Opinion ID: 453299
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: government's appeal: new trial order

Text: 20 Two issues are raised by the government's appeal of the trial court's judgment acquitting Suarez-O'Neill. First, whether we have jurisdiction over the appeal. Second, whether the district court erred by granting the new trial motion. 21 We begin by setting forth the relevant facts. We then consider the jurisdictional question, determining that we have the authority to hear this appeal. Finally, we reach the merits, holding that the district court erred.
22 Suarez-O'Neill, the captain of the MAR AZUL, was arrested at the Riverway Terminal on December 3, 1982, soon after Juan Martinez and Mihalache were stopped in the Oldsmobile. His main defense at trial, which began March 7, 1983, was that he did not know there was cocaine on board the MAR AZUL. 23 The local standing discovery order required the government to supply the defendant with [t]he substance of any oral statement made by the defendant before or after his arrest in response to interrogation by a then known to be government agent which the government intends to offer in evidence at trial. Record, vol. 1, at 26. Pursuant to this order, the government sent Suarez-O'Neill a letter on December 27, 1982, that supplied, among other things, a series of oral statements by the defendant, including his statement that they were the holding tanks and they directly fed the diesel engine in the engine room. No indication was given of the question to which this was a response. 24 On Friday, March 11, 1983, four days after the trial began, defendant's counsel received Jencks Act material from the government that revealed for the first time the context in which his client had made the comment about the holding tanks. The Jencks Act material indicated that shortly after a search of the MAR AZUL had revealed cocaine hidden in, among other places, the fuel oil holding tanks in the engine room, Special Agent Burns of the Drug Enforcement Administration had asked Suarez-O'Neill if he knew what the name of or what the purpose of the tanks were in the engine room where the cocaine was found. It was in response to this question that Suarez-O'Neill had said they were the holding tanks and they directly fed the diesel engine in the engine room. The government intended to show that there were three other types of tanks, besides the holding tanks, in the engine room, and that prior to Agent Burns' question, no one had told Suarez-O'Neill where the cocaine was found. Based on this evidence, the government planned to show that Suarez-O'Neill must have had first-hand knowledge that there was cocaine aboard the MAR AZUL. 25 Recognizing that Suarez-O'Neill's statement would hurt his defense, his counsel moved to suppress the statement, apparently on the ground that the government had violated the discovery order by not supplying Agent Burns' question until well into the trial. 26 The court then took a weekend recess and on Monday, March 14, the government advised the court that it was ready to call Agent Burns to testify about defendant's comments regarding the holding tanks. The court denied the motion to suppress, and Burns was allowed to testify. 27 Burns was the government's last witness. The court recessed early Monday afternoon and scheduled trial to resume Tuesday at 1:00 p.m., at which time the defense began its case. 28 The defense put on as its first witness an expert in naval architecture, who testified about the different types of tanks in the engine room and their purposes. The defense used this testimony to support its contention that the holding tanks containing the cocaine did not directly fe[e]d the diesel engine. Suarez-O'Neill testified to a different version of his conversation with Burns, claiming Burns told him the cocaine was found in the fuel tanks and then asked him what the tanks in the engine room were used for. He also testified that, prior to answering Agent Burns question, he had heard Customs Patrol Officer Benavente say that cocaine had been found in the fuel tanks in the engine room. Officer Benavente testified, during the government's rebuttal, that he had never mentioned where the cocaine had been found. In their respective closing arguments, both the prosecutor and defense counsel referred to the purposes of the holding tanks and the inferences to be drawn from the testimony about what Suarez-O'Neill had said and not said. 29 The jury found Suarez-O'Neill guilty. Suarez-O'Neill then moved for a new trial or judgment of acquittal, alleging eleven grounds. One of the grounds was that the verdict was contrary to the weight of the evidence. The last six grounds related in some fashion to the government's failure to advise the defense of Agent Burns' question prior to trial. 8 The court denied the motion for judgment of acquittal, and granted a new trial, without stating any reasons. 30 At the new trial, which was a bench trial, Suarez-O'Neill was acquitted. Following the acquittal, the government filed notice of appeal, challenging the judgment of acquittal solely on the ground that the new trial motion was erroneously granted. Defendant/appellee Suarez-O'Neill filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. We ordered that the motion be carried with the case.
