Opinion ID: 482850
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Proof of Violation of Sec. 241

Text: 39 In light of our conclusion, the question remaining is whether the government demonstrated that either Falcaro or Daoud was an American citizen beyond a reasonable doubt. Khaled Daoud was a Jordanian citizen present in the United States on a non-immigrant visa at the time of his murder. The citizenship of Falcaro is less clear. Falcaro's wife testified that at the time of his death her hushand resided in Nassau County, was licensed by New York State as an automobile dealer, and paid both state and federal taxes. By special verdict, the jury found Falcaro to be an American citizen based on this testimony. 40 The evidence as to both victims fails to satisfy the government's burden of proof. Daoud is a Jordanian citizen, not an American citizen. The jury found that Falcaro was a United States citizen, but on the evidence presented, no rational jury could have found Falcaro to be a citizen beyond a reasonable doubt. In light of the scant trial evidence on this issue, we hold that it was insufficient as a matter of law to support the convictions of appellants Borelli and Ustica under Sec. 241. Accordingly, those convictions must be reversed. III The Government's Alleged Misconduct 41 In his 1983 sworn statement and grand jury testimony, a key government witness, Dominick Montiglio, failed to implicate his uncle, defendant Anthony Gaggi, in the car theft conspiracy. But at trial Montiglio testified extensively regarding Gaggi's involvement in the cars-to-Kuwait ring. When cross-examined by defense counsel about his earlier silence, Montiglio replied that he had lied to the grand jury. Montiglio also stated that he had told the government about his perjury a week before he testified at the trial. On re-direct, the witness stated that in his earlier interviews with the government he had hoped by his silence to protect his uncle. 42 Appellant Gaggi contends that the government violated its duty under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), by failing to disclose Montiglio's perjury. Such failure, the defense maintains, led it to open the door to the damaging re-direct testimony of protection-by-silence that defense counsel would have avoided at all costs. Gaggi further claims that the government knew that even Montiglio's explanation on re-direct was itself perjurious, and accordingly, that he is entitled to a new trial under United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976). A. The Government's Brady Obligations 43 Due process imposes upon the government an obligation to disclose material evidence favorable to an accused. Brady, 373 U.S. at 87, 83 S.Ct. at 1196. The duty to disclose encompasses not only exculpatory evidence, but also evidence that may be used to impeach a government witness. Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 154, 92 S.Ct. 763, 766, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972). At the same time, the prosecutor is not required to deliver his entire file to defense counsel. United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 3380, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985). A new trial is required only if the government withholds material Brady evidence. Bagley, 105 S.Ct. at 3384. 44 Appellant Gaggi does not claim that the prosecutor improperly withheld exculpatory or impeachment evidence. Rather, the complaint is that the prosecutor failed to disclose evidence to the defense which, had it been aware of, it would have used to avoid Montiglio's damaging explanation on re-direct. Thus, the claimed error was the government's failure to disclose information that might have been helpful to the defense in conducting its cross-examination of a government witness. See Bagley, 105 S.Ct. at 3381. 45 As the government correctly observes, no Brady violation occurs if the defendant knew or should have known the essential facts permitting him to take advantage of any exculpatory evidence. United States v. LeRoy, 687 F.2d 610, 618 (2d Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1174, 103 S.Ct. 823, 74 L.Ed.2d 1019 (1983); United States v. Stewart, 513 F.2d 957, 960 (2d Cir.1975). Here, appellant Gaggi received before trial copies of all of Montiglio's statements and interviews with the government and his testimony before the grand jury. From these documents defense counsel was able to draw his own conclusions regarding Montiglio's prior silence. The only fact defense counsel did not have was Montiglio's own characterization of his testimony before the grand jury as perjury. Yet, while the government has a duty to be forthcoming with favorable evidence, it is not required to draw inferences from that evidence which defense counsel is in an equal position to draw. It was obvious to defense counsel that Montiglio's sworn trial testimony was totally at odds with his earlier sworn statements. When the road to what defense counsel thinks is potential perjury is so plainly marked, the government need not supply a map. We see no violation by the government of its Brady obligations. B. The Government's Mooney Duties 46 Under Mooney v. Holohan, 294 U.S. 103, 112, 55 S.Ct. 340, 341, 79 L.Ed.2d 791 (1935) (per curiam), the prosecution has a duty to refrain from eliciting and relying upon testimony known to be perjurious. A new trial is required if the government uses perjured testimony that is uncorrected and reasonably likely to have affected the outcome. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. at 103, 96 S.Ct. at 2397; see Giglio, 405 U.S. at 154, 92 S.Ct. at 766. 47 Appellant Gaggi argues that Montiglio's explanation that he remained silent in 1983 to protect Gaggi is perjurious because Montiglio actually inculpated his uncle in serious crimes during both his grand jury testimony and his government interview. Gaggi maintains that the government, aware of this fact, knowingly relied on this perjurious testimony. The government, on the other hand, asserts that Montiglio never told it before trial that he had committed perjury in his earlier statements. Further, the government insists that Montiglio's explanation is truthful. 48 Ruling on this question below, Judge Duffy declined to make a determination as to the credibility of Dominick Montiglio as a matter of law, preferring to leave this as a fact for the jury. We agree with the district court's disposition of this question concluding, as it did, that there is insufficient evidence in the record to permit a finding of perjury as a matter of law. Accordingly, Gaggi's Mooney claim must fail. IV Evidentiary Contentions 49 Two evidentiary rulings of the district court are challenged. Such rulings are treated with deference on appeal, particularly with respect to questions of relevancy. United States v. Southland, 760 F.2d 1366, 1375 (2d Cir.) (Friendly, J.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 82, 88 L.Ed.2d 67 (1985). Similarly, Fed.R.Evid. 403 gives the trial court broad discretion to weigh the probative value of evidence against its possible prejudicial effect and to determine whether, on balance, the evidence should be admitted or excluded. United States v. Martinez, 775 F.2d 31, 37 (2d Cir.1985). Because the trial court is in a superior position to evaluate the likely impact of the evidence, its evidentiary rulings are seldom overturned. United States v. Esdaille, 769 F.2d 104, 108 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 258, 88 L.Ed.2d 264 (1985); United States v. Robinson, 560 F.2d 507, 514-15 (2d Cir.1977) (en banc), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 905, 98 S.Ct. 1451, 55 L.Ed.2d 496 (1978). A. Borelli's New Jersey Conviction 50 On August 4, 1981 in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Borelli pled guilty to participation in a car-theft conspiracy. Judge Duffy admitted that judgment of conviction into evidence against Borelli without a limiting instruction. Borelli claims that use of the conviction is barred by the terms of his plea agreement. Alternatively he argues that the conviction was other crimes evidence, Fed.R.Evid. 404(b), that should have been accompanied by an instruction cautioning the jury against considering it as proof of his criminal propensities. 51 The first argument rests on a statement made by the District of New Jersey judge during a Rule 11 inquiry (Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(e)(1)(B)) to determine the court's acceptance of Borelli's plea. At one point that court stated: 52 Your plea or offer to plead, as well as anything else you say here under oath in your lawyer's presence cannot be used against you in any criminal proceeding other than the one we're concerned with right now. Do you understand that? 53 Borelli's contention that this statement barred Judge Duffy from admitting his New Jersey conviction into evidence miscomprehends the nature of a Rule 11 inquiry. The statement made in the District Court of New Jersey signifies that any statements made by Borelli during his guilty plea allocution could not be used against him in a subsequent criminal proceeding. It does not mean that the government is forever foreclosed from proving the fact of conviction from the public records. Because the trial evidence challenged in the instant case consisted only of the fact of conviction, not the minutes of the guilty plea allocution, its use was not barred by Borelli's plea agreement. 54 Again, as the government correctly points out, the court in New Jersey read from the bench the following excerpt from Borelli's plea agreement: The agreement further states that it's limited to the U.S. Attorney's Office in this district and cannot bind other Federal, state or local prosecuting authorities. That is the limit of their jurisdiction. We enforce such clauses. See, e.g., United States v. Persico, 774 F.2d 30, 33 (2d Cir.1985). Thus, Judge Duffy did not abuse his discretion in allowing the New Jersey conviction into evidence. 