Opinion ID: 537726
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Patrizzi Murder

Text: 119 Granito contends that insufficient evidence existed to prove that he was an accessory before the fact to the murder of Angelo Patrizzi and therefore his two RICO convictions must be overturned. To understand the reasoning behind this argument, as well as our analysis of it, it is necessary to review the nature of the charges against Granito and the form of the jury's verdict. 120 The indictment charged Granito with two RICO counts, under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1962(d) and (c) respectively, as well as with one substantive gambling violation, under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1955. The two RICO counts, in turn, charged Granito with the commission of three predicate acts: (1) conspiring to murder Patrizzi; (2) being an accessory before the fact to the murder of Patrizzi by inciting, procuring, counseling, hiring and commanding Frederick Simone 12 and others to commit the murder; and (3) owning and operating an illegal gambling business (the North Margin Street poker games). This last predicate act corresponded to the substantive gambling count charged separately against Granito under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1955. 121 In explaining these charges to the jury, the trial court set forth the legal elements the jury had to find to convict on each of the alleged criminal acts. The court also explicitly instructed the jury that as a prerequisite to finding Granito guilty of being an accessory before the fact to the murder of Patrizzi, you must first find that Frederick Simone actually committed or was otherwise a principal in the commission of the murder of Angelo Patrizzi. 122 The jury returned a general verdict finding Granito guilty on both of the RICO counts, thereby necessarily finding him guilty on at least two of the three predicate acts charged. 13 The jury also found Granito guilty on the substantive gambling count that had been charged separately. 123 Granito's argument on appeal is that there was insufficient evidence to support the accessory charge. More specifically, he contends that insufficient evidence existed to find that Simone was a principal in the Patrizzi murder, and thus, under the judge's instruction, the jury could not have found that he was an accessory. As a result, he posits that his RICO convictions must be overturned because the general nature of the verdict makes it impossible to know whether the jury relied on the insufficient accessory charge as one of two predicate acts it found under RICO. Put another way, Granito argues that the insufficiency of the evidence regarding the accessory charge requires the overturning of his RICO convictions, because the jury may have found only two predicate acts, and we are unable to rule out the possibility that the accessory charge was one of these. 124 The government's first response to these arguments is that, regardless of the jury instruction, the indictment charged Granito with procuring or counseling Simone and others to commit the murder of Patrizzi, and thus it is not required that Simone in particular be found a principal in order to find Granito an accessory. Second, the government argues that even if Simone must be found to have been a principal, there is sufficient evidence to support this finding. Finally, the government contends in the alternative that even if there is insufficient evidence on the accessory charge, Granito's RICO convictions need not be overturned. We consider each of these issues in turn. 125 In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we conclude that we are bound by the trial court's instruction to the jury that Simone must be found a principal in order to convict Granito as an accessory. The instruction was not legally incorrect, and once it was given, it became the law of the case. See, e.g., United States v. Killip, 819 F.2d 1542, 1547-48 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 865, 108 S.Ct. 186, 98 L.Ed.2d 139 (1987); United States v. Tapio, 634 F.2d 1092, 1094 (8th Cir.1980); see also Wells Real Estate, Inc. v. Greater Lowell Bd. of Realtors, 850 F.2d 803, 809 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 392, 102 L.Ed.2d 381 (1988); Milone v. Moceri Family, Inc., 847 F.2d 35, 38-39 (1st Cir.1988). If we were to treat the instruction otherwise, and conclude that Granito could be deemed an accessory without finding Simone to have been a principal, we would be sustaining a conviction on appeal on a theory upon which the jury was not instructed below. This we cannot do. See United States v. Hill, 835 F.2d 759, 764 n. 7 (10th Cir.1987); Cola v. Reardon, 787 F.2d 681, 696 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 930, 107 S.Ct. 398, 93 L.Ed.2d 351 (1986). 126 The issue therefore becomes whether the government introduced sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Simone was a principal in the murder of Patrizzi. Our review of the evidence must be made in the light most favorable to the government, drawing all legitimate inferences and resolving all credibility determinations in favor of the verdict. See, e.g., United States v. Machor, 879 F.2d 945, 948 (1st Cir.1989); United States v. Winter, 663 F.2d 1120, 1127 (1st Cir.1981), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1011, 103 S.Ct. 1250, 75 L.Ed.2d 479 (1983). 