Opinion ID: 782497
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Claims of Retroactive Misjoinder and Prejudicial Spillover

Text: 93 Hamilton and Messere contend that if their convictions are not reversed outright, they are entitled to new trials on the principal grounds that there was retroactive misjoinder in light of their acquittals on the RICO count of the indictment, that they suffered from prejudicial spillover of the evidence introduced on the RICO count, and that each defendant suffered from prejudicial spillover of the evidence that was introduced against the other. These contentions, which are intertwined, lack merit. 94 The term retroactive misjoinder refers to circumstances in which the joinder of multiple counts was proper initially, but later developments — such as a district court's dismissal of some counts for lack of evidence or an appellate court's reversal of less than all convictions — render the initial joinder improper. United States v. Jones, 16 F.3d 487, 493 (2d Cir. 1994); see, e.g., United States v. Vebeliunas, 76 F.3d 1283, 1293-94 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 950, 117 S.Ct. 362, 136 L.Ed.2d 253 (1996); United States v. Novod, 927 F.2d 726, 728 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 500 U.S. 919, 111 S.Ct. 2018, 114 L.Ed.2d 104 (1991). In order to be entitled to a new trial on the ground of retroactive misjoinder, a defendant must show compelling prejudice. Vebeliunas, 76 F.3d at 1293; Jones, 16 F.3d at 493; Novod, 927 F.2d at 728. Such compelling prejudice may be found where there is [p]rejudicial spillover from evidence used to obtain a conviction subsequently reversed on appeal. Jones, 16 F.3d at 493; see generally Vebeliunas, 76 F.3d at 1293; Novod, 927 F.2d at 728. The concept of prejudicial spillover — the only prejudice asserted by Hamilton and Messere to have resulted from the alleged retroactive misjoinder here — requires an assessment of the likelihood that the jury, in considering one particular count or defendant, was affected by evidence that was relevant only to a different count or defendant. See generally United States v. Tellier, 83 F.3d 578, 582 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 955, 117 S.Ct. 373, 136 L.Ed.2d 262 (1996); United States v. Barton, 647 F.2d 224, 241 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 857, 102 S.Ct. 307, 70 L.Ed.2d 152 (1981). 95 In Jones, the defendant was initially charged with armed bank robbery, bank robbery involving an assault, and use of a firearm during a crime of violence. His first trial resulted in a mistrial, with 10 jurors voting to acquit. The government then filed a superseding indictment, realleging those three counts and adding two new charges — counts four and five — of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Jones moved to have counts one, two, and three tried separately from counts four and five in order that the jury, when considering the first three counts, not learn and be influenced by the fact that he was a convicted felon. The district court severed count five but not count four, and at his second trial Jones was convicted on all four counts. This Court reversed the conviction on count four, however, because the government had failed to prove one element of that offense, to wit, that the firearm had traveled in interstate commerce. See 16 F.3d at 492. Comparing the results of the two trials, we concluded that Jones was entitled to a new trial on the first three counts because the second jury had likely been influenced by the evidence — relevant only to the unproven count — that Jones was a convicted felon. See id. at 493. 96 In the wake of Jones, we have articulated a three-part test for determining whether there was likely prejudicial spillover from the evidence submitted in support of convictions that were set aside after trial. We consider (1) whether the evidence introduced in support of the vacated count was of such an inflammatory nature that it would have tended to incite or arouse the jury into convicting the defendant on the remaining counts, (2) whether the dismissed count and the remaining counts were similar, and (3) whether the government's evidence on the remaining counts was weak or strong. Vebeliunas, 76 F.3d at 1294 (internal quotation marks omitted); see United States v. Wapnick, 60 F.3d 948, 953-54 (2d Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 517 U.S. 1187, 116 S.Ct. 1672, 134 L.Ed.2d 776 (1996); United States v. Rooney, 37 F.3d 847, 855-56 (2d Cir.1994). The first prong of this test is not met where the evidence that the government presented on the reversed counts was, as a general matter, no more inflammatory than the evidence that it presented on the remaining counts. United States v. Morales, 185 F.3d 74, 83 (2d Cir.1999), cert. denied, 529 U.S. 1010, 120 S.Ct. 1282, 146 L.Ed.2d 229 (2000). As to the second factor, i.e., the degree of similarity between dismissed and surviving counts, prejudicial spillover is unlikely if the dismissed count and the remaining counts were either quite similar or quite dissimilar: 97 In cases where the vacated and remaining counts emanate from similar facts, and the evidence introduced would have been admissible as to both, it is difficult for a defendant to make a showing of prejudicial spillover.... By the same token, where the vacated and remaining counts arise out of completely distinct fact patterns, and the evidence as to both counts is readily separable, there is also no prejudicial spillover. 98 Wapnick, 60 F.3d at 954. 