55 Moreover, appellant Borelli was not entitled to a similar acts or other crimes limiting instruction. His conviction was not admitted to show his criminal propensity, but was instead direct evidence of his involvement in the larger conspiracy. See United States v. Paoli, 603 F.2d 1029, 1035 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 926, 100 S.Ct. 264, 62 L.Ed.2d 182 (1979) (testimony regarding narcotics transaction was not other crimes evidence, but direct proof of the conspiracy charged.). Accordingly, no limiting instruction was required. B. The Scorney Murder 56 Joseph Scorney, a car thief working with some members of the emerging cars-to-Kuwait scheme, was murdered by his accomplice Vito Arena in 1978. Defendant Turekian allegedly participated in the murder by serving as a look-out, supplying the murder weapon, and assisting in the body's disposal. Testimony at trial revealed various possible reasons for Scorney's murder. For example, he had resisted the operation's change from a group of local thieves to a larger and more organized car theft ring, had threatened to kill another accomplice's children if anything happened to his car, was planning to set-up Arena so that Arena would be excluded from the operation, had refused to participate in the exportation of stolen cars and had caused tension and competition among the other street auto thieves by his presence. 57 The district court found the evidence concerning the Scorney murder relevant to the formation and early stages of the stolen car conspiracy because such testimony indicated that Scorney was murdered in order to pave the road for the participation of other more willing co-conspirators, such as Arena. Judge Duffy also concluded that the evidence's probative value outweighed the danger of unfair prejudice. See United States v. Birney, 686 F.2d 102, 106 (2d Cir.1982) (weighing these competing interests rests in sound discretion of trial court). 58 On appeal, Turekian argues that the district court's finding simply ignores Frederick DiNome's testimony that Scorney was not killed over cars. Appellant maintains here, as he did below, that evidence of the murder was irrelevant to the stolen car charges on trial and that its admission was highly prejudicial. Even were this argument accepted at face value, it would not dispel the existence of other testimony linking Scorney's murder to the conspiracy. Because some of the reasons for Scorney being killed are relevant to the conspiracy's formation and development, the district court did not act arbitrarily or irrationally in admitting evidence of Scorney's murder. See United States v. Tramunti, 513 F.2d 1087, 1118 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 832, 96 S.Ct. 54, 46 L.Ed.2d 50 (1975) (co-conspirator's murder admissible as evidence of the means taken in furtherance of conspiracy goals.). 59 Finally, Turekian claims that without the evidence of his participation in the Scorney murder there is insufficient independent, non-hearsay evidence of his membership in the car ring to render declarations of co-conspirators admissible against him under United States v. Geaney, 417 F.2d 1116 (2d Cir.1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1028, 90 S.Ct. 1276, 25 L.Ed.2d 539 (1970). As the evidence of Turekian's participation in the Scorney murder was properly admissible, we need not address this issue. V The Jury Instructions 60 During deliberations the jury requested additional instructions on aiding and abetting. The trial court responded by giving a supplemental charge that included examples of stolen car offenses. One such illustration focused on supplying illegal emission stickers. Because his alleged participation in the conspiracy consisted mainly of supplying illegal emission stickers, Rendini claims that this supplemental charge unduly prejudiced him before the jury. Similarly, Turekian, who was convicted of mail fraud for submitting fraudulent insurance claims to Aetna, now argues that the district court's instructions on mail fraud improperly allowed the jury to find him guilty without the requisite mens rea. 61 The effect of these challenged instructions is determined in light of the well-established proposition that a single instruction to a jury may not be judged in artificial isolation, but must be viewed in the context of the overall charge. Cupp v. Naughten, 414 U.S. 141, 146-47, 94 S.Ct. 396, 400, 38 L.Ed.2d 368 (1973). Accord United States v. Gleason, 616 F.2d 2, 14 (2d Cir.1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1082, 100 S.Ct. 1037, 62 L.Ed.2d 767 (1980). 62 Taking up Rendini's challenge, it has been said that examples paralleling the facts of the case under consideration by a jury are disfavored. See, e.g., Gleason, 616 F.2d at 14; United States v. Dizdar, 581 F.2d 1031, 1037 (2d Cir.1978). In the case at bar the example was highly analogous to the facts inculpating Rendini; as such it was more likely to be prejudicial than helpful, particularly when other non-prejudicial examples were available. Nonetheless, the error does not require reversal. Viewing the entire charge in context, the example given by the trial court loses any serious prejudicial effect. The jury was adequately advised of the law of aiding and abetting, and was warned repeatedly not to equate the examples given with the facts in the case before it. Moreover, other non-prejudicial examples were also provided. Thus, while the emission sticker example was ill-advised, whatever prejudice it may have occasioned was harmless when viewing the charge as a whole. 