Opinion ID: 381348
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Timing of the Petrozziello Ruling

Text: 7 In United States v. Petrozziello, 548 F.2d 20 (1st Cir. 1977), we held that district courts should only admit out of court declarations of co-conspirators under Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E) if it is more likely than not that the declarant and the defendant were members of a conspiracy when the hearsay statement was made, and that the statement was in furtherance of the conspiracy. Id. at 23. During the trial of this case the prosecution's use of the out of court statements of various defendants as part of its case in chief against all defendants required the district court to apply the Petrozziello standard. On the eleventh day of trial, before the defense presented any evidence, the district court found that the prosecution had met the Petrozziello standard. The court thereupon removed the limitations that it had previously placed upon the use of the evidence. 8 Appellant McNiff now contends that because the district court made its ruling before the defense presented any evidence, it could not have properly applied the Petrozziello standard. Appellant reasons that Petrozziello requires a preponderance of the evidence test, United States v. Martorano, 557 F.2d 1, 11 (1st Cir. 1977), reh. denied 561 F.2d 406 (1st Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 922, 98 S.Ct. 1484, 55 L.Ed.2d 515 (1978); that such a test requires a weighing of all the evidence; and that therefore it is impossible for the district court properly to have applied the test without hearing the defendants' evidence. 9 Neither in Petrozziello itself nor in subsequent cases, see, e. g., United States v. Martorano, supra; United States v. Pappas, 611 F.2d 399 (1st Cir. 1979), did we address the issue of when the required more likely than not findings are to be made. While it is not irrational to view Petrozziello as merely mandating an increase in the required probative force of the prosecution's evidence, cf. United States v. Trotter 529 F.2d 806, 812 (3rd Cir. 1976) (adopting substantive standard more severe than the prima facie standard), we think that in adopting the more likely than not, preponderance test we implicitly anticipated that the defendant's evidence would be taken into consideration. At least three circuit courts have explicitly adopted such a rule, see United States v. James, 590 F.2d 575, 582 (5th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied 442 U.S. 917, 99 S.Ct. 2836, 61 L.Ed.2d 283 (1979); United States v. Bell, 573 F.2d 1040, 1043 (8th Cir. 1978); United States v. Stanchich, 550 F.2d 1294, 1298 (2d Cir. 1977), and we find much merit in it. It is not difficult to imagine a case in which the basic question of whether a conspiracy existed could be greatly or even dispositively affected by the defendant's evidence. To find out of court declarations admissible under Rule 801(d)(2)(E) in such a case after hearing only the prosecution's evidence would render almost meaningless any difference between the standard announced in Petrozziello and the prima facie standard that it replaced. Moreover, requiring trial courts to delay Petrozziello rulings until the conclusion of all the evidence would not create any significant additional demands or difficulties. 10 We therefore hold that trial courts should proceed in accordance with the following rule, which we adopt in partially amended form from the Eighth Circuit opinion in United States v. Bell, supra at 1044: 11 If the prosecution attempts to introduce into evidence an out-of-court declaration under Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E), the trial court, upon proper objection, may conditionally admit the declaration. 3 If the declaration is conditionally admitted, the court should inform the parties on the record out of the hearing of the jury that (a) the prosecution will be required to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that a conspiracy existed, that the declarant and defendant were members of it at the time that the declaration was made, and that the declaration was in furtherance of the conspiracy, (b) that at the close of all the evidence the court will make a final Petrozziello determination for the record, out of the hearing of the jury; and, (c) that if the determination is against admitting the declaration, the court will give a cautionary instruction to the jury, or, upon an appropriate motion, declare a mistrial if the instruction will not suffice to cure any prejudice. 12 In the instant case, however, neither appellant nor anyone else objected to the timing of the district court's finding. Appellant failed to make any objection setting forth the reasoning that he now persuades us to adopt. Even in the Eighth Circuit, which held two years ago that district courts should make a final preponderance determination at the end of all the evidence, failure to object at trial to the omission of such a determination bars an appellate from raising the point on appeal in the absence of plain error. United States v. Baykowski, 615 F.2d 767 (8th Cir. 1980). Our own examination of the record convinces us that there was no plain error in this case. 4 III. Pre-Indictment Delay 13 The prosecution introduced into evidence a tape recording of a conversation between McNiff and one Leo Power made by Power while acting as a government informant. The conversation took place one and a half years after McNiff first appeared with his lawyer before the grand jury and almost a year before he was indicted following several additional grand jury appearances. McNiff moved to suppress the tape recording on the grounds that it violated his Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel because his lawyer was not present when it was made. He argued that the government delayed the securing of the indictment for the purpose of forestalling the triggering of his right to counsel until after the investigation was completed. 14 Appellant's characterization of this argument as raising a Sixth Amendment issue is incorrect. As his argument itself implies, it has been firmly established that a person's Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment right to counsel attaches only at or after the time that adversary judicial proceedings have been initiated against him. Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 92 S.Ct. 1877, 32 L.Ed.2d 411 (1972). The Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel in criminal prosecutions, U.S.Const. Amend. VI, is by definition not implicated by delays in commencing prosecutions. Kirby v. Illinois, supra; United States v. Craig, 573 F.2d 455, 475 (7th Cir. 1977) cert. denied 439 U.S. 820, 99 S.Ct. 82, 58 L.Ed.2d 110 (1978). Properly characterized, appellant's argument is instead a challenge on due process grounds to the legitimacy of prosecutorial delay in securing an indictment. 15 Addressing this challenge on the merits, we find no violation of appellant's rights. The prosecution has wide discretion in deciding to delay the securing of an indictment in order to gather additional evidence against an individual. That discretion is limited only by the requirement that it not violate those fundamental conceptions of justice which lie at the base of our civil and political institutions, United States v. Lavasco, 431 U.S. 783, 790, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 2049, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977), quoting Mooney v. Holohan, 294 U.S. 103, 112, 55 S.Ct. 340, 341, 79 L.Ed. 791 (1935); see also United States v. Ramos Algarin, 584 F.3d 562, 567 (1st Cir. 1978). Whenever a prosecutor using that discretion decides to delay asking for an indictment, an obvious and foreseeable result is the forestalling of myriad procedural safeguards intended for the protection of indictees, e. g. notice, speedy trial, or here, the right to the assistance of counsel. If it were clear that a prosecutor's decision to delay were motivated solely by a desire to turn such a result into a tactical advantage by impairing the ability of a defendant to mount an effective defense, a due process violation might be shown. United States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307, 324, 92 S.Ct. 455, 465, 30 L.Ed.2d 468 (1971). The instant case, however, by no means presents such a situation. The case was complex, involving numerous individuals and transactions. The evidence against McNiff at the time of the tape recorded conversation was by no means overwhelming, and the prosecution waited an additional year after the conversation to request the indictment. The prosecution presumably desired to indict all of the defendants at the same time, and thus had to wait until all the evidence was gathered against all the defendants. Given these facts, we need inquire no further in order to reject appellant's claim. To do otherwise, and scrutinize in detail the merits of the prosecution's decision, would pressure prosecutors into resolving doubtful cases in favor of early and possibly unwarranted prosecutions, United States v. Lovasco, supra, 431 U.S. at 793, 97 S.Ct. at 2050, in order to avoid claims that any delay was unjustified. 16