Opinion ID: 774027
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mazza's and Sessa's Perjury

Text: 28 Appellants argue first that the district court abused its discretion in denying their motion for a new trial based on the newly discovered evidence that two principal witnesses, Mazza and Sessa, perjured themselves at trial and that the government knew about the perjury. We review the district court's decision not to grant a new trial based on newly discovered evidence for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Wong, 78 F.3d 73, 78 (2d Cir. 1996). After carefully reviewing the appellants' claims, we agree with the government's contention that there was no perjury here and therefore the district court properly denied a new trial. 29 In the district court the appellants asserted four principal instances of perjury: (1) Mazza perjured himself when he stated that Joseph Russo gave him the first (incorrect) address of Miciotta, an Orena-faction target, and that an Orena source gave him the second, correct address; (2) Mazza perjured himself when he testified that he was not a fugitive; (3) Sessa committed perjury when he testified that he sold drugs for only two months and to only one customer; and (4) Sessa committed perjury when he testified that an article published by the New York Post referred to Gregory Scarpa, Jr., not Gregory Scarpa, Sr. The district court held that (1) neither Mazza nor Sessa committed perjury; (2) even if perjury did occur, the appellants did not demonstrate that the government knew or should have known about it; and finally, (3) there was ultimately, considering all the evidence, no demonstration that but for the perjured testimony, the defendant would most likely not have been convicted. United States v. Wallach, 935 F.2d 445, 456-57 (2d Cir. 1991). We agree entirely with the district court's analysis and dispositions with respect to the first three instances of purported perjury and therefore see no reason to discuss them further. We affirm those dispositions for substantially the reasons given by Judge Sifton in his Memorandum and Order of March 18, 1999. The appellants' fourth claim, however, merits further discussion. 30 The appellants maintain that Carmine Sessa perjured himself when he testified that there was no truth to the claim in an article published by the New York Post on Thanksgiving Day, 1991, that Gregory Scarpa was a government informant. They contend that Sessa committed perjury because either (1) he testified that the article was about Gregory Scarpa, Jr. (who was not an informant) and was lying because he knew the article referred to Scarpa, Sr. (who was an informant); or (2) he was referring to Scarpa, Sr. and therefore lying, because he knew Scarpa, Sr. was a government informant. 31 Judge Sifton had declined to grant a new trial on the same issue on the first Rule 33 motion because (1) the article was ambiguous since it did not explicitly state whether it referred to Scarpa Junior or Senior; and (2) he credited the affidavit of the Assistant United States Attorney that the questioning in context referred to Scarpa, Jr. On that initial motion, the appellants presented evidence, discovered after they were convicted, that in Sessa's testimony before Judge Korman in a related case, United States v. Victor M. Orena, Docket No. 93-CR-1366 (ERK), he stated that no one thought Scarpa, Jr. was an informant and that the article may have made a mistake between the father and the son. 32 On the second Rule 33 motion -- the one we are now reviewing -- the district court declined to reconsider its previous ruling because it found that the appellants did not offer any new evidence that could not, through the exercise of due diligence, have been presented in the first motion. 33 In order to grant a new trial based on newly discovered evidence of trial perjury, the appellants must first demonstrate that the witness in fact committed perjury. See United States v. Torres, 128 F.3d 38, 49 (2d Cir. 1997). A witness commits perjury if he gives false testimony concerning a material matter with the willful intent to provide false testimony, as distinguished from incorrect testimony resulting from confusion, mistake, or faulty memory. See United States v. Dunnigan, 507 U.S. 87, 94 (1993). Simple inaccuracies or inconsistencies in testimony do not rise to the level of perjury. See United States v. Sanchez, 969 F.2d 1409, 1414-15 (2d Cir. 1992). Once this threshold demonstration of perjury has been met, however, a new trial is not foreordained: 34 Whether the introduction of perjured testimony requires a new trial depends on the materiality of the perjury to the jury's verdict and the extent to which the prosecution was aware of the perjury. With respect to this latter inquiry, there are two discrete standards of review that are utilized. Where the prosecution knew or should have known of the perjury, the conviction must be set aside if there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury. Indeed, if it is established that the government knowingly permitted the introduction of false testimony reversal is virtually automatic. Where the government was unaware of a witness' perjury, however, a new trial is warranted only if the testimony was material and the court [is left] with a firm belief that but for the perjured testimony, the defendant would most likely not have been convicted. 35 Wallach, 935 F.2d at 457 (reversing convictions and remanding for new trial where government should have known that key witness lied on the stand) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted) (alteration in original). 36 The appellants argue correctly that, contrary to the district court's conclusion, they did offer new evidence -- the Ambrosino 302 -- that was not available to them until after the June 16, 1995 cutoff date. The 302 reflects statements by Ambrosino that he believed the Post article referred to Scarpa Sr. and that he and Sessa believed that Scarpa Sr. may be cooperating with law enforcement. However, it does not conclusively demonstrate anything about Sessa's beliefs at the time of his testimony at trial. 37 We are unpersuaded that the Ambrosino 302 evidence has the import the appellants ascribe to it: namely, that it demonstrates Sessa's perjury. We agree with the district court's initial determination that the Post article is ambiguous and, to a reasonable observer, could have referred to Scarpa Jr. Moreover, the appellants have not demonstrated any motive on Sessa's part to lie about Scarpa's status as an informant. In addition, the importance of the article and Sessa's testimony about it is strongly undercut by the fact that according to the Ambrosino 302, the New York Post printed a retraction approximately a week after the article was published. Finally, we agree with the district court that Sessa's testimony is so ambiguous as to preclude a finding of perjury. Sessa could simply have misspoken: while he seems to be referring to Greg Scarpa, Jr., he could have meant Gregory, Sr. On the other hand, he could have intentionally been referring to Scarpa, Jr. because he initially believed the article was about Junior, but later changed his mind after speaking with others about it. We also note that the appellants did nothing to clarify any of this confusion on cross-examination. 38 In the totality of the circumstances, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for a finding of perjury. Thus, there is no reason for us to proceed further to determine whether any perjury reasonably affected the jury's judgment. Were we to proceed further, however, we would have difficulty attaching any substantial significance to this claim, given the independent evidence supporting the appellants' convictions. See Wong, 78 F.3d at 82 (a new trial is warranted only where the testimony was material and the court [is left] with a firm belief that but for the perjured testimony, the defendant would most likely not have been convicted). Even assuming perjury occurred here, it would not undermine the government's overall case given the fact that Sessa's testimony implicating the appellants was corroborated in material respects by (a) Mazza's testimony about the Wolf's Deli meeting at which the Russos accepted congratulations for the murders, and (b) independent evidence placing crew member Joseph Monteleone in an agitated state at the location of the murders at approximately the time they were committed.