Opinion ID: 529395
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Prosecutorial Misconduct and Judicial Intervention

Text: 45 Defendant argues that the prosecutor committed reversible error by giving an inaccurate opening statement and by allowing misleading testimony to be presented to the jury. Defendant also argues that the district judge unfairly interjected himself into the case. Defendant claims that the combination of judicial and prosecutorial misconduct deprived him of a fair trial. 46 A conviction will be reversed on the basis of prosecutorial misconduct if that misconduct is so pronounced and persistent as to permeate the entire atmosphere of the trial. United States v. McLain, 823 F.2d 1457, 1462 (11th Cir.1987). The focus is on whether the prosecutor's misconduct deprived the defendant of a fair trial. See generally Smith v. Phillips, 455 U.S. 209, 219, 102 S.Ct. 940, 947, 71 L.Ed.2d 78 (1982). In a similar vein, objective demeanor on the part of the trial judge is crucial to a fair trial, although the judge may within reasonable limits remark on the evidence presented and when appropriate curtail further introduction of evidence. United States v. Bertram, 805 F.2d 1524, 1529 (11th Cir.1986); see also United States v. Cortez, 757 F.2d at 1208. The combination of prosecutorial misconduct and improper judicial conduct can, in an extreme case, deny a defendant a fair trial. See, e.g., McLain, 823 F.2d at 1462. 47 In his opening statement, the prosecutor told the jury that members of the Libyan Air Force had defected to Egypt in one of the Lockheed L-100-30 airplanes. The government intended to call Egyptian officials to prove this fact. During trial, however, the Egyptian government refused to cooperate, and the prosecutor was not able to prove at trial that this statement was true. Defendant argues that this misstatement in opening argument constitutes prosecutorial misconduct mandating reversal of his conviction. 48 Defendant did not object to the statement or move for a mistrial at the close of evidence at trial. Consequently, this error must be reviewed under a plain error standard. Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b). See United States v. Walther, 867 F.2d 1334, 1341 n. 3 (11th Cir.1989); United States v. Odom, 858 F.2d at 667. The plain error rule should be used sparingly, and a conviction should be reversed only if a miscarriage of justice would otherwise result. United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 105 S.Ct. 1038, 84 L.Ed.2d (1985). Whether or not it may have been improper to refer in an opening statement to evidence that was never ultimately introduced at trial, this error does not require reversal, see, e.g., United States v. Sawyer, 799 F.2d 1494, 1507 (11th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1069, 107 S.Ct. 961, 93 L.Ed.2d 1009 (1987) (not plain error to refer to confession that was never introduced at trial), particularly because there was no indication of bad faith. See United States v. Gray, 730 F.2d 733, 834-35 (11th Cir.1984). 49 Defendant argues that the government introduced misleading testimony by a critical witness, Lilly. Lilly testified that the government had not made any promises that he would not be subject to prosecution. In fact, the government never did prosecute Lilly. Defendant relies on the fact that the time for prosecuting Lilly under the Speedy Trial Act expired during defendant's trial to argue that the government never intended to prosecute Lilly, that Lilly knew this, and that therefore Lilly's statement that there was no deal was prejudicially misleading to the jury. 50 The government has the duty to disclose agreements with prosecution witnesses and to disclose false testimony presented by prosecution witnesses. See Brown v. Wainwright, 785 F.2d 1457, 1465 (11th Cir.1986). Lilly's statement even by the defendant's own argument is not misleading, however. At a hearing held before the district court, attorneys for the government testified regarding their decision not to prosecute Lilly. The attorneys testified that at the time of his testimony, the government had not decided whether or not to prosecute Lilly. Lilly's testimony, that there was no deal at the time of trial, was true. Defendant does not argue that the government failed to disclose an actual agreement with the defendant. See United States v. Lacayo, 758 F.2d 1559, 1562-63 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1019, 106 S.Ct. 568, 88 L.Ed.2d 553 (1985) (agreement granting leniency to witness must be reached prior to trial to be subject to disclosure). Therefore, there was no fact disclosed or not disclosed that would have misled the jury. Compare Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 153, 92 S.Ct. 763, 765, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972) ([D]eliberate deception of a court and jurors by the presentation of known false evidence is incompatible with 'rudimentary demands of justice.' ) (quoting Mooney v. Holohan, 294 U.S. 103, 112, 55 S.Ct. 340, 342, 79 L.Ed. 791 (1935)). We conclude that defendant has not demonstrated any prosecutorial misconduct justifying a reversal of his conviction. 51 Defendant argues that the district court displayed a lack of neutrality that denied him a fair trial. Defendant does not identify any particularly egregious conduct by the district judge that would mandate a reversal of his conviction. Certainly the judge did not intervene to the extent of indicating his personal feelings about guilt or innocence. See United States v. Robinson, 687 F.2d 359, 361 (11th Cir.1982). The judge did have the discretion to control admission of evidence and to comment on that evidence. See Bertram, 805 F.2d at 1529; Cortez, 757 F.2d at 1208. We conclude that defendant has not demonstrated any misconduct on the part of the trial judge that mandates reversal of his conviction.