Opinion ID: 409612
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The MR. JAKE Trial

Text: 31 At the MR. JAKE trial, Troutwein and Weaver indeed repeated their testimony concerning the activities of Kalish, Doc, Peaches, Stockton, and McCormick prior to December 11. There were few variations. 5 This time the December 6 payment of $1,000 was given in connection with unloading the MR. JAKE; the EL COBRE was not mentioned. As for the December 8 meeting, only the $1,000,000 offer concerning the MR. JAKE was described. In describing the activities of December 10, Troutwein told of Kalish's request for a boat, his phone call to Weaver, and the events surrounding the sale of the MISS CLARA; only the mission of the MISS CLARA was omitted. Troutwein filled in the details of the meeting with Stockton and McCormick and testified that the amount of the good faith money given for the MR. JAKE operation was $20,000. 32 Troutwein also testified about the December 13 meeting with Kalish, during which Kalish promised that he was getting money from New York to pay for both the MR. JAKE operation and the balance of the sale price of the MISS CLARA. On December 14, either Peaches or Doc brought Troutwein $5,000 of the money from New York as a partial advance payment for refueling the MR. JAKE. On December 16, Kalish returned to the marina with Judd McCormick and a man named Barry. Kalish gave Troutwein $10,000 more for fuel, $5,000 more for the MISS CLARA, and $1,000 to make alterations on the dock for the unloading of the MR. JAKE. Finally, Troutwein testified to Doc's reappearance to spend the night keeping an eye on things shortly before the MR. JAKE was to be unloaded.C. One Conspiracy or Two ? 33 The commission of crimes at different times does not necessarily prove that the crimes were carried out by different conspiracies. A conspiracy is an unlawful agreement; if the same unlawful agreement has as its object the commission of crimes on different occasions, there is still but one conspiracy. See United States v. Marable, 578 F.2d 151, 153 (5th Cir. 1978). 6 34 It is always difficult to identify the objects of and the parties to an unlawful agreement. Therefore, the courts must look to circumstantial evidence to determine the conspiracy's scope. In United States v. Marable, we listed five factors that help determine whether there is but a single conspiracy: 35 (1) time, (2) persons acting as co-conspirators, (3) the statutory offenses charged in the indictments, (4) the overt acts charged by the government or any other description of the offense charged which indicates the nature and scope of the activity which the government sought to punish in each case, and (5) places where the events alleged as part of the conspiracy took place. 36 578 F.2d at 154. We examine these factors in turn. 37 1. Time -The EL COBRE indictment alleges a conspiracy From an unknown time and continuing (until) December 10, 1979; the MR. JAKE indictment, From an unknown time and continuing until December 19, 1979. The proof of both conspiracies at trial began with the same event: Kalish's approach to Troutwein in August 1979. 38 In the district court, the government argued that the seizure of the EL COBRE and the arrest of its crew was an event that destroyed the first conspiracy. While we do not quarrel with the proposition that such an event can sometimes terminate a conspiracy, there is no evidence in this record that a termination occurred here. To the contrary, Kalish made arrangements with Troutwein for both the EL COBRE and the MR. JAKE before the EL COBRE seizure, and almost always made the arrangements simultaneously; after the EL COBRE seizure, the MR. JAKE operation continued as planned. 39 We think that the proximity of events tends to support the existence of a single conspiracy. 40 2. Personnel -The EL COBRE indictment names Kalish and four others who were not named in the MR. JAKE indictment. The four were those found on board the EL COBRE. We do not think it very significant that these four arrestees were absent from the MR. JAKE unloading nine days later. 41 The government's evidence demonstrated that several of the more important conspirators-Kalish, Peaches, Doc, and the pilot of the MISS CLARA-were participants in both crimes. Most of the other persons arrested were more minor players-the crew of the EL COBRE, the crew of the MR. JAKE, and about two dozen individuals hired to work as longshoremen and truck drivers on the MR. JAKE offloading. That the conspiracy must take on additional members to accomplish one of its objects does not in itself establish a different conspiracy. See, e.g., United States v. Michel, 588 F.2d 986, 995 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 825, 100 S.Ct. 47, 62 L.Ed.2d 32 (1979). 42 3. The underlying statutory offenses are, of course, identical. 43 4. Acts charged in the indictment and those proved at trial -The EL COBRE indictment charged Kalish with the overt act of purchasing the MISS CLARA to rendezvous with the EL COBRE. The purchase of the MISS CLARA, though not its purpose, was proved at the MR. JAKE trial. The MR. JAKE indictment alleged no overt acts. 44 At both trials, the same acts were presented as proof of the conspiracy: the surveillance by Doc and Peaches in August 1979; the $1,000 payment to Troutwein on December 6; the meeting at the marina on December 8. Kalish's August statements about smuggling marijuana were introduced at both trials. The evidence at the MR. JAKE trial tended to show that Kalish's funds for the purchase of the MISS CLARA and the fuel for the MR. JAKE came from the same source. 