31 Initially, we must address the issue of whether we have jurisdiction over this appeal from a final judgment of acquittal entered upon retrial, where the defendant was convicted at the first trial and the sole ground of attack on appeal is that the trial court erroneously granted the motion for a new trial. 9 32 For this court to have jurisdiction of a government appeal in a criminal case, two statutory requirements usually must be met. First, the government must be authorized to bring the appeal under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3731, which specifies the circumstances in which the government has the right to appeal from an adverse ruling in a criminal case. United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332, 336-37, 95 S.Ct. 1013, 1018-19, 43 L.Ed.2d 232 (1975). See also United States v. Sanges, 144 U.S. 310, 312, 12 S.Ct. 609, 610 (1892) (government cannot appeal in a criminal case without express congressional authorization). Second, the decision being challenged must constitute a final judgment within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291, which provides that courts of appeals shall have jurisdiction of appeals from all final decisions of the district courts.... Typically, both requirements must be met: the first ensures that the government is permitted to bring the appeal; the second that the challenged order itself is appealable. 10 Accord United States v. Dior, 671 F.2d 351, 355 (9th Cir.1982). 33 Under the law in effect at the time of this action, the government could not have appealed the new trial order at the time it was granted. 11 The order failed to meet either of the above requirements. The former fifth circuit held that section 3731 did not authorize a government appeal of a new trial order. United States v. Hitchmon, 602 F.2d 689, 692 (5th Cir.1979). Accord United States v. Alberti, 568 F.2d 617, 621 (2d Cir.1977); United States v. Taylor, 544 F.2d 347, 349 (8th Cir.1976). Cf. United States v. Fernandez-Toledo, 737 F.2d 912, 919 (11th Cir.1984) (section 3731 only covers orders regarding pretrial discovery and suppression of evidence questions and orders constituting a termination of the case such as dismissals of an indictment or judgments of acquittal). Courts unanimously held, in both civil and criminal cases, that a new trial order was interlocutory and thus failed to meet the final judgment requirement of section 1291. E.g., Allied Chemical Corp. v. Daiflon, Inc., 449 U.S. 33, 34, 101 S.Ct. 188, 189, 68 L.Ed.2d 193 (1980); United States v. Draper, 746 F.2d 662, 664 (10th Cir.1984); United States v. Sam Goody, Inc., 675 F.2d 17, 20-25 (2d Cir.1982); Hitchmon, 602 F.2d at 691-92; Taylor, 544 F.2d at 349. 34 The question presented by this case is whether the result is different if the government waits until a judgment has been entered upon retrial to challenge the new trial order, so that the appeal is no longer from the new trial order as such, but rather from the judgment of acquittal on the ground that the new trial motion was erroneously granted. 35
36 At the time relevant to this case, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3731 specified only two categories of decisions that the government could appeal in a criminal case: (1) a decision or order of a district court suppressing or excluding evidence or requiring the return of seized property ... and (2) a decision, judgment or order of a district court dismissing an indictment or information as to any one or more counts, except that no appeal shall lie where the double jeopardy clause of the United States Constitution prohibits further prosecution. 12 The statute also provided that it shall be liberally constructed to effectuate its purposes. The Supreme Court determined that one such purpose was to remove all statutory barriers to Government appeals and to allow appeals whenever the Constitution would permit. Wilson, 420 U.S. at 337, 95 S.Ct. at 1019. See also United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564, 568, 97 S.Ct. 1349, 1352, 51 L.Ed.2d 642 (1977). 37 Despite the liberal construction provision of section 3731, courts had held that section 3731 did not authorize the appeal of a new trial order, since [s]uch an order does not '[dismiss] an indictment ... as to any one or more ... counts,'  as required by the explicit language of the statute. Alberti, 568 F.2d at 621. See also Hitchmon, 602 F.2d at 692. However, courts had been willing to extend the government's section 3731 right of appeal beyond the explicit language of the statute when it came to judgments of acquittal. Courts held that section 3731 authorized a government appeal of a judgment of acquittal as long as the appeal was not barred by the Double Jeopardy Clause. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. at 568, 97 S.Ct. at 1352; United States v. Boyd, 566 F.2d 929, 931-33 (5th Cir.1978). Cf. Fernandez-Toledo, 737 F.2d at 919 (section 3731 coverage is limited to orders regarding pretrial discovery and suppression of evidence questions, and orders constituting a termination of the case such as dismissals of an indictment or judgments of acquittal). Thus, even though section 3731 did not authorize the appeal of a new trial order, it may have authorized the instant appeal, which is of a judgment of acquittal, as long as this appeal is permitted by the Double Jeopardy Clause. Thus, the crucial question here is whether the Double Jeopardy Clause permits this appeal. 38 There is no blanket rule that the Double Jeopardy Clause bars all appeals from judgments of acquittal. For, the policy behind that clause is not to prevent government appeals, but rather to prevent multiple prosecutions. Wilson, 420 U.S. at 342-44, 95 S.Ct. at 1021-22. As the Supreme Court has explained, 39 At the heart of this policy [against multiple trials] is the concern that permitting the sovereign freely to subject the citizen to a second trial for the same offense would arm Government with a potent instrument of oppression. The Clause, therefore, guarantees that the State shall not be permitted to make repeated attempts to convict the accused, 'thereby subjecting him to embarrassment, expense and ordeal and compelling him to live in a continuing state of anxiety and insecurity, as well as enhancing the possibility that even though innocent he may be found guilty.' 40 Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. at 569, 97 S.Ct. at 1353 (quoting Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 187-88, 78 S.Ct. 221, 223-24, 2 L.Ed.2d 199 (1957)). Thus, the test for whether a government appeal of a judgment of acquittal is barred by the Double Jeopardy Clause is whether there will be any proceeding after a successful appeal that would require the resolution of further factual issues by the trier of fact. Id. 430 U.S. at 570, 97 S.Ct. at 1354. Cf. United States v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82, 91 n. 7, 98 S.Ct. 2187, 2194 n. 7, 57 L.Ed.2d 65 (1978) (We ... assume[ ] a judgment of acquittal could be appealed where no retrial would be needed on remand). So, for example, in Wilson, 420 U.S. at 342-53, 95 S.Ct. at 1021-26, the Court held that, where the jury had found the defendant guilty, the Double Jeopardy Clause did not bar a government appeal of a trial judge's post-verdict dismissal of the indictment, since reversal on appeal would simply reinstate the jury verdict, not subject him to another trial. In Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. at 567, 97 S.Ct. at 1352, the Court held that, where the jury had been deadlocked, the Double Jeopardy Clause did bar a government appeal from a judgment of acquittal entered by a trial judge on the defendant's motion after he discharged the deadlocked jury. Under those circumstances, reversal on appeal would not simply reinstate a prior verdict; factual issues would remain unresolved. Id. at 570-71, 97 S.Ct. at 1354. Similarly, it is well-established in our circuit and others that the government constitutionally may appeal post-verdict judgments of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict after the jury rendered a guilty verdict, since reversal on appeal will simply reinstate the prior judgment of conviction and not subject defendant to another prosecution. E.g., United States v. Black, 644 F.2d 445, 446-47 (5th Cir.1981); United States v. Burns, 597 F.2d 939, 940 (5th Cir.1979); United States v. Boyd, 566 F.2d at 931-33 (5th Cir.1978); Accord United States v. Singleton, 702 F.2d 1159, 1161-62 (D.C.Cir.1983); United States v. Steed, 674 F.2d 284, 285-86 (4th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 829, 103 S.Ct. 67, 74 L.Ed.2d 68 (1982); United States v. Blasco, 581 F.2d 681, 682-84 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 966, 99 S.Ct. 456, 58 L.Ed.2d 425 (1978); United States v. Jones, 580 F.2d 219, 221-22 n. 3 (6th Cir.1978); United States v. Calloway, 562 F.2d 615, 616-17 (10th Cir.1977); United States v. Cahalane, 560 F.2d 601, 603 n. 2 (3d Cir.1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1045, 98 S.Ct. 890, 54 L.Ed.2d 796 (1978); United States v. Rojas, 554 F.2d 938, 941-42 (9th Cir.1977); United States v. De Garces, 518 F.2d 1156, 1159 (2d Cir.1975). 