Opinion ID: 507338
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Wallace Indictments

Text: 5 Wallace was initially indicted on November 21, 1984, on one count of aiding and abetting the distribution of heroin. On December 20, 1984, the United States Attorney moved to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, asserting the initiation of an investigation into possible tax violations as the basis for the dismissal. Wallace's attorney consented to the dismissal. 3 The district court granted the government's motion under Fed.R.Crim.P. 48(a). 6 Thirteen months later, in January of 1986, Wallace was reindicted on 26 counts involving various narcotics offenses, but no counts involving any tax violations. Wallace contends that the district court erred in denying her motion to dismiss the 1986 indictment, asserting that the government's bad faith in seeking the dismissal of the 1984 indictment violated Fed.R.Crim.P. 48(a) and that the thirteen month delay between dismissal of the 1984 indictment and her reindictment in 1986 violated the Sixth Amendment's speedy trial guarantee and the Fifth Amendment's due process clause. 7
8 Rule 48(a) provides that the United States attorney may by leave of court file a dismissal of an indictment, information or complaint. Fed.R.Crim.P. 48(a). 9 Neither the Supreme Court nor our court has resolved the issue of whether a district court has discretion to deny a motion to dismiss consented to by the defendant. Rinaldi v. United States, 434 U.S. 22, 29 n. 15, 98 S.Ct. 81, 85 n. 15, 54 L.Ed.2d 207 (1977); United States v. Weber, 721 F.2d 266, 268 (9th Cir.1983). We need not reach this issue, however, because we find that Wallace has in any case failed to show any basis for the district court to deny the Rule 48(a) motion to dismiss. 10 While the prosecutor is the first and presumptively the best judge of whether a pending prosecution should be terminated, United States v. Cowan, 524 F.2d 504, 513 (5th Cir.1975), a district court under Rule 48(a) has discretion to deny a government's dismissal motion if that motion is prompted by considerations clearly contrary to the public interest, see Rinaldi v. United States, 434 U.S. at 29 n. 15, 98 S.Ct. at 85 n. 15; United States v. Weber, 721 F.2d at 268, or if the dismissal would contribute to prosecutorial harassment by subjecting a defendant to charging, dismissing, and recharging. Rinaldi, 434 U.S. at 29 n. 15, 98 S.Ct. at 85 n. 15; Weber, 721 F.2d at 268. A fundamental consideration in assessing the propriety of a prosecutor's dismissal motion is whether the motion is made in good faith. United States v. Salinas, 693 F.2d 348, 351 (5th Cir.1982). Wallace contends that the Government's dismissal motion was in fact improperly motivated by its desire to gain a tactical advantage by selecting a more favorable time to reindict her and that its proferred reason for the dismissal was a sham. According to Wallace, dismissal of the 1984 indictment was improper and requires that her 1986 indictment be dismissed. Such motivations or misconduct on the Government's part, if proved, could establish that the dismissal was sought in bad faith, such that granting the motion would be an abuse of discretion by the district court. See Salinas, 693 F.2d at 352-53 (dismissal motion to obtain a better jury constitutes prosecutorial bad faith). 11 The prosecutor stated that the government's desire to prosecute any potential tax code violations together with any narcotics violations was the basis for requesting a Rule 48(a) dismissal. At the time of the dismissal, the prosecutor had information that Wallace had failed to file tax returns in prior years and been previously involved in and convicted for heroin trafficking activities. It would have been reasonable to believe that Wallace had failed to report her income from the sale of narcotics. 4 The fact that tax violations were never charged does not necessarily make the stated reason a sham. The prosecutor could have concluded subsequently that the government's investigative resources were more efficiently spent developing narcotics charges against Wallace, once Doris Sterling decided to become a government witness in early 1985. 12 Wallace also contends that the dismissal allowed the government to achieve an improper tactical advantage by reindicting her at a time when she had lost the testimony of a witness and the government had gained the testimony of Doris Sterling. In Salinas, the prosecutor moved for dismissal moments before trial, and then reindicted the defendant six days later on essentially identical charges. Under those circumstances, it was clear that the prosecutor sought the blatant tactical advantage of dismissing a jury perceived to be inhospitable to his case, despite his full participation in the selection of the empaneled jury. 693 F.2d at 348-49. Here, by contrast, the prosecutor moved for dismissal a full month in advance of appellants' trial date and, though not required under Rule 48(a), requested and obtained the consent of Wallace's counsel to the dismissal. These circumstances do not, as in Salinas, clearly reveal improper tactical motivations on the prosecutor's part, and Wallace does not allege any other facts that would cause us to question the prosecutor's motive. Dismissal of an indictment would be improper if motivated by the prosecutor's intention that defense witnesses become unavailable. However, as noted above, the prosecutor's exploration of tax violations does not appear to be a sham, so that Wallace's loss of evidence is an incidental, rather than an intended, effect of the dismissal and reindictment. 