Opinion ID: 724010
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Was There An Unlawful and Present Threat of Death or Serious Bodily Injury?

Text: 16 There's no dispute that the threat against Gomez was unlawful or that, if carried out, it would have caused him death or serious bodily injury. The district judge, however, held that the danger was not immediate enough because no one was holding a gun to the defendant's head, most of the threats were received over the phone or through other people, and all were two or more days old. 8 17 We have reached the opposite conclusion on similar facts. In United States v. Contento-Pachon, 723 F.2d 691 (9th Cir.1984), defendant testified that a drug dealer named Jorge threatened to kill him and his family if he did not smuggle cocaine into the United States. Contento-Pachon swallowed balloons filled with cocaine, took a flight to the United States and was arrested here. While Contento-Pachon was told that someone would be watching him at all times, he pointed to nothing substantiating his claim. He also presented no evidence that Jorge was holding his wife and child hostage. Finally, the last threat was remote in time and place from Contento-Pachon's arrest: He was threatened in Bogota, flew out of Colombia and landed in Panama, left Panama and was finally arrested in Los Angeles. Id. Nonetheless, we held that the harm was immediate enough to make out a duress defense. Our reasoning is particularly apt here: 18 [D]efendant was dealing with a man who was deeply involved in the exportation of illegal substances. Large sums of money were at stake and, consequently, Contento-Pachon had reason to believe that Jorge would carry out his threats. Jorge had gone to the trouble to discover that Contento-Pachon was married, that he had a child, the names of his wife and child, and the location of his residence. These were not vague threats of possible future harm. According to the defendant, if he had refused to cooperate, the consequences would have been immediate and harsh. 19 Id. at 694. 20 Gomez, too, was dealing with a man who was deeply involved in the exportation of illegal substances. Moreover, Mir's freedom, not just his money, was at stake, and he had amply demonstrated his willingness to kill to avoid conviction by hiring Gomez himself as a hit man. And, like the drug dealer in Contento-Pachon, Mir had gathered substantial biographical data about his intended victims. Gomez thus faced more than just vague threats of future harm; he had reason to believe that [Mir] would carry out his threats. 9 Gomez's case is, in fact, stronger than Contento-Pachon's because Mir had done much more than Jorge to show his resolve. Whereas Jorge had only gathered information and ordered Contento-Pachon followed, Mir had already given the order to murder witnesses, made all necessary arrangements and even made a down payment on a contract. And, of course, Jorge might have been entirely Contento-Pachon's invention whereas Mir's existence and murderous intentions were well known to the authorities. 10 21 The unusual nature of the threat distinguishes this case from most felon-in-possession cases where a justification defense is raised. In a barroom brawl, for example, once one of the parties leaves, there is little continuing risk of harm. See Nolan, 700 F.2d at 484-85 (no imminent harm where allegedly threatening party leaves bar); see also Lemon, 824 F.2d at 765 (defendant not under present threat where soldier had left); Stover, 822 F.2d at 50 (defendant not in imminent danger where his debtor had left). Here it was unlikely Mir would cool off and lose interest in Gomez. Gomez had already received numerous threats over an extended period of time; that he hadn't been threatened in the last hour or the last day didn't mean the danger had abated. Mir obviously meant business. 22 The government counters that it is not entirely clear that the last evidence of threats was connected to the defendant's cooperation against Imran Mir. Appellee's Resp. Br. at 27. The threats may have come from another source, the government suggests, pointing to Gomez's other problems with the law. This argument misses the point. It doesn't matter whether the threats were from Mir, so long as Gomez reasonably believed they were. In any event, the government is free to argue about the existence and source of the threats in presenting its case to the jury. At this stage we must give Gomez the benefit of the doubt, so long as he presents a plausible case that he thought himself in danger. He clearly does: Having been named as the finger in a murder-for-hire indictment, Gomez was hardly paranoid in fearing that the individual he betrayed to the authorities was out to get him. Under the facts alleged by Gomez, the danger was present and immediate enough to satisfy this element of the justification defense. 11 23 B. Did Defendant Recklessly Place Himself in A Situation Where He Would Be Forced to Engage in Criminal Conduct? 24 The government argues, and the district court held, that Gomez recklessly placed himself in a situation where he was forced to commit the crime because he told quite a few people about his cooperation with law enforcement officials. The government, however, points only to portions of the record showing that Gomez talked to the Sacramento News & Review, Father Arciniega of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Bishop Quinn of the Catholic Church, the Sacramento County Sheriff's office and Gomez's friend Patricia Ramos. The newspaper article did not include Gomez's name; even if Mir had managed to get a copy, it would not have disclosed Gomez's identity. Nor can Gomez be faulted for explaining his predicament to those whose help he was seeking. Most important, all of Gomez's disclosures came after the government had spilled the beans by putting his name in Mir's murder-for-hire indictment. 