41 Applying the double jeopardy test here, it would seem that double jeopardy does not bar this appeal, since reversal on appeal would not lead to another trial but to reinstatement of the original jury verdict. In civil cases, the courts routinely vacate the final judgment and reinstate the original verdict when they determine new trial motions were erroneously granted. E.g., Juneau Square Corp. v. First Wisconsin National Bank of Milwaukee, 624 F.2d 798, 806 (7th Cir.1980); Wiggs v. Courshon, 485 F.2d 1281, 1283 (5th Cir.1973), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1013, 101 S.Ct. 571, 66 L.Ed.2d 472 (1980). We see no reason why the result should be different in the criminal context. 42 Appellee nonetheless maintains the Double Jeopardy Clause bars this appeal because the judgment of acquittal here was not based on a ruling of law by the court that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction, but rather on the verdict of not guilty entered by the court as fact-finder. Appellee claims that this distinguishes the instant appeal from the long-line of cases, cited above, in which the courts have held that double jeopardy does not bar appeals of judgments of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict. It is thus appellee's position that judgments of acquittal based on findings of fact, as opposed to rulings of law, are never appealable by the government. However, we find no support in any Supreme Court or circuit court decisions for this contention. 13 As indicated above, the courts have repeatedly indicated that the focus of the inquiry in seeking to determine whether double jeopardy permits the government to appeal a decision favorable to the defendant is whether, if reversed, there is any need for further factual findings. Cf. Blasco, 581 F.2d at 683-84 (Seventh Circuit held Double Jeopardy Clause did not bar government appeals of judgments of acquittal notwithstanding the jury's verdict of guilt, maintaining the sole focus of the double jeopardy inquiry is whether, if reversed, further factfindings are necessary, and rejecting the argument that while the government may have the right to appeal where the judge's ruling is based on purely legal considerations, here the ruling was on 'solely evidentiary factual considerations' and the government therefore has no right of appeal). 43 Of course, if the government were to challenge the instant final judgment of acquittal on any ground other than that the new trial motion was erroneously granted, the Double Jeopardy Clause presumably would bar the appeal. If, for example, the government challenged the judgment alleging erroneous evidentiary rulings at the second trial, then a decision favorable to the government would leave the defendant open to a subsequent trial. However, if the only error alleged on appeal is the granting of the new trial motion, then reversal would not lead to another prosecution but reinstatement of a jury verdict. We thus hold that the Double Jeopardy Clause does not bar this appeal, and that section 3731 authorizes this appeal of a judgment of acquittal. 14 44
45 Unlike a new trial order, a judgment of acquittal is a final order for purposes of section 1291:  'it terminates the litigation between the parties on the merits of the case, and leaves nothing to be done but to enforce by execution what has been determined.'  Parr v. United States, 351 U.S. 513, 518, 76 S.Ct. 912, 916, 100 L.Ed. 1377 (1956) (quoting St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad Co. v. Southern Express Co., 108 U.S. 24, 28, 2 S.Ct. 6, 8, 27 L.Ed. 638 (1883)). See also Sam Goody, Inc., 675 F.2d at 20. 46 In civil cases, an order granting a new trial may be reviewed on the appeal from the final judgment entered on the retrial. Allied Chemical Corp. v. Daiflon, Inc., 449 U.S. 33, 36, 101 S.Ct. 188, 190, 66 L.Ed.2d 193 (1980); Juneau Square Corp., 624 F.2d at 806; Wiggs, 485 F.2d at 1283. Given that the Double Jeopardy Clause does not bar the instant appeal from the final judgment of acquittal, there seems no reason why the civil rule should not be applied. Thus, the final judgment requirement of section 1291 is satisfied and the new trial order may be reviewed. 47 To summarize our holdings regarding jurisdiction, this appeal meets the statutory requirements of sections 3731 and 1291. Thus, this court has jurisdiction.

48 There is no reported opinion determining the appropriate standard of review of an order granting a new trial in a criminal case. We hold that an abuse of discretion standard of review is to be applied. A motion for a new trial is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court, since Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 33, which governs new trial motions, permits the court to grant a new trial in the interest of justice. Further, abuse of discretion is the standard of review applied in civil cases, Juneau Square Corp., 624 F.2d at 806, and in criminal cases where denial of a new trial motion is challenged, United States v. Russo, 717 F.2d 545, 550 (11th Cir.1983).
