to prosecute the substantive offense which the defendant allegedly conspired to do. For this reason, as well, the Government's position is untenable. 53 Id. The District Court's alarm is, paradoxically, both misdirected and well-founded. It is misdirected because the Court's real quarrel is with Congress and our Circuit, which respectively drafted and construed the Speedy Trial Act in such a way that the Government may file a complaint charging conspiracy, aware that, in the event of a dismissal for violating the Speedy Trial Act, it may still prosecute the substantive offense. Nevertheless, the District Court's reservations are also well-founded, especially as Defendants in their reply brief raise for the first time another Speedy Trial Act violation in this case, previously unnoticed by all involved. When the Government filed its motion for a second thirty-day continuance, it misstated both the date that the first thirty-day period had expired and the date that the second thirty-day period was to begin. In other words, by incorrectly stating on September 20, 2001, that the first continuance was to expire that day, when in fact it had expired the day before, the Government had violated the Speedy Trial Act by one day. The Government concedes the error, which it attributes to inadvertence and poor recordkeeping. (This is, we note, the same excuse the Government offers for its later violation in failing to indict the Defendants timely.) 54 The disclosure of this additional error obviously is relevant, as it bolsters the District Court's warnings that relaxed enforcement of the Speedy Trial Act's strictures inevitably increases noncompliance by the Government. Though we accept the assurances provided by the Government in its briefs and at argument that it has implemented safeguards to prevent future mistakes, we empathize with the District Court's frustration. But this additional error, unhelpful as it is, ultimately does not affect our disposition of this appeal. The day-late motion for a second continuance was consented to by both Defendants to permit the parties additional time to explore a plea bargain. And as a practical matter, even were we inclined to hold that this Speedy Trial Act violation merited dismissal with prejudice, the result still would be dismissal of the conspiracy charge contained in the complaint, not the importation charge contained in the later indictment. 55