Opinion ID: 544253
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Misuse of the Grand Jury

Text: 8 Historically, the grand jury has serve[d] the invaluable function in our society of standing between the accuser and the accused. Wood v. Georgia, 370 U.S. 375, 390, 82 S.Ct. 1364, 1373, 8 L.Ed.2d 569 (1962). It provide[s] a fair method for instituting criminal proceedings against persons believed to have committed crimes, Costello v. United States, 350 U.S. 359, 362, 76 S.Ct. 406, 408, 100 L.Ed. 397 (1956), by assembling a group of citizens to assess the likelihood of prosecutorial success and to protect the innocent from unwarranted prosecution. United States v. Umans, 368 F.2d 725, 730 (2d Cir.1966). Despite the high place [the grand jury holds] as an instrument of justice, Costello, 350 U.S. at 362, 76 S.Ct. at 408, the social costs of dismissing an indictment because of an imperfect grand jury proceeding are simply too high to accept when the defendant has been convicted after a full and fair trial and no harm has been done. United States v. Mechanik, 475 U.S. 66, 72-73, 106 S.Ct. 938, 942-43, 89 L.Ed.2d 50 (1986); see Bank of Nova Scotia v. United States, 487 U.S. 250, 254-55, 108 S.Ct. 2369, 2373-74, 101 L.Ed.2d 228 (1988). 9 Even so, pursuant to our supervisory power, we may dismiss an indictment for prosecutorial misconduct if the grand jury was misled or misinformed, United States v. Hogan, 712 F.2d 757, 761 (2d Cir.1983); United States v. Estepa, 471 F.2d 1132, 1136 (2d Cir.1972); see Nova Scotia, 487 U.S. at 256, 108 S.Ct. at 2374 ( 'grave doubt' that the decision to indict was free from the substantial influence of [the misconduct]), or possibly if there is a history of prosecutorial misconduct, spanning several cases, that is so systematic and pervasive as to raise a substantial and serious question about the fundamental fairness of the process. Nova Scotia, 487 U.S. at 259, 108 S.Ct. at 2376. 10 Carhuapoma asks us to exercise our supervisory power, reverse his conviction, and dismiss his indictment because of prosecutorial misuse of the grand jury, claiming that his indictment was merely one of a series of indictments obtained through the government's policy of using a single witness to testify in grand jury proceedings. In particular, he asserts that his indictment was based solely on hearsay testimony given by an agent having no personal knowledge of the alleged acts; that the grand jury was never clearly informed that the agent's testimony was hearsay; and that the prosecutor, herself, was the true witness because the agent's testimony was presented through leading questions. He contends that the single-witness policy undermines the grand jury process, prevents the grand jurors from evaluating the credibility of witnesses and the strength of evidence, and shields the government's trial witnesses from cross examination based on their grand jury testimony. 11 The government admits to a policy of using a single witness before the grand jury in narcotics cases where the defendant is already under arrest. According to the government, the practice is simply an efficient and effective means of obtaining indictments within the required ten days of arrest, particularly because the Narcotics Special Grand Jury meets only twice a week. Thus, the government explains, the practice of presenting evidence through a single witness, usually the case agent, provides the best information quickly and accurately to the grand jury. 12 As to Carhuapoma in particular, the government admits that it presented only hearsay evidence to the grand jury. It explains that the case agent was unavailable to testify at the scheduled time, so another agent, who had worked on the case and had some direct knowledge of Salcedo's participation, was used; that the grand jurors were warned, directly prior to the agent's testimony about Carhuapoma, that his testimony was hearsay; that the agent never represented to the grand jury that he had personal knowledge of Carhuapoma's conduct; and that the prosecutor reminded the grand jury that it could bring in eye witnesses if it so desired. 13 As we see it, there is a great deal to criticize in the government's handling of this grand jury proceeding. The single-witness policy routinely relies on hearsay, producing  'evidence' which appears smooth, well integrated and consistent, making even weak cases appear strong. United States v. Arcuri, 282 F.Supp. 347, 349 (E.D.N.Y.), aff'd, 405 F.2d 691 (2d Cir.1968), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 913, 89 S.Ct. 1760, 23 L.Ed.2d 227 (1969). It also prevents the defendant from utilizing grand jury testimony in cross-examining witnesses who will testify at trial. Id. at 349-50. 14 Moreover, contrary to the government's own standard practice, it was not the case agent who testified before this grand jury. The agent who did testify had little personal knowledge of the actions of any of the defendants; no good reason was offered for the case agent's absence; and the case agent could not recall why he did not testify. In addition, the prosecutor presented many of the details of the case in the form of leading questions, while the testifying agent merely confirmed those details by answering yes. Furthermore, prior to presenting the evidence against Carhuapoma, the prosecutor gave questionable instructions to the grand jury: she phrased the hearsay warning about the agent's testimony in the past tense, implying that the forthcoming testimony would not be hearsay; she illustrated the concept of hearsay with the agent's prior testimony, inadvertently vouching for the prior testimony; and she followed a reminder about the grand jury's right to call eye witnesses with a disclaimer that hearsay evidence was perfectly appropriate, thus diminishing the importance of direct evidence. 15 We look with disfavor on all of these shortcomings. We have previously condemned the casual attitude with respect to the presentation of evidence to a grand jury manifested by the decision    to rely on testimony of the law enforcement officer who knew least, rather than subject the other officers    to some minor inconvenience. Estepa, 471 F.2d at 1135; see United States v. Arcuri, 405 F.2d at 694; see also United States v. Borelli, 336 F.2d 376, 391-92 (2d Cir.1964), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 960, 85 S.Ct. 647, 13 L.Ed.2d 555 (1965). Moreover, leading questions tend to mute one of the chief functions of the grand jury, the evaluation of the strength of the evidence and the credibility of witnesses. And careless instructions, such as those given here, tend to hamper the grand jury's understanding of the importance of evaluating the reliability of the evidence and to discourage it from demanding eye witness testimony. 16 Such an ill-planned presentation raises concerns that the United States Attorney's Office may again be leaning toward a casual, anything goes attitude with respect to grand jury proceedings. Finally, although the single-witness policy provides an efficient means for obtaining indictments in our overcrowded criminal justice system, we must be wary that we do not exalt expedience at the expense of fundamental fairness nor abandon the virtues of the grand jury process to the unreviewed control of the prosecutor. 17 Despite these failings, however, we cannot conclude at this time either that the single-witness policy constitutes such systematic and pervasive prosecutorial misconduct as would undermine fundamental fairness, or that the rights of either defendant were violated before the grand jury. The testifying agent did establish that his testimony about Carhuapoma and Salcedo was derived from conversations with other agents and from a review of the case file; the prosecutor did warn the grand jurors, however clumsily, about the hearsay nature of the agent's testimony; and most importantly, the agent's testimony to the grand jury was concededly accurate. Thus, we cannot say that the grand jury was misinformed or misled in this case, or that there was prejudice to the defendants, who were convicted after a full and fair trial. We therefore--not with great enthusiasm--decline to exercise our supervisory power in this case.