Opinion ID: 751622
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cooperation Agreements

Text: 45 Notwithstanding the traditional Brady framework, Avellino argues that dishonesty by a party to a cooperation agreement during the period of cooperation must be considered material in light of this Court's agreement with the government's own view of such acts: 46 By lying to the prosecutor during the period of his cooperation about his own criminal involvement, Brechner made it impossible for the government to argue at any future trial that, despite his past sins, Brechner had acknowledged his guilt, turned over a new leaf and cooperated in a truthful and trustworthy manner. The disclosure of Brechner's lies to the bank officer's defense counsel under Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 154, 92 S.Ct. 763, 766, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972), would have brought on harsh cross-examination and a powerful argument that Brechner was no more trustworthy as a cooperating witness than he had been as a crook. 47 United States v. Brechner, 99 F.3d 96, 99-100 (2d Cir.1996) (emphasis in original). Given that this statement was made in the very different context of a cooperating defendant's assertion that the government had breached its contractual obligation to move for a downward departure pursuant to Guidelines § 5K1.1, we conclude that it does not alter the normal Brady analysis of materiality. 48 Section 5K1.1 allows the district court to grant a defendant a downward departure from the sentencing range prescribed by the Guidelines if the government so moves on the ground that the defendant has provided substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person who has committed an offense. In securing the assistance of a defendant, the government commonly enters into a cooperation agreement that (a) requires the defendant to, inter alia, provide assistance to the government in the investigation or prosecution of others, and to answer truthfully all questions put to him by the government, and (b) provides that the government will make a § 5K1.1 motion if it is satisfied with the quality of the defendant's cooperation and with his performance of the terms of the agreement. See, e.g., United States v. Fernandez, 127 F.3d 277, 286 (2d Cir.1997); United States v. Resto, 74 F.3d 22, 25-26 (2d Cir.1996). The government normally retains considerable discretion to evaluate a defendant's assistance, and its refusal to move for a departure under Guidelines § 5K1.1 is reviewable only for misconduct, bad faith, or an unconstitutional motive, such as the defendant's race or religion. See, e.g., Wade v. United States, 504 U.S. 181, 185-86, 112 S.Ct. 1840, 1843-44, 118 L.Ed.2d 524 (1992); United States v. Resto, 74 F.3d at 26; United States v. Gonzalez, 970 F.2d 1095, 1103 (2d Cir.1992). We have ruled in a number of cases, including the Brechner case relied on by Avellino, that where the cooperation agreement required the defendant to be truthful, his subsequent lying to the government was a breach of the agreement and the government had the right under that agreement to refrain from making a § 5K1.1 motion. See, e.g., United States v. Fernandez, 127 F.3d at 286; United States v. Brechner, 99 F.3d at 99-100; United States v. Pollack, 91 F.3d 331, 334-35 (2d Cir.1996); United States v. Resto, 74 F.3d at 26. 49 In those cases, we simply applied principles of contract construction in assessing both whether untruthfulness by the defendant constituted a breach of the cooperation agreement and whether the defendant's conduct gave the government the right under the agreement to refuse to urge the court to give the defendant a lighter sentence. Our statement in Brechner that the witness's lies impeded the government from arguing, at any trial at which the witness testified, that he had cooperated in a truthful and trustworthy manner, 99 F.3d at 100, was recognition that the utterance of such lies during the witness's period of cooperation may indeed be used for impeachment. We did not purport to suggest, however, that such impeachment information would be material trial evidence in the circumstances of every prosecution. The question for the present case is whether, in light of all the other information available with respect to D'Arco, there is any reasonable probability that the undisclosed impeachment information would have led Avellino to plead not guilty. For the reasons discussed above, we have concluded that there is no such reasonable probability. Our recognition in the § 5K1.1 cases that a witness's lying provides a basis for impeachment neither addressed the question of materiality generally nor alters our conclusion in this case.