99 It is only in those cases in which evidence is introduced on the invalidated count that would otherwise be inadmissible on the remaining counts, and this evidence is presented in such a manner that tends to indicate that the jury probably utilized this evidence in reaching a verdict on the remaining counts, that spillover prejudice is likely to occur. 100 Rooney, 37 F.3d at 856 (emphasis in original). 101 We found such a prejudicial presentation in Tellier, 83 F.3d 578, in which Roy Tellier was convicted of committing a single robbery in violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951, and of violating RICO. The indictment charged him with only two predicate acts of racketeering activity; with respect to one of those acts, we concluded that the admissible evidence was legally insufficient. As the government thus had proven only one act of racketeering activity, we reversed the RICO conviction on the ground that the evidence was legally insufficient to establish the necessary pattern of racketeering activity. 83 F.3d at 581. Turning to the question of whether the RICO evidence might have affected the jury's consideration of the Hobbs Act count, we noted that [a] RICO charge allows the government to introduce evidence of criminal activities in which a defendant did not participate to prove the enterprise element, id. at 582; that an enormous amount, id. at 581, of evidence had been introduced to prove the RICO `enterprise' and its extensive criminal activities, id. at 582; and that all but a tiny sliver of the evidence admitted on the RICO charges was irrelevant to Tellier's alleged Hobbs Act robbery, id. We also observed that the government's brief on appeal contained a 43-page description of the defendants' crimes, including fifteen major robberies, four murders, one attempted murder, two sales of stolen drugs, and one bribery of a witness. Id. at 582. We concluded that Tellier was entitled to a new trial on the Hobbs Act count because prejudicial spillover was indisputable. 102 In contrast, where the record indicates that the jury was able to distinguish between counts or between defendants, and to assess separately the evidence pertinent to each, we have found no basis for concluding that a new trial was warranted because of prejudicial spillover. The absence of such spillover is most readily inferable where the jury has convicted a defendant on some counts but not on others. See, e.g., Morales, 185 F.3d at 83 (no spillover between counts); United States v. Friedman, 854 F.2d 535, 564 (2d Cir.1988) (no spillover between counts), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1004, 109 S.Ct. 1637, 104 L.Ed.2d 153 (1989); id. at 563 (no spillover between defendants); United States v. Casamento, 887 F.2d 1141, 1153 (2d Cir.1989) (same), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1081, 110 S.Ct. 1138, 107 L.Ed.2d 1043 (1990); United States v. Orozco-Prada, 732 F.2d 1076, 1086 (2d Cir.) (same), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 845, 105 S.Ct. 154, 155, 83 L.Ed.2d 92 (1984); United States v. Carson, 702 F.2d at 367 (same). Indeed, so far as we are aware, no case has held that a defendant was entitled, on the ground of retroactive misjoinder, to a new trial on the counts of conviction simply because the jury found the government's proof on other counts unpersuasive. 103 Although Hamilton and Messere contend that two of our cases have so held, citing United States v. Ferguson, 246 F.3d 129 (2d Cir.2001), and United States v. Sam Goody, Inc., 675 F.2d 17 (2d Cir. 1982), their descriptions of those cases are entirely inaccurate. They describe Ferguson as reversing convictions in light of spillover prejudice effect of acquitted RICO count evidence. (Hamilton brief on appeal at 34; Messere brief on appeal at 31.) But in Ferguson, the district court had granted a new trial, and we affirmed. Further, our affirmance was not on the ground advanced by Hamilton and Messere. The district court in Ferguson, after weighing the evidence, had concluded that the evidence [was] unsatisfactory or insufficient to support the jury's finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, see 246 F.3d at 137, and we ruled that the grant of a new trial for that reason was not an abuse of discretion. Although the district court had secondarily, see id., expressed concern that there might have been prejudicial spillover from the evidence on counts on which the jury acquitted the defendant, we emphasized that the court had made the requisite analysis of the totality of the case. See id. at 136. And we stated that, because only the counts of conviction could be retried, any [c]oncerns about prejudicial spillover ... are moot, and that the fact that there were acquittals need not [be] discuss[ed]. Id. at 137. 