Opinion ID: 564323
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: 1 For better or for worse, our circuit in recent years seems to have been the locus for megatrials. See, e.g., Polizzi v. United States, 926 F.2d 1311, 1313 (2d Cir.1991) (This appeal stems from what can only optimistically be called an aberration in the federal judicial system--the RICO megatrial); United States v. Casamento, 887 F.2d 1141, 1149 (2d Cir.1989) (thirty-five defendants charged in RICO indictment, twenty-one defendants tried in joint trial lasting over seventeen months and involving roughly 275 witnesses), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 1138, 107 L.Ed.2d 1043 (1990); Procter & Gamble Co. v. Big Apple Indus. Bldgs., Inc., 879 F.2d 10, 12 (2d Cir.1989) (The [RICO pattern] problem is of serious consequence because a RICO trial often becomes a 'megatrial' with large numbers of unrelated defendants--charged with unconnected wrongs--tried together under the rubric of a single conspiracy), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 723, 107 L.Ed.2d 743 (1990). 2 Defendants are often heard to complain that the government benefits from the ambiguity and confusion which accompanies these gargantuan indictments; despite the complaints, we have responded, sometimes grudgingly, by affirming the lion's share of the convictions in spite of our concerns about the unruliness of such cases. See, e.g., Casamento, 887 F.2d at 1151-53. 3 Similarly, defendants often complain that, because of the diversity of proof admissible in such an enormous case, they suffer not only from prejudicial spillover, such as occurs where a minor participant in one conspiracy was forced to sit through weeks of damaging evidence relating to another, United States v. Miley, 513 F.2d 1191, 1209 (2d Cir.) (Friendly, J.), cert. denied sub nom. Goldstein v. United States, 423 U.S. 842, 96 S.Ct. 74, 46 L.Ed.2d 62 (1975), but also from prejudice transferred across the line separating conspiracies, or defendants, so great that no one really can say prejudice to substantial right has not taken place. Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 774, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 1252, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946). 4 This case--an enormous one involving bid-rigging in the New York City concrete industry, with numerous small, tangentially-related counts attached like barnacles--creates a problem different from, but related to, the concept of prejudicial spillover: that of spillover taint. Serious error that occurred during this enormous trial requires the reversal of that portion of the case representing the majority of the convictions. This error, when combined with other aspects of the trial that raise serious questions of fairness, leads us to the conclusion that all of the convictions must be reversed. After reversing what was by far the largest portion of the indictment, we cannot really say that prejudice to substantial right would not take place if we left only a few of the collateral convictions intact. The likelihood of spillover taint running from the erroneously-achieved convictions to the remaining few is enough to undermine our confidence in the accuracy of all of the guilty verdicts. We therefore reverse the convictions of all appealing defendants and remand for further proceedings in the district court.