63 We also decline to upset Turekian's conviction. The mail fraud charge, viewed as a whole, was proper; in fact, it parallels the standard approved instructions on this subject. See, e.g., United States v. London, 753 F.2d 202, 206-07 (2d Cir.1985). The trial court in addition specifically instructed the jury that in order to find defendant Turekian guilty, it had to find that he acted knowingly and willfully and with a specific intent to defraud. Hence, the charge properly instructed the jury on the requisite mens rea to convict the defendant for mail fraud. VI The Sentences 64 Appellants Ustica, Borelli, and Rendini seek to vacate their sentences. They assert that the district court sentenced them in a mechanistic manner, failing to exercise its sentencing discretion. Rendini also argues that his sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Yet, absent a claim that the sentence was illegally imposed, in excess of the applicable statutory maximum, based upon materially incorrect information, or the result of a constitutionally defective sentencing procedure, ordinarily we decline to interfere with the exercise of a trial court's sentencing discretion. United States v. Slocum, 695 F.2d 650, 657 (2d Cir.1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1015, 103 S.Ct. 1260, 75 L.Ed.2d 487 (1983); accord Dorszynski v. United States, 418 U.S. 424, 431, 94 S.Ct. 3042, 3046, 41 L.Ed.2d 855 (1974) ([O]nce it is determined that a sentence is within the limitations set forth in the statute under which it is imposed, appellate review is at an end.). 65 Looking first at appellant Ustica's sentencing allocution, the trial court did not act mechanistically in imposing concurrent five and ten-year terms. It found that without Ustica's key role in the conspiracy as a car dealer there could not have been a successful operation. Thus, it properly centered on Ustica's individual participation before sentencing him. Turning next to appellant Borelli, it was within the trial court's discretion to impose consecutive 10-year sentences for each of this defendant's convictions under Sec. 2314. Given that each count represented a discrete segment of Borelli's criminal activities, it was appropriate to impose a separate term for each conviction. With regard to appellant Rendini, who also received a ten-year sentence for each Sec. 2314 conviction, Judge Duffy particularly noted that Rendini supplied arms to his co-conspirators which were used in the commission of the homicides. Rendini's argument that his conviction and sentence resulted from Pinkerton principles of vicarious accessorial liability--even if true--is of no help to him. Consecutive sentences may properly be imposed upon such type of culpability. See Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, 645-48, 66 S.Ct. 1180, 1183, 90 L.Ed. 1489 (1946); United States v. Crosby, 314 F.2d 654, 657 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 373 U.S. 923, 83 S.Ct. 1523, 10 L.Ed.2d 421 (1963). In setting Rendini's sentence, the district court also considered Rendini's flagrant dealing in narcotics from the courthouse telephones during his trial. Under these circumstances, the district court plainly did in fact consider the individual role played by each defendant and acted within its discretionary power in imposing sentence. See Dorszynski v. United States, 418 U.S. at 431, 94 S.Ct. at 3046. 66 Finally, we must decide whether appellant Rendini's sentence is so disproportionate that it violates the Eighth Amendment. United States v. Ortiz, 742 F.2d 712, 714 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1075, 105 S.Ct. 573, 83 L.Ed.2d 513 (1984). The factors to be considered in evaluating proportionality include the gravity of the offense, the harshness of the penalty, and the sentences imposed on other criminals for the same crime. Solem v. Helm, 463 U.S. 277, 292, 103 S.Ct. 3001, 3010, 77 L.Ed.2d 637 (1983). The Supreme Court has warned that we should not substitute our judgment for that of the sentencing court, but when applying the Eighth Amendment to decide only whether the sentence is within constitutional limits; a review that rarely requires extended analysis. Solem, 463 U.S. at 290 n. 16, 103 S.Ct. at 3009 n. 16. 67 In considering the gravity of Rendini's offense, the violent nature of the car theft conspiracy, the danger it represented to the community, and the continued disrespect for the law Rendini exhibited by engaging in narcotics transactions during his trial are all strongly persuasive factors. Regarding the claimed harshness of the penalty, Rendini did receive the maximum statutory prison term, but he was not fined to the statutory limit. Although a review of similar sentences for the same crime reveals that his sentence is longer than the average sentence imposed in similar cases, the heavier sentence is properly justified by the particularly violent nature of the conspiracy. See Ortiz, 742 F.2d at 717 (a sentence which was double the average sentence imposed was not disproportionate). In sum, there is no constitutional basis for reversing the sentence imposed inasmuch as it falls within statutory limits and is not grossly disproportionate to the seriousness of the offense.