Opinion ID: 1442633
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Indictments' Dismissal with Prejudice

Text: Although we conclude from the foregoing that the district court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the indictments against respondent Babayan, our inquiry is not at an end. We now must determine whether it was an abuse of discretion for the district court to dismiss the indictments with prejudice. It is generally recognized in the federal system that: The extreme sanction of dismissal of an indictment is justified in order to achieve one or both of two objectives: first, to eliminate prejudice to a defendant in a criminal prosecution; second, to help translate the assurances of the United States Attorneys into consistent performances by their assistants. United States v. Lawson, 502 F. Supp. 158, 169 (D.Md. 1980) (quoting United States v. Fields, 592 F.2d 638, 647 (2d Cir.1978) (footnotes omitted)). At the state level, the dismissal of an indictment serves equally well to eliminate prejudice to a defendant and to curb the prosecutorial excesses of a District Attorney or his staff. Nonetheless, and as in the federal court system, a dismissal with prejudice at the state level is most appropriate upon a finding of aggravated circumstances and only after a balancing of its deterrent objectives with the interest of society in prosecuting those who violate its laws. Id. at 171-73. Clearly, dismissal with prejudice is warranted when the evidence against a defendant is irrevocably tainted or the defendant's case on the merits is prejudiced to the extent that notions of due process and fundamental fairness would preclude reindictment. Id. at 172 (citations omitted). In dismissing the indictments against respondent Babayan with prejudice, the district court found that the District Attorney's Office was guilty of misconduct that went beyond mere negligence. As we have previously indicated, however, the evidence does not support the district court's findings of intentional misconduct by either District Attorney Mills Lane or his staff. Nor do we believe that the evidence supports the district court's finding of a clear pattern of misconduct by the District Attorney's Office. The district court also found that the prosecutorial misconduct directed towards respondent Babayan rose to a constitutional level as it violated his right to due process. Although we agree that portions of the prosecution's presentations before the grand jury were deficient and denied respondent Babayan due process of law, the denial of due process before the grand jury, in and of itself, does not mandate dismissal with prejudice. If it did, then every instance in which a prosecutor failed to present exculpatory evidence or was otherwise deficient in presenting the State's position, would require that indictment to be dismissed with prejudice. Although errors occurred in this case, dismissal without prejudice will remedy the derelictions in the absence of an irremedial evidentiary taint or prejudice to the defendant's case on the merits. Id. Respondent Babayan contends that the clinicians, and hence the State, have irreparably altered the accurate recollections of the children by their coercive techniques and leading questions. [6] We disagree. It was the considered opinion of three nationally recognized child abuse experts, to whose selection both parties agreed, that six of the nine children they evaluated were competent to testify at trial. Thus, sufficient untainted evidence is apparently available to permit the State to proceed anew if it elects to do so. Accordingly, we conclude that the district court's decision to dismiss the indictments with prejudice is neither supported by the evidence or the law and, therefore, that the district court abused its discretion in so holding.