5 We cannot conclude from this record that the unintentional advantage gained by the prosecution here was improper or improperly motivated. 13 As to the tactical advantage gained by obtaining Doris Sterling's testimony on Wallace's drug trafficking activities, it is not clear to us that the government's dismissal was motivated by its desire to get that testimony or even that such a desire would have been an improper motivation. An initial [indictment] decision should not freeze future conduct.... [T]he initial charges filed by a prosecutor may not reflect the extent to which an individual is legitimately subject to prosecution. United States v. Goodwin, 457 U.S. 368, 382, 102 S.Ct. 2485, 2493, 73 L.Ed.2d 74 (1982); see also United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 792-93, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 2050, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977) (rejecting in part any requirement of immediate indictment upon establishment of probable cause as impairing prosecutor's ability to continue investigation where multiple criminal transactions or actors exist). Once it became clear that Sterling would provide substantial evidence regarding appellants' extensive participation in the heroin distribution activities, it was not improper for the government to recharge Wallace more heavily in the 1986 indictment.
14 Appellants also allege that the delay between their initial arrest in the fall of 1984 and the 1986 indictment violated the Sixth Amendment's speedy trial guarantee. We review a defendant's Sixth Amendment speedy trial claim de novo. United States v. Williams, 782 F.2d 1462, 1464 (9th Cir.1985). We may reject the district court's determination of the underlying facts, however, only if it is clearly erroneous. Id. at 1468. 15 The Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial is intended to minimize the possibility of lengthy incarceration prior to trial, to reduce the lesser, but nevertheless substantial impairment of liberty imposed on an accused while released on bail, and to shorten the disruption of life caused by arrest and the presence of unresolved criminal charges. United States v. MacDonald, 456 U.S. 1, 8, 102 S.Ct. 1497, 1502, 71 L.Ed.2d 696 (1982). Of course, once Wallace's 1984 indictment was dismissed, since she was not subject to trial, her Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial had no application to the delay between her initial arrest and the dismissal. Her Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial reattached upon her rearrest pursuant to the 1986 indictment, but no undue delay following the 1986 arrest is claimed. See id. 456 U.S. at 7, 102 S.Ct. at 1501 (Any undue delay after charges are dismissed, like any delay before charges are filed, must be scrutinized under the Due Process Clause, not the Speedy Trial Clause.) Appellants' Sixth Amendment claim, based on the delay between the initial arrest in 1984 and the return of the 1986 indictment, is without merit because it ignores the intervening dismissal. 16 Pre-indictment delay following dismissed charges may, however, be scrutinized under the Fifth Amendment's Due Process guarantee. MacDonald, 456 U.S. at 7, 102 S.Ct. at 1501. First, the defendant must show actual, non-speculative prejudice as a result of the delay, United States v. Moran, 759 F.2d 777, 782 (9th Cir.1985); and, second, the court must balance the government's reasons for causing the delay against the demonstrated prejudice to the defendant. Id. at 781-82; see also Lovasco, 431 U.S. at 789-90, 102 S.Ct. at 2048. We review the district court's denial of appellant's motion to dismiss based on the due process clause for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Rogers, 722 F.2d 557, 561 (9th Cir.1983). 17 Wallace's argument and proof fail the first prong of the test. She argues that she was prejudiced by the loss of a potential witness, Elmer Ray Penn, who she claims would have testified that she was not involved in any heroin trafficking with the Sterling operation. The assertion itself reveals its speculative nature. Elmer Ray Penn would have been a co-defendant of Wallace and Elmore Penn if he were not a fugitive from justice. Moreover, there is little indication in the record to suggest that Elmer Ray Penn, if available, would have testified favorably for Wallace, if he testified at all. 6 Because we conclude that Wallace failed to establish actual prejudice, we do not consider the reasons for and length of the delay. Rogers, 722 F.2d at 562. 18