127 Applying this standard to the facts, we conclude that the evidence was not sufficient to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Simone was a principal in the murder of Patrizzi. It therefore follows that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that Granito was an accessory before the fact. 128 The evidence introduced by the government at trial consisted primarily of taped conversations. This evidence indicated that Gennaro Angiulo, Samuel Granito, and others were concerned that Patrizzi might be seeking revenge against Frederick Simone and Cono Frizzi, two Boston members of the Patriarca Family, for the 1978 murder of his half-brother, Joe Porter. It was therefore decided that Patrizzi be killed before he killed either Simone or Frizzi. As evidence of the plans to kill Patrizzi, the government introduced a tape of a March 11, 1981 conversation between Granito, Simone and Gennaro Angiulo in which Granito and Simone related prior unsuccessful attempts to commit the murder. Granito told Gennaro: We had him ready last Friday.... We had a place. We're gonna take him in a house and strangle him. Simone further explained that he was going to take Patrizzi for a car ride and [w]e were gonna kill him in the Club. 129 In the course of this March 11 conversation, Gennaro indicated that he would assist in the effort to find and kill Patrizzi. The next day, in a conversation with Ilario Zannino that also was taped, Gennaro enlisted the assistance of Zannino as well: Therefore you and I are going to solve a problem here. Not because we want to do it, because it's our fuckin duty to.... 130 The day after this conversation with Zannino, on March 13, Patrizzi disappeared. His decomposed body was found in the trunk of a stolen car on June 11, 1981. As best as could be determined, he had been dead several weeks, and possibly as long as several months. 131 The strongest evidence introduced by the government to prove the identities of those responsible for the commission of the murder--and, in particular, to prove that Simone was a principal in the murder--consisted of an April 3, 1981 conversation between Zannino and John Cincotti and Ralph Lamattina, two members of the Patriarca Family. Because of the importance of this conversation to the government's case, we reproduce pertinent portions of the transcript: 14 132 Ilario Zannino: Shh. Now shh. Johnny I told you didn't I. 133 John Cincotti: Yeah. 134 Ilario Zannino: About Joe Porter's brother? [e.g., Angelo Patrizzi]. 135 John Cincotti: No. 136 Ilario Zannino: Well they clipped him.... 137 Ralph Lamattina: Oh, that's it. 138 Ilario Zannino: Don't say a fuckin word now. 139 John Cincotti: Did they find him? 140 Ilario Zannino: No, they didn't find him. They put him in his trunk.... Nine of them. Nine of them. They lugged him from the fuckin Topcoat. Nine fuckin guys.... He went in for a top coat. And nine of them did it. Sonny did. Sonny Boy. You know all the fuckin camurist [trouble makers]. And he's in his trunk.... the super Boss had told me on the QT. Jerry says, I gotta tell you something.... They clipped Joe Porter's brother. ... Larry, listen to me now. Listen what? He says, got him in his fuckin trunk. ... 141 Ralph Lamattina: It's been ten days. 142 Ilario Zannino: But they got him. They got him. Freddy [e.g., Simone] was scared to death. The kid would have clipped him in two fuckin minutes. 143 Ralph Lamattina: He wanted to clip Freddy. The kid wanted to ahh. 144 Ilario Zannino: Freddy fucked him in the ass. 145 Even viewing this conversation in the light most favorable to the government, and drawing all legitimate inferences from it, we find the evidence insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Simone actually committed, or was a principal in the commission of, the murder of Patrizzi. The conversation establishes only that nine men, including a Sonny Boy, carried Patrizzi from some place called the Topcoat, killed him and put him in the trunk of a car. The sole possible reference that could be taken to indicate that Frederick Simone participated as a principal in the murder is the statement by Zannino that Freddy fucked him in the ass. We assume that this is not to be taken literally but are not sure what it connotes. The most we can legitimately infer is that Patrizzi was killed before he could kill Simone and Frizzi. Whether Simone participated in the actual murder is wholly unclear from the evidence. Indeed, if Simone had participated, it is puzzling why Zannino would refer only to Sonny Boy by name as one of the nine men at the scene, and not mention Simone as well. 146 We are supported in our conclusion by an examination of other cases in which Massachusetts courts 15 have found the evidence insufficient to support murder convictions, despite arguably stronger evidence than existed here. In Commonwealth v. Mazza, 399 Mass. 395, 504 N.E.2d 630 (1987), the victim was found murdered in his jeep in a motel parking lot. Evidence introduced by the prosecution placed the defendant at the parking lot at the approximate time of the killing. The defendant also had a motive (a dispute over a woman) and fled the region after the killing. Still, the court deemed the evidence insufficient to support a conviction for first degree murder, holding that to find the defendant guilty on these facts would require the impermissible piling of inference upon inference. See id., 504 N.E.2d at 631-33; see also Commonwealth v. Salemme, 395 Mass. 594, 481 N.E.2d 471, 475-76 (1985). To find Simone guilty as a principal in the murder of Patrizzi on the evidence introduced here likewise would require the impermissible piling of inference upon inference. Accordingly, we deem the evidence insufficient as to Simone, and thus find it insufficient to convict Granito as an accessory. 