49 The district court did not specify its reasons for granting the new trial motion. However, it appears the court must have done so on the grounds that the jury verdict was contrary to the weight of the evidence and/or the government violated the discovery order by not disclosing Agent Burns' question prior to trial. 15 We hold that to grant a new trial motion on the basis of either or both of these grounds was, under the facts of this case, an abuse of discretion. 50
51 Initially, we note that a motion for new trial made on the ground that the verdict is contrary to the weight of the evidence raises issues very different from a motion for judgment of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict, which is based on the sufficiency of the evidence. On a motion for judgment of acquittal, the court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, and, under that light, determine whether the evidence is sufficient to support the verdict. Corbin, 734 F.2d at 650. Thus, on this motion, the court assumes the truth of the evidence offered by the prosecution. On a motion for a new trial based on the weight of the evidence, the court need not view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. It may weigh the evidence and consider the credibility of the witnesses. United States v. Lincoln, 630 F.2d 1313, 1319 (8th Cir.1980); United States v. Simms, 508 F.Supp. 1188, 1202 (W.D.La.1980). If the court concludes that, despite the abstract sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict, the evidence preponderates sufficiently heavily against the verdict that a serious miscarriage of justice may have occurred, it may set aside the verdict, grant a new trial, and submit the issues for determination by another jury. Lincoln, 630 F.2d at 1319. 52 The decision to grant or deny a new trial motion based on the weight of the evidence is within the sound discretion of the trial court. An appellate court may reverse only if it finds the decision to be a clear abuse of that discretion. Id.; United States v. Indelicato, 611 F.2d 376, 387 (1st Cir.1979). While the district court's discretion is quite broad, there are limits to it. The court may not reweigh the evidence and set aside the verdict simply because it feels some other result would be more reasonable. Simms, 508 F.Supp. at 1202. The evidence must preponderate heavily against the verdict, such that it would be a miscarriage of justice to let the verdict stand. Indelicato, 611 F.2d at 387; United States v. Sinclair, 438 F.2d 50, 51 n. 1 (5th Cir.1971) (quoting Wright, Miller & Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure: Criminal Sec. 553, at 487). Motions for new trials based on weight of the evidence are not favored. Courts are to grant them sparingly and with caution, doing so only in those really exceptional cases. Lincoln, 630 F.2d at 1319; Indelicato, 611 F.2d at 387; Simms, 508 F.Supp. at 1202. 53 Applying these principles, courts have granted new trial motions based on weight of the evidence only where the credibility of the government's witnesses had been impeached and the government's case had been marked by uncertainties and discrepancies. Thus, for example, in United States v. Simms, 508 F.Supp. at 1204-08, the court granted a new trial, explaining there was no direct proof of the defendant's guilt and that [t]he government's case depends upon inferences upon inferences drawn from uncorroborated testimony that ... is subject to questions of credibility. In United States v. Hurley, 281 F.Supp. 443, 449 (D.Conn.1968), the court granted the new trial stating, 54 If these factual issues were joined before the jury as matters of clear-cut conflicts in testimony, the jury's decision would remain inviolate. But such was not the case. The direct testimony of Rutt and MacFarlane [the government's key witnesses] was subject to serious impeachment by prior inconsistent statements and by independent evidence. 55 While many circuits have taken the position that new trials may be ordered on the ground that the verdict is contrary to the weight of the evidence, our circuit apparently has never considered the matter. The government urges us to adopt the view that a new trial motion may never be granted on this ground. We need not decide the issue here, since we are convinced that the jury's verdict in this case was not contrary to the weight of the evidence, and thus that the district court should not, in any event, have granted a new trial on this ground. 56 The government's case against Suarez-O'Neill was not marked by uncertainties and discrepancies. It was not based on compound inferences. It was not presented through the testimony of impeached and suspect witnesses. The government's case against Suarez-O'Neill was solid and consistent. 57 Both sides agree that the case against Suarez-O'Neill hinged on whether the government could prove that he knew cocaine was on board the MAR AZUL. To establish this knowledge, the government relied, in part, on the undisputed fact that Suarez-O'Neill was the captain of the MAR AZUL, on board which 454 lbs. of cocaine were found. The suggestion was that it would be very unlikely for the captain, who was in charge of all the workings of the ship, to travel on board the MAR AZUL from Colombia to Miami, with crewmembers involved in the drug conspiracy, and not know that much cocaine was on board. Cf. United States v. Alfrey, 620 F.2d 551, 556 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 938, 101 S.Ct. 337, 66 L.Ed.2d 160 (1980) (the probable length of the voyage, ... the large quantity of marijuana on board, ... and the necessarily close relationship between the captain of the trawler and his two man crew were factors upon which the jury could reasonably find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt). 58 To establish knowledge, the government also relied on Agent Burns' testimony about Suarez-O'Neill's statement regarding the holding tanks. Even the district court characterized the significance of the statement as an absolute admission that he knew where the cocaine was in the ship, and as a confession. Trial Record, vol. 6, at 637. Agent Burns never waivered in his version of his conversation with Suarez-O'Neill. Nor was he ever impeached, or his credibility in any way put into question. 