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

Heading: Refusal of Immunity

Text: 92 Defendants' next claim of error pertains to the extortionate credit transaction involving a $200,000 loan to Joseph Palladino. To counter the government's evidence relating to this transaction, defendants intended to introduce the testimony of the alleged victim, Joseph Palladino, that he was not a loansharking victim at all, but rather a party to a legitimate business transaction with the defendants. Before calling Palladino to the stand, the defense moved to limit the government's cross-examination of Palladino to the subject of his intended direct examination--his alleged status as a loanshark victim. The motion informed the court that Palladino would assert his fifth amendment privilege in response to all other areas of inquiry. When this motion was denied, defendants then moved for judicial immunity for Palladino, claiming that he possessed exculpatory information and would not testify in the absence of immunity for fear of future prosecution. This motion also was denied, and Palladino did not testify. Defendants argue that the trial court's failure to order immunity denied them a fair trial on the count alleging the $200,000 extortionate loan to Palladino. 93 The government's response to this contention is simply that the trial court lacked the authority to grant or order use immunity for Palladino. We find this response inadequate to refute defendants' contentions on the immunity issue. Although it is clear that the district court lacked authority to grant immunity itself under the use immunity statute, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 6003(b), see United States v. Doe, 465 U.S. 605, 616-17, 104 S.Ct. 1237, 1244-45, 79 L.Ed.2d 552 (1984); Pillsbury Co. v. Conboy, 459 U.S. 248, 103 S.Ct. 608, 74 L.Ed.2d 430 (1983), it is a more difficult question whether the trial court had power, on fifth or sixth amendment grounds, to require a grant of immunity if the defendants' constitutional rights were being violated by the government's refusal to provide immunity. 94 A number of our sister circuits have considered this question, and two theories have emerged under which defendants would be entitled to a grant of immunity for prospective witnesses. The first theory, accepted in only a small minority of cases, can be labeled the effective defense theory; it holds that a court has the inherent power to immunize witnesses whose testimony is essential to an effective defense. The second theory, accepted by a number of circuits, can be called the prosecutorial misconduct theory; it holds that a court has the power to order the government to grant statutory immunity to a witness (or face a judgment of acquittal) where there exists prosecutorial misconduct arising from the government's deliberate intent to distort the fact-finding process. See, e.g., United States v. Pennell, 737 F.2d 521, 526 (6th Cir.1984) (describing the two theories), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1158, 105 S.Ct. 906, 83 L.Ed.2d 921 (1985); United States v. Turkish, 623 F.2d 769, 773 (2d Cir.1980) (same), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1077, 101 S.Ct. 856, 66 L.Ed.2d 800 (1981); see also United States v. Hooks, 848 F.2d 785, 803 (7th Cir.1988). In prior cases, we have acknowledged briefly the existence of these two theories, but have not discussed them in much depth, due to the defendants' clear failure to satisfy the requirements of either theory. See United States v. Drape, 668 F.2d 22, 26-27 (1st Cir.1982); United States v. Davis, 623 F.2d 188, 193 (1st Cir.1980). Defendants' allegations in this case warrant our examination of the theories in greater detail.
95 The effective defense theory was articulated by the Third Circuit in Government of the Virgin Islands v. Smith, 615 F.2d 964 (3d Cir.1980) and holds that: 96 when it is found that a potential defense witness can offer testimony which is clearly exculpatory and essential to the defense case and when the government has no strong interest in withholding use immunity, the court should grant judicial immunity to the witness in order to vindicate the defendant's constitutional right to a fair trial. 97 Id. at 974. Under this theory, the court itself has the inherent power to grant immunity. The power is grounded in a defendant's due process right to have exculpatory evidence presented to the jury. See id. at 969 et seq. 98 This theory has been rejected by virtually every other court that has considered the issue. See, e.g., United States v. Paris, 827 F.2d 395, 399 (9th Cir.1987); United States v. Tindle, 808 F.2d 319, 325 n. 4 (4th Cir.1986) (noting that the effective defense theory has been soundly criticized and is clearly the minority view, and citing cases); United States v. Sawyer, 799 F.2d 1494, 1506 (11th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1069, 107 S.Ct. 961, 93 L.Ed.2d 1009 (1987); Pennell, 737 F.2d at 527; United States v. Mendia, 731 F.2d 1412, 1414 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1035, 105 S.Ct. 509, 83 L.Ed.2d 399 (1984); Turkish, 623 F.2d at 775-77. One of the most frequent rationales articulated in opposition to the theory is that it would pose separation of power problems for courts to assume inherent authority to grant judicial immunity themselves. The rationale is that the power to grant witness immunity is of legislative origin, and was granted to the executive branch. For the judiciary to exercise this power in the absence of a legislative grant would violate separation of power principles. See, e.g., Pennell, 737 F.2d at 527; see also Mendia, 731 F.2d at 1414. In addition to separation of power difficulties, those critical of the theory have articulated certain practical considerations that militate against courts' assuming the power to grant immunity to witnesses who possess exculpatory information. The Second Circuit has observed that acceptance of the effective defense theory would force judges to balance a defendant's need for particular witnesses against the prosecutor's reasons for not seeking immunity for the witnesses herself--an exercise not well-suited for judicial decisionmaking. See Turkish, 623 F.2d at 775-77; see also Pennell, 737 F.2d at 527-28 (articulating additional practical considerations). 99 We find these arguments to have considerable force and accordingly have substantial reservations about the effective defense theory. Even, however, if we accepted the theory as articulated by the Third Circuit in Government of Virgin Islands v. Smith, 615 F.2d 964, the defendants here would not satisfy its requirements. The Third Circuit stated in Smith that before a court should invoke any inherent power to grant immunity, it must be found that the prospective witness would offer clearly exculpatory and essential testimony and that the government has no strong interest in withholding immunity. See id. at 974. Accepting, for the sake of discussion only, that Palladino would have offered essential and exculpatory testimony, the defendants' immunity argument falls under the second requirement. Unlike in Smith, the government here has presented a number of significant reasons for withholding immunity. Specifically, the government has indicated a desire not to hinder possible future prosecutions of Palladino for alleged involvement in other organized crime activities, for a variety of likely tax violations, and for probable violations of state laws. These reasons certainly are adequate to constitute a strong governmental interest in withholding immunity. We therefore reject defendants' contentions under the effective defense theory.
