Opinion ID: 550653
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Adamita Indictment.

Text: 3 On June 30, 1988, a grand jury sitting in the Southern District of New York returned an indictment against Calderone, Catalano, and 26 others. United States v. Adamita, 701 F.Supp. 85 (S.D.N.Y.1988). Count One of the Adamita indictment charged all 28 defendants with participating in a wide-ranging, multi-drug conspiracy between January 1, 1985, and June 30, 1988, that involved, among other things, the importation of kilograms of heroin from Europe into the United States, sometimes in exchange for kilograms of cocaine; the distribution of kilograms of heroin and cocaine and multi-tons of marijuana; the use of various businesses as fronts for illegal activities; and the use of weapons to protect the narcotics business. 4 The Adamita indictment listed 105 overt acts committed in furtherance of the alleged conspiracy, but named Calderone or Catalano in only eight of them. In addition to the conspiracy count, Catalano was charged in only one substantive count; Calderone was charged in no other counts. The remaining 26 defendants were charged in one or more of the numerous substantive counts of possessing and distributing narcotics and using firearms in connection with drug trafficking crimes. 5 Trial before district judge John E. Sprizzo and a jury commenced on October 31, 1988, against 17 of the original 28 defendants, including Calderone and Catalano. To prove Calderone's and Catalano's membership in the alleged conspiracy, the government produced testimony showing that an undercover agent posing as a heroin distributor was introduced by a co-conspirator to Calderone and Catalano, both of whom acknowledged that heroin was available, but neither of whom actually sold any heroin to the agent. The agent also testified that after he had purchased heroin from another source, Calderone was present and received some of the money when the agent returned to pay the outstanding balance. In addition, both Calderone and Catalano were observed in the company of some of the co-conspirators at various times during the alleged conspiracy. 6 At the close of the government's case, all remaining defendants moved for judgments of acquittal pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 29. After extensive argument, Judge Sprizzo granted the motions of seven defendants, including Calderone and Catalano. Judge Sprizzo ruled that proof of Calderone's and Catalano's membership in the conspiracy was legally insufficient to go to the jury. During an extensive colloquy with counsel, Judge Sprizzo stated, as to Calderone: 7 There is no question in my mind, and I will say it for the record, that if the government had proceeded against Mr. Calderone with a more narrowly charged conspiracy, I would have sent it to the jury. But you chose    to charge Mr. Calderone in a massive conspiracy, which according to the government's opening in this case involved all of these things. The fact that he participated in one or two narcotics transactions and that he knows these other conspirators is legally insufficient for that purpose. [Tr. 7700-01]. 8       9 I am not saying your evidence would not have been sufficient to prove Mr. Calderone to be a member of a heroin conspiracy involving [two alleged co-conspirators], but you didn't charge a heroin conspiracy. You charged a    broadly based conspiracy that involved different types of drugs. There is no evidence in the record from which I can infer that as to Mr. Calderone. [Tr. 7702-03]. As to Catalano, Judge Sprizzo stated: 10 [t]here is no evidence to permit a rational jury to find that Mr. Catalano was involved in this massive, all-encompassing multidrug conspiracy, none whatsoever, under the case law as I know it and upon the case law relied upon by the government. [Tr. 7704]. 11       12 The case against Catalano is not as strong as it is against Calderone. What evidence is there in this record other than the fact that people have a meeting,    any knowledge that people were shipping cocaine out of the country, that they were bringing heroin back in exchange for cocaine, or that they were discussing multiton marijuana lots? You have at best an ordinary heroin dealer.    And the government says that any time they have a kilogram dealing in heroin that automatically the jury can properly infer that this person is charged with activities relating to other drugs--which is not only other drugs,    but the very peculiar aspect of this distribution of cocaine, which is to sell it abroad in exchange for heroin. Nonsense. The motion is granted. [Tr. 7707]. 13 While not relevant to this appeal, the Adamita jury ultimately returned guilty verdicts against five of the remaining seven defendants, and not guilty verdicts against the other two. 14 B. The Calderone Indictment. 15 Because Judge Sprizzo issued judgments of acquittal on the ground of insufficient evidence before the Adamita case reached the jury, the government could not appeal the ruling. See 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3731; United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564, 97 S.Ct. 1349, 51 L.Ed.2d 642 (1977). Instead, in what it characterizes as a decision to modify the charging instrument so as to charge the separate conspiracy, Brief of United States 17 n. , the government filed a new indictment against Calderone and Catalano. United States v. Calderone, 89 Cr. 786 (RJW). In a nutshell, the Calderone indictment alleges that the activities for which Calderone and Catalano were unsuccessfully prosecuted in Adamita are sufficient to implicate them in a smaller conspiracy involving the distribution of heroin in New York. 16 Specifically, Count One of the Calderone indictment charges both defendants with participating in a conspiracy between January 1, 1987, and March 31, 1988, to distribute and possess with intent to distribute kilogram quantities of heroin in the New York metropolitan area. The indictment lists 21 overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy, and names either Calderone or Catalano in 19 of them. Counts Two through Twenty-Five charge the defendants with using a telephone to facilitate narcotics crimes, and Counts Twenty-Six through Twenty-Eight charge them with possession of heroin with intent to distribute it. 17 On December 8, 1989, both defendants filed pre-trial motions to dismiss the indictment on double jeopardy grounds. District Judge Robert J. Ward, to whom the Calderone case had been assigned, denied the motions from the bench on February 2, 1990, following oral argument. The crux of the court's ruling on Count One (the conspiracy count) was that the government had alleged a different conspiracy in Calderone than it had in Adamita; that is, it had alleged a limited, single-drug conspiracy in Calderone as opposed to the massive, three-drug conspiracy in Adamita. In making this ruling, the court emphasized Judge Sprizzo's comments in Adamita that the government had, at best, proven a heroin conspiracy against Calderone and Catalano, but had failed to prove the larger conspiracy. As Judge Ward explained, 18 Let me put it this way. I would have no trouble with your [double jeopardy] argument if Judge Sprizzo had permitted that indictment, that charge to go to the jury, [and] the jury had found your client not guilty. I would have told the government in no uncertain terms this indictment is not appropriate. 19 But unfortunately what I have here is a directed verdict by a judge who has based his determination on a decision that he made that the government didn't charge a heroin conspiracy. 20 Judge Ward concluded that since [Judge Sprizzo] determined there was no charge of a heroin conspiracy [in Adamita ], the defendants were not placed in jeopardy and therefore the present prosecution alleging a heroin conspiracy does not constitute double jeopardy. Judge Ward also denied the motions insofar as they sought dismissal of Counts Two through Twenty-Eight of the indictment. 21 Calderone and Catalano then brought this interlocutory appeal pursuant to Abney v. United States, 431 U.S. 651, 662, 97 S.Ct. 2034, 2041, 52 L.Ed.2d 651 (1977). After this panel heard oral argument, the Supreme Court announced a new rule for double jeopardy claims arising in the context of successive prosecutions. See Grady v. Corbin, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 2084, 109 L.Ed.2d 548 (1990). We directed the parties to submit letter briefs addressing the impact of Grady on the present appeal. After careful consideration, we conclude that the same conduct test announced in Grady bars prosecution of all counts of the Calderone indictment. Accordingly, we reverse the order of the district court and remand for dismissal of the indictment.