104 Defendants misdescribe our decision in Sam Goody as sustaining trial court's reversal of defendant's conviction `in the interests of justice' ... due to `distinct risk' that the jury had been improperly influenced by the allegations of the acquitted RICO count. (Messere brief on appeal at 31-32; see Hamilton brief on appeal at 34.) In fact, in that case the government had appealed the district court's grant of a new trial, and we dismissed the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction. See 675 F.2d at 20-25. Further, both the majority and concurring opinions in Sam Goody in fact saw little or no risk of prejudicial spillover, precisely because the jury had acquitted the defendant on some counts. See, e.g., id. at 26-27 n. 9 (majority opinion: the likelihood that the jury's deliberations were tainted by the RICO allegation is far less than the likelihood found in [ United States v. ] Guiliano, [644 F.2d 85, 88-89 (2d Cir.1981)], for here, unlike Guiliano [in which convictions on certain counts were reversed on appeal for lack of sufficient evidence], the jury acquitted on the RICO count that was submitted to it); id. at 29 (concurring opinion of Mansfield, J.: Since the jury in the present case acquitted on the RICO count and the evidence on the other counts was the same, there could not have been any such prejudicial spillover.). In sum, neither Ferguson nor Sam Goody stands for the proposition that this Court has ordered a new trial on the ground of retroactive misjoinder or prejudicial spillover simply because a jury found some counts unproven. 105 Even if the retroactive misjoinder concept were to be applied where there has been no ruling that evidence on any given count was legally insufficient but merely a judgment by the jury that the government's proof on that count was unpersuasive, Hamilton and Messere have not met the compelling prejudice test. The evidence on the RICO count here was surely no more inflammatory than the evidence on the counts of conviction, and the RICO count focused solely on the acts of Hamilton and Messere themselves rather than on the conduct of other persons. The government had no need here, as in Tellier for example, to introduce evidence as to criminal activities in which [Hamilton or Messere] did not participate, 83 F.3d at 582, in order to establish the existence of a RICO enterprise. The alleged RICO enterprise in this case was the Schenectady Police Department, an entity that may properly be considered an enterprise within the meaning of RICO, see, e.g., United States v. Grzywacz, 603 F.2d 682, 685-87 (7th Cir.1979) (police department), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 935, 100 S.Ct. 2152, 64 L.Ed.2d 788 (1980); United States v. Brown, 555 F.2d 407, 415-16 (5th Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 904, 98 S.Ct. 1448, 55 L.Ed.2d 494 (1978) (police department); United States v. Baker, 617 F.2d 1060, 1061 (4th Cir.1980) (county sheriff's department); see also United States v. Angelilli, 660 F.2d 23, 31 (2d Cir.1981) (New York civil court system), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 910, 102 S.Ct. 1258, 71 L.Ed.2d 449 (1982). No proof of the conduct of any person was needed to establish existence of the enterprise. Further, the indictment on which Hamilton and Messere were tried did not allege any predicate acts of racketeering activity by any person other than Hamilton or Messere. 106 Moreover, most of the conduct involved in the 12 RICO predicate acts would have been admissible at trial in the absence of a RICO count. Two of the predicate acts involved conduct identical to that alleged in Counts Two and Three of the indictment. Another predicate act involved distribution of drugs by Hamilton to Wharry, conduct that Wharry testified Hamilton had engaged in many times in assisting her to maintain her homes as crack houses by, inter alia, always responding to Wharry's calls, coming to remove drug dealers from her home, and leaving at least some of their drugs for her. Thus, evidence of the conduct charged in three RICO predicate acts clearly overlapped the evidence of conduct alleged in the counts of conviction. 107 In addition, much of the evidence on the other nine RICO predicate acts would, in the absence of a RICO count, have been admissible under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b). Six of the nine involved other instances in which Messere distributed controlled substances, proof of which would have been admissible to show a pattern of actions contrary to his suggestion that what he distributed on July 19 was not a controlled substance and to show his knowledge of the nature of the substance. In one of those six predicate acts, Hamilton was alleged to have participated with Messere in the distribution of narcotics to an informant, proof of which would likely have been admissible to show Hamilton's knowledge and intent with respect to narcotics use by his informants. And even if not admissible under Rule 404(b), proof of that one additional instance of narcotics distribution by Hamilton could hardly have been as startling as the evidence from Wharry and Zwicker of the repeated instances in which Hamilton helped Wharry maintain her crack house by, inter alia, responding to Wharry's calls and removing the drug dealers, but leaving behind a quantity of crack for Wharry every time (Tr. 987-88; id. at 986 (I knew I was always going to get something)). 108 Finally, although the three remaining alleged predicate acts were not of the same genre, in that they involved witness tampering rather than drug distributions, the evidence presented in support of those allegations could not be said to have had any spillover effect on the jury, for on Count Four, on the only non-RICO count alleging witness tampering, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. 109 In sum, we cannot conclude that the evidence introduced on the RICO count was substantially different from, or any more inflammatory than, the evidence introduced with respect to the counts on which defendants were convicted. As the government's evidence supporting the counts of conviction was ample, the district court properly denied defendants' motions for new trials on grounds of retroactive misjoinder or prejudicial spillover.