45 The government points out that a single act can be performed in furtherance of two separate conspiracies. But this general proposition proves nothing: a single act can also be performed in furtherance of a single conspiracy. The government fails to point to any direct or circumstantial evidence that there were, in fact, two separate conspiracies. 46 5. Geography -The EL COBRE indictment alleges that the events occurred On the high seas and elsewhere; the MR. JAKE indictment, Within the Southern District of Texas and elsewhere. The proof at the EL COBRE trial showed that the elsewhere was the Southern District of Texas and Colombia; the proof at the MR. JAKE trial showed that the elsewhere was the high seas and Colombia. The geographic locations were thus identical. 47 As we have said, when a defendant establishes a prima facie, nonfrivolous double jeopardy claim on a pretrial motion, the burden is on the government to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the indictments charge different conspiracies. See United States v. Stricklin, 591 F.2d at 1117-18. We conclude that the government never met its pretrial burden. While the scope of a conspiracy is rarely clear-cut, we must conclude that the evidence in the record tends to show that Kalish was involved in a single, continuing conspiracy to import marijuana and to possess it with intent to distribute. 7 (T)he participants shared a continuing, common goal of buying and selling marijuana for profit; the operations of the conspiracy followed an unbroken and repetitive pattern; and the cast of conspirators remained much the same. United States v. Ruigomez, 576 F.2d 1149, 1151 (5th Cir. 1978). Therefore, Kalish's trial on the conspiracy counts of the MR. JAKE indictment was barred by the double jeopardy clause. 48 D. Waiver of Double Jeopardy ? 49 The government argues that Kalish waived his double jeopardy claim because (1) he filed a successful motion in limine to exclude any evidence concerning the MR. JAKE episode from the EL COBRE trial on the ground that the two events involved separate conspiracies and (2) he did not request a consolidation of the two indictments. We do not think that this action and omission, either separately or cumulatively, constitute waiver. 50 At the time he filed his motion in limine Kalish was facing two trials on two indictments. It was the two indictments that defined the EL COBRE operation and the MR. JAKE operation as separate conspiracies. The EL COBRE indictment alleged a conspiracy concerning the 40,000 pounds of marijuana seized aboard the EL COBRE; the MR. JAKE indictment alleged a conspiracy concerning the 100,000 pounds of marijuana seized aboard the MR. JAKE. Given that the government was alleging that there were two separate conspiracies, we cannot fault Kalish for arguing that acts in furtherance of one alleged conspiracy should not be introduced as acts in furtherance of another alleged conspiracy. Kalish could not know at the time whether any claim of double jeopardy at the MR. JAKE trial would be successful. Whether the trial court ruled correctly on Kalish's EL COBRE motion, or whether the government could have introduced the MR. JAKE evidence as proof of similar acts, see Fed.R.Evid. 404(b), are issues not properly before us. 51 Nor do we think that Kalish had any responsibility to suggest the possibility of consolidation to the government. The government had chosen to plead two separate conspiracies; Kalish could properly assume that the government would attempt to prove two separate conspiracies. We think it an unusual proposition that a defendant must inform the government of the true nature of the crimes. The government's reliance on Jeffers v. United States, 432 U.S. 137, 97 S.Ct. 2207, 53 L.Ed.2d 168 (1977), is misplaced. In Jeffers, a four-Member plurality of the Supreme Court decided that a defendant waived his double jeopardy claim when he actively opposed the government's motion to consolidate two indictments charging greater and lesser included offenses. See id. at 152-54, 97 S.Ct. at 2217-18. Kalish did not oppose any effort by the government to resolve the double jeopardy problem; there was none. 52 We recognize that the Jeffers plurality responded to the defendant's argument that he had a valid ground for opposing consolidation-the prejudicial joinder of co-defendants-by pointing out that the defendant could have moved for a severance rather than opposing the motion to consolidate, see id. at 143, 153 n.21, 97 S.Ct. at 2212, 2217 n.21, and by declaring that the defendant had a responsibility to bring the (double jeopardy) issue to the District Court's attention at the time of the consolidation motion, id. at 154 n.22, 97 S.Ct. at 2218 n.22. We do not think, however, that this part of Jeffers' rationale can be extended to Kalish's case. 8 To require a defendant facing two conspiracy indictments to make the initial motion to consolidate because there is only one conspiracy is to require him to inform the government that it misapprehends the facts. By contrast, the Jeffers plurality was merely pointing out that the defendant could have preserved his double jeopardy rights and avoided prejudicial joinder by requesting a severance rather than opposing the consolidation that would have resolved the double jeopardy problem. 53 We hold that Kalish did not waive his double jeopardy claim.