25 The government's attempt to downplay its own responsibility rings hollow: 26 Up to the time of the events underlying the present prosecution, a mere two documents had been filed in federal court reflecting the historical facts of defendant Gomez' cooperation: the indictment in the solicitation case and the declaration concerning whether defendant Gomez was working for law enforcement officers at the time of the initial solicitation. 27 Appellee's Resp. Br. at 18 (emphasis added). We find nothing mere about revealing Gomez's identity in an indictment accusing Mir of soliciting the murder of witnesses. The government's argument reminds us of a well-known definition of chutzpah. See 103 Yale L.J. at 467. 28 C. Was There A Reasonable Legal Alternative? 29 Gomez didn't rush out to arm himself as soon as he realized his life was in danger; he tried many other avenues first. Unlike a lot of defendants, Gomez went to the authorities seeking protection. See e.g., Lemon, 824 F.2d at 765. He asked the Customs Service to honor its promise to protect him. See In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 652 F.2d 413, 414 (5th Cir. Unit A 1981) (accepting offer of government protection is a reasonable alternative to committing crime). He asked the Sacramento County Sheriff for help. He went to his parole officer. He went to two churches. 30 The government argues that Gomez could have left the state and joined his wife and child in Texas. However, he was on probation and could not lawfully leave California. See Cal.Penal Code § 1203(i). While probationers may be released to other states, see Cal.Penal Code § 11175 et seq., Gomez claims the state authorities hadn't acted on his request to leave California, and the government confirmed this at oral argument. Furthermore, we doubt the utility of moving to Texas, which would have required Gomez to give up the local network of family and friends who were helping him hide. 12 And, given Mir's obvious resourcefulness, he might well have caught up with Gomez in Texas, putting his wife and child in danger. The government has not suggested what else Gomez might have done to protect himself. If Gomez's story is believed, he was privileged to arm himself because a history of futile attempts revealed the illusionary benefits of the alternatives. Lemon, 824 F.2d at 765 (internal quotation marks omitted). 31 D. Was There a Direct Causal Relationship Between the Criminal Action and the Avoidance of the Threatened Harm? 32 The district court found that there was not a direct causal relationship between the criminal action and the avoidance of the threatened harm. It was attenuated by time, it was at least two days, and again by distance. SER 84. We are at a loss to understand the district court's thinking. According to Gomez, he had been chased by a man wielding a gun and subjected to a series of threats, the last shortly before he took possession of the shotgun. Furthermore, there is no evidence that he had the shotgun for any purpose other than to protect himself. When Gomez saw the two customs agents coming for him, he ran away and dropped the gun. This is not the type of case where a felon arm[ed] himself ... and [went] looking for trouble. Newcomb, 6 F.3d at 1136 (internal quotation marks omitted). 33 The government also cites Singleton, 902 F.2d at 472-73, and Stover, 822 F.2d at 50, for the proposition that a defendant who is justified in possessing the gun in the first place must nonetheless discard it as soon as he may safely do so. But if Gomez's story is believed, there was no time before his arrest when he could have safely dumped the shotgun, as there was no clear cessation in the string of threats he received. III 34 While some of the facts Gomez alleges are in dispute, much of his story is supported by the record here and in the cases against the indomitable Imran Mir. What seems particularly clear--and very troubling--is that the United States Government identified Gomez as a witness in Mir's murder-for-hire indictment even as it was charging Mir with trying to murder witnesses in other cases. That Gomez approached the government with the information which formed the basis of Mir's wrath against him, and did so without compulsion or hope of remuneration, speaks well for Gomez and not nearly so well for those in the government who betrayed his trust. 13 To prosecute Gomez for trying to protect himself, when the government refused to protect him from the consequences of its own indiscretion, is not what we would expect from a fair-minded sovereign. 35 Be that as it may. Having found Gomez, a convicted felon, in possession of a gun, the government was entitled to go after him. At the same time, Gomez was entitled to tell the jury his side of the story. His evidence, if believed, sufficed to make out a justification defense. It should have been admitted. 36 Unfortunately, Gomez has already served most of his sentence and, we are told, is scheduled to be released on June 8, 1996. Because it appears unlikely that he could be retried before his sentence expires, failure to release Gomez pending retrial would deprive him of meaningful relief. Cf. United States v. Enriquez-Munoz, 906 F.2d 1356, 1358 (9th Cir.1990) (upon vacating defendant's sentence, court ordered defendant released immediately in order to avoid prolonging incarceration pending resentencing). We therefore vacate Gomez's conviction and remand with directions that the district court release him immediately, subject only to appropriate conditions to ensure his availability in case of retrial. The mandate shall issue forthwith. Fed. R.App. P. 2. 37 VACATED and REMANDED.