147 The question now is whether the general nature of the jury's RICO verdict requires that we overturn Granito's RICO convictions as well. The answer to this depends on whether we can conclude with certainty that the jury found that Granito committed two sufficient predicate acts. We can clearly conclude that one predicate act found by the jury was the gambling charge relating to the North Margin Street poker games, because Granito was convicted, under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1955, on the substantive gambling count corresponding to this predicate act. See Brennan v. United States, 867 F.2d 111, 114-15 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 1750, 104 L.Ed.2d 187 (1989); United States v. Kragness, 830 F.2d 842, 861 (8th Cir.1987). Given the proof of this predicate act, to convict Granito on the RICO counts the jury then had to find at least one more predicate act. It must have found Granito guilty of conspiracy, or accessory, or both. 16 If the jury found Granito guilty of conspiracy, then the RICO convictions would be valid. Granito has not and, from our review of the evidence, could not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence on conspiracy. The difficult question is: does the insufficiency of the evidence on accessory, combined with the uncertainty as to whether the jury relied on accessory rather than conspiracy in finding two predicate acts, require the overturning of Granito's RICO convictions? 148 In answering this question, we begin with the general rule that:  'a general verdict must be set aside if the jury was instructed that it could rely on any of two or more independent grounds, and one of those grounds is insufficient, because the verdict may have rested exclusively on the insufficient ground.'  United States v. Ochs, 842 F.2d 515, 520 (1st Cir.1988) (quoting Zant v. Stephens, 462 U.S. 862, 881, 103 S.Ct. 2733, 2745, 77 L.Ed.2d 235 (1983)). Courts have applied this general rule in the RICO context to vacate RICO convictions where some of the predicate acts charged were insufficient and it could not be determined whether the jury relied on the invalid predicate acts in reaching their convictions. See United States v. Holzer, 840 F.2d 1343, 1352 (7th Cir.1988); Kragness, 830 F.2d at 861; United States v. Ruggiero, 726 F.2d 913, 921 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 831, 105 S.Ct. 118, 83 L.Ed.2d 60 (1984); United States v. Riccobene, 709 F.2d 214, 227 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 849, 104 S.Ct. 157, 78 L.Ed.2d 145 (1983). 149 In United States v. Ochs, however, we noted that an exception to this rule has emerged where uncertainty as to the ground upon which the jury relied can be eliminated. Ochs, 842 F.2d at 520. We observed that the uncertainty could be eliminated in two situations: 150 where a verdict based on any ground would mean that the jury found every element necessary to support a conviction on the sufficient ground; or 151 where extrinsic factors in the record make it clear that, although the jury could have relied on an insufficient ground, it did not, in fact, do so. 152 Id. (citations omitted). 153 The government invokes the first element of this exception. It argues that reversal of Granito's RICO convictions is not required because, given the facts underlying the charges as well as the nature of the charges, if the jury did convict Granito on the accessory charge, which we have deemed insufficient, they also must have convicted him on the conspiracy charge, which would be sufficient as the second predicate act. 154 We agree. Granito's entire argument has as its premise that the jury may have found him guilty on accessory, but not on conspiracy. Under this scenario, his RICO conviction would fall, due to the insufficiency of the accessory charge as a second predicate act. We reject this argument. We find that the jury could not have found Granito guilty as an accessory without also finding every element necessary to convict him on conspiracy. If the jury convicted Granito as an accessory, by finding that Simone was a principal in the Patrizzi murder and that Granito had incited, procured, counseled, hired and commanded Simone to commit the murder, they must necessarily have accepted the government's interpretation of the pertinent tape-recorded conversations involving Simone, Granito, Gennaro Angiulo, and Zannino. These same conversations, and virtually the same government interpretation, were at the heart of the conspiracy charge against Granito, which alleged that Granito had conspired with Zannino, Simone, and Gennaro Angiulo to kill Patrizzi. This charge was supported by sufficient evidence. Because the facts and the elements underlying the two charges were so intertwined, if the jury found Granito guilty as an accessory, they must also have found him guilty of conspiracy. Thus, even though we have found that the accessory charge is insufficiently supported by the evidence and therefore invalid as a predicate act, the nature of the charges and the evidence underlying those charges establishes that the jury necessarily must have found Granito guilty of conspiracy and thus must have found two valid predicate RICO acts. See, e.g., United States v. Corona, 885 F.2d 766, 774-75 (11th Cir.1989); United States v. Kato, 878 F.2d 267, 270 (9th Cir.1989); United States v. Doherty, 867 F.2d 47, 57-60 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 3243, 106 L.Ed.2d 590 (1989); United States v. Odom, 858 F.2d 664, 666 n. 1 (11th Cir.1988); United States v. Jacobs, 475 F.2d 270, 283-84 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 821, 94 S.Ct. 116, 131, 38 L.Ed.2d 53 (1973). Accordingly, there is no uncertainty in the verdict and we uphold Granito's RICO convictions. 17