100 Despite the nearly universal rejection of the effective defense theory, courts have held that the due process clause does constrain the prosecutor to a certain extent in her decision to grant or not to grant immunity. If a prosecutor abuses her discretion by intentionally attempting to distort the fact-finding process, then a due process violation exists and a court may order the prosecutor to grant immunity or face a judgment of acquittal. See United States v. Hooks, 848 F.2d 785, 799 (7th Cir.1988). 101 Such intentional distortion could occur in two ways. First, the government could intimidate or harass potential defense witnesses to discourage them from testifying--for example, by threatening them with prosecution for perjury or other offenses. Where such intimidation tactics cause a potential witness to invoke the fifth amendment and withhold testimony that otherwise would have been available to the defendant, a court may order the prosecutor to grant immunity to the witness or face a judgment of acquittal. See, e.g., United States v. Pinto, 850 F.2d 927, 932 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 174, 102 L.Ed.2d 143 (1988); Hooks, 848 F.2d at 799; United States v. Lord, 711 F.2d 887, 891 (9th Cir.1983); United States v. Morrison, 535 F.2d 223, 229 (3d Cir.1976). Cf. Webb v. Texas, 409 U.S. 95, 98, 93 S.Ct. 351, 353, 34 L.Ed.2d 330 (1972) (holding that a judge's lengthy perjury warnings to a defense witness effectively drove the witness off the stand, thereby denying the defendant his due process right to present his defense). Second, the government could intentionally distort the fact-finding process by deliberately withholding immunity from certain prospective defense witnesses for the purpose of keeping exculpatory evidence from the jury. See Hooks, 848 F.2d at 802; Government of the Virgin Islands v. Smith, 615 F.2d at 968; see also Pennell, 737 F.2d at 526; United States v. Burns, 684 F.2d 1066, 1077 (2d Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1174, 103 S.Ct. 823, 74 L.Ed.2d 1019 (1983). 102 We find that the defendants have failed to make an adequate showing of either type of prosecutorial misconduct. With respect to their claims of governmental intimidation, the defendants have pointed to four instances of alleged prosecutorial misconduct: (1) the government's informing the court that it thought Palladino would lie if he testified; (2) the government's transmission of pertinent information on Palladino to the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Criminal Division; (3) the government's recital to the court of the criminal activities of which Palladino was suspected; and (4) the notification given to Palladino by the Internal Revenue Service that he was under investigation for possible tax violations. 103 None of this conduct is sufficient to warrant a finding of witness intimidation by the prosecution. The government arguably was justified in telling the court it thought Palladino would lie and in detailing his suspected criminal activities to explain its reasons for not granting him immunity. In addition, it is difficult to see how these communications could be deemed an intimidation of the witness when they were made to the court. Neither can we fault the prosecution's transmission of information to the IRS. The defendants have not shown that it is anything but a routine practice for one investigatory arm of government to forward information to other arms that also have an interest in the information. Finally, we cannot hold the prosecution liable for the actions of the IRS in choosing to notify Palladino that he was under investigation for suspected tax violations. There has been no indication whatsoever that the prosecution suggested to the IRS that it contact Palladino, or that the prosecution even knew of the contact in advance. 104 Furthermore, the conduct complained of by defendants here falls far short of the type of prosecutorial conduct condemned by other courts as witness intimidation. For example, in United States v. Morrison, 535 F.2d 223, the prosecutor on at least three occasions had sent messages to a prospective defense witness warning her that she was liable to prosecution on drug charges; that if she testified, the testimony could be used as evidence against her; and that if she lied, federal perjury charges could be brought. The prosecutor then subpoenaed the witness to his office and again warned her, in the presence of three law enforcement officers, of the risks of testifying. After these warnings, the witness took the stand and repeatedly invoked her privilege against self-incrimination. See id. at 225-26; see also Lord, 711 F.2d at 891-92. The defendants here have not pointed to any prosecutor-witness communication that even remotely approaches the conduct involved in Morrison. Indeed, the defendants have not pointed to any direct communication between the prosecution and Palladino at all. Nor have the defendants established the requisite causal nexus between the government's conduct and Palladino's decision not to testify. See United States v. Hoffman, 832 F.2d 1299, 1303-05 (1st Cir.1987). Given these circumstances, we find that defendants have failed to make a showing of governmental intimidation. 105 We also find no indication that the prosecution intentionally distorted the fact-finding process by deliberately withholding immunity from Palladino for the purpose of keeping his exculpatory testimony from the jury. The government gave several reasons for its objection to the immunization of Palladino, including its desire not to hinder possible state and federal prosecutions of Palladino for his suspected involvement in other criminal activities. These reasons clearly show that the government's conduct was motivated by something other than the sole desire to keep Palladino's exculpatory testimony from the jury. Accordingly, we reject defendants' prosecutorial misconduct theory, and find no error in the government's failure to offer immunity to Joseph Palladino.