Opinion ID: 215914
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Witness Tampering Counts

Text: Counts Six and Five charged Persico and DeRoss with witness tampering and conspiracy to commit witness tampering, respectively, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(b)(1) & (b)(2)(A) and 18 U.S.C. § 371, in connection with DeRoss's meeting with Peggy Cutolo, Cardinale, and Cutolo Jr. to dissuade them from testifying to what they really believed had happened to Cutolo. Section 1512, as it read at the time of trial, made it unlawful, in pertinent part, to knowingly use[] intimidation or ... threaten[] ... another person, or attempt [] to do so, ... with intent to (1) influence ... or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding; [or] (2) cause or induce any person to (A) withhold testimony ... from an official proceeding.... 18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(b)(1) & (b)(2)(A) (2000). In order to establish a violation of § 1512, the government must prove a nexus between the defendant's conduct and a particular official proceeding. Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States, 544 U.S. 696, 707-08, 125 S.Ct. 2129, 161 L.Ed.2d 1008 (2005); see, e.g., United States v. Kaplan, 490 F.3d 110, 125 (2d Cir.2007) (persuader must believe that his actions are likely to affect a particular, existing or foreseeable proceeding); cf. United States v. Aguilar, 515 U.S. 593, 598-600, 115 S.Ct. 2357, 132 L.Ed.2d 520 (1995) (finding nexus element in 18 U.S.C. § 1503, which prohibits, inter alia, obstructing or influencing the due administration of justice, or endeavor[ing] to do so, corruptly or by threats or force). The official proceeding referred to in § 1512 need not be pending or about to be instituted at the time of the offense, 18 U.S.C. § 1512(e)(1) (2000), and the testimony ... need not be admissible in evidence, id. § 1512(e)(2) (2000). Persico and DeRoss contend that there was no evidence that DeRoss exerted pressure on Cutolo family members to lie or that he intended to interfere with any witness's testimony in an official proceeding. Persico also contends that there was insufficient evidence to show that he was involved in any of the conduct attributed to DeRoss. We are unpersuaded. In October 1999, Persico was arrested for violation of his bail conditions ( see Tr. 3946, 3949), and it is undisputed that [a]s early as October of '99 the government made it clear they were looking at Mr. Persico as a target of its investigation into Cutolo's disappearance ( id. at 3684, 3676-77 (testimony and statement of Persico's attorneys)). Thus, it was plainly foreseeable that there would be a grand jury proceeding at which Peggy Cutolo, Cardinale, and/or Cutolo Jr. might be called to testify. And indeed, it was foreseen, for in March 2000, DeRoss met with the Cutolos for a conversation (which Cutolo Jr. secretly tape-recorded) and told the Cutolos that the government may be trying to build a case against Persico (GX 67B at 7). Cardinale understood that they were talking about a future case against Allie for [her] father's disappearance. (Tr. 327-28.) In that conversation, it was clear that DeRoss was meeting with the Cutolos on behalf of Persico; DeRoss said he had come to tell them that the other fella would like to send an investigator to talk to them (GX 67B at 4), and he stated that the investigator is Allie's investigator ( id. at 6). When Peggy Cutolo expressed her reluctance, and Cutolo Jr. said he did not want his mother to have to reopen the emotional wounds, DeRoss indicated that Persico would not be happy if they refused to talk to the investigator. ( See GX 67B at 4 (if you tell the [investigator] no, people may get bad feelings); id. at 6 (I don't know how personally he'll react.); id. at 8 (I don't want him to get any idea.).) And after having secured a commitment that the Cutolos would speak with Persico's investigator, DeRoss said, I'll get back to him today. And uh, tell him you'll be too happy to help. That's my words to him. ( Id. at 15.) There can be no serious question that the evidence was sufficient to permit the jury to infer that DeRoss was speaking to the Cutolos on orders from Persico. In his attempts to persuade the Cutolos to speak to Persico's investigator, DeRoss also indicated that the Cutolos should not speak candidly in any government investigation. For example, when Cardinale envisioned to DeRoss the possibility that her mother might be overcome by emotion and let her true feelings come out, DeRoss's response was that there would be no harm if that happened only in the meeting with the investigator: the investigator is Allie's investigator, she's not the law.  (GX 67B at 6 (emphasis added).) Thus, when DeRoss told the Cutolos  Don't show your feelings. What you got in your heart, what you got in your stomach (GX 67B at 5 (emphasis added)), those instructions were easily understood by the Cutolos to mean that if they talk[ed] to the police about what [they] actually thought, that could hurt [Allie] (Tr. 326). In urging them to cooperate with Persico, DeRoss pointed out that he, DeRoss, was in a position to prevent Peggy Cutolo from getting hurt (GX 67B at 6; see Tr. 326-27)a statement that plainly implied to the Cutolos that he was also in a position to do precisely the opposite. And in addition to mentioning the possibility of harm to Peggy, DeRoss also pointed to that prospect for Cutolo Jr. ( see GX 67B at 5; Tr. 324-25), for Cardinale's husband ( see GX 67B at 5-6; Tr. 325-26), and for Cardinale's young daughters ( see GX 67B at 5 (You got little, you got kids here)). Worry about your family, he said ( id. at 8); You understand what I'm telling you babe? You've been, you've been around this life ( id. at 6). The Cutolos did understand. Peggy Cutolo testified that she knew that DeRoss was explicitly threatening her and her children and that he was telling her to [k]eep [her] mouth shut. (Tr. 632.) And Cardinale testified that she believed that if the Cutolos told anyone what we really felt, that it would be taken out on my husband or my brother, even my kids. ( Id. at 331.) In sum, the evidence was sufficient for the jury to find that Persico had been informed by the government that he was the target of an investigation into the disappearance of Cutolo; that a grand jury proceeding on that matter was thus foreseeable to Persico and DeRoss; that Persico sent DeRoss to visit the Cutolos; that DeRoss told the Cutolos that the government might be trying to build a case against Persico; that DeRoss told the Cutolos not to tell anyone acting for the government what they really believed had happened to Cutolo; and that DeRoss threatened harm to Peggy Cutolo, Cutolo Jr., Cardinale, Cardinale's husband, and their young daughters if the Cutolos spoke candidly to anyone conducting an official investigation. While DeRoss did from time to time utter the words [t]ell the truth ( e.g., GX 67B at 11), his other recorded statements and the testimony of Peggy Cutolo and Cardinale provided sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that the Cutolos reasonably understood DeRoss to mean that, insofar as any government inquiry was concerned, they should not tell the truth.