59 Of course, appellee offered evidence that contradicted the government's evidence, providing, for example, a different version of his conversation with Agent Burns. However, this was a matter of clear-cut conflict in testimony. It was not an instance where the government's case was presented by impeached witnesses, while the testimony of the defendants' witnesses was unwaivering and corroborated by independent evidence. 60 Under the circumstances of this case, there was no reason for the court to overturn the credibility choice made by the jury. Cf. Hurley, 281 F.Supp. at 449 (If these factual issues were joined before the jury as matters of clear-cut conflicts in testimony, the jury's decision would remain inviolate). This was simply not one of those exceptional cases in which the court had the power to interfere with the jury's factual findings. For the court to have done so here was a clear and manifest abuse of discretion. 61
62 The government's failure to provide the defendant with Agent Burns' question prior to trial was not a proper ground for ordering a new trial. To order the new trial for this reason also would be an abuse of discretion. 63 In the first place, the government's failure to provide Agent Burns' question was not a discovery violation. The local discovery order required the government to supply the defendant with [t]he substance of any oral statement made by the defendant before or after his arrest in response to interrogation by a then known to be government agent which the government intends to offer in evidence at trial. Record, vol. 1, at 26. The government supplied precisely that. Indeed, all the parties agree that Suarez-O'Neill's statement about the holding tanks, made in response to Agent Burns' question, was reported promptly to the defendant and his counsel. The appellee's contention was only that the government did not explain the context in which he made the statement. Yet, prior to the time the government undertook to introduce the statement, Suarez-O'Neill never asked for any clarification of his alleged statement, even though it referred to the holding tanks, where, as defense counsel surely knew, cocaine had been found. Presumably, had the defendant been puzzled by the government's disclosure of the statement, he could have sought information as to the circumstances under which it was said to be made. The district court then could have resolved the matter in advance of trial. Instead, the defendant, having been furnished with full and complete disclosure of every word he was said to have spoken, expressed no discontent. 64 When appellee's complaint about disclosure is clearly seen, absent his characterizations, it comes down to nothing more than that the defendant and his counsel failed to appreciate the significance of what had been obtained through discovery. The motion for new trial did not therefore complain of any violation of the discovery order. It complained that when the government discovered it did not also rehearse for the defendant the argument the prosecutor would make to the jury as to the significance of the statement. The government is under no obligation to do so. 65 We are not saying that the prosecution never has to disclose an agent's question in the first instance to satisfy the discovery order. If, for example, the defendant's oral statement was yes or no, the government must provide the question or in some way give meaning to the answer. The defendant could not be expected to know the substance of his statement, even though it allegedly came from his own mouth. If, on the other hand, the defendant's oral statement is I live at 210 Maple Lane, it is hardly necessary to inform the defendant that the question asked was where do you live. Where the defendant's answer falls somewhere in the middle of these two extreme examples and the defendant is not satisfied with the bare discovery of the words of a statement he is said to have made, we commend to the court and counsel inquiry into whether the context or circumstances surrounding the statement should be disclosed, leading in many cases to disclosure. 16 66 In short, this was not a case in which the prosecutor has carelessly or by design hidden from discovery a statement of the defendant only to spring it in the middle of a trial. 17 We condemn that sort of tactic. Here, the government responded fully to the discovery order and was never asked to expand its response by stating anything about the question to which the statement was a response. The government's action here was not a discovery violation and does not justify the exercise of discretion in favor of a new trial. 67 Still another reason why the new trial order could not be properly grounded on the government's failure to provide the defendant with Agent Burns' question prior to trial is that the defendant was not prejudiced by it. Appellee's counsel was made aware of Agent Burns' question an entire weekend and one workday prior to the beginning of the defense's case. Defense counsel thus had time to confer with and advise his client about the effect of the question on defense strategy. Indeed, the defendant testified and denied Agent Burns' version of their conversation. He also presented an expert in naval architecture to testify about the function of the holding tanks. Suarez-O'Neill made no assertion in his motion for new trial that there was something else he could or would have done at the trial had he been appraised of the question prior to trial, 18 nor did he claim that he would present his defense any differently at a new trial. 19 68 As stated, this is not a case where the government failed to obey a discovery order. We are not willing to say that there can never be a case where, even without wrongdoing, circumstances are such that the trial was, nevertheless, fundamentally unfair. But this is, obviously, not such a case. 69 For these reasons, we hold that the new trial motion was erroneously granted. We thus reverse the judgment of acquittal and remand the case to the district court for reinstatement of the original jury verdict of guilty.