Opinion ID: 601261
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendants Marren, Smith, Baker, and Sidel

Text: 6 In denying defendants Marren, Smith, Baker, and Sidel's motions to stay, the district court found that its order granting the Government's motion to admit acquittal evidence was not immediately appealable on an interlocutory basis. The district court based this conclusion on a collection of twelve cases from several other circuits which interpreted the Supreme Court's decision in Abney v. United States, 431 U.S. 651 (1977). 3 In fact, every court that has addressed this issue has held that evidentiary orders that raise double jeopardy concerns are not immediately appealable. 4 7 This in sharp contrast to district court orders that deny motions to dismiss a count or an indictment on the ground that the prosecutions subject the defendants to double jeopardy. See Abney, 431 U.S. at 656-62. In these situations, the orders satisfy the requirements for appealable collateral orders outlined in Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541 (1949). First, the orders conclusively resolve a disputed question--the issue of double jeopardy cannot be raised again. Second, the orders are not steps toward a final disposition of the merits; rather, the defendant objects to the Government's authority to prosecute him. And finally, the district courts' orders involve important rights that will be lost in the absence of an immediate appeal, i.e., the defendant's right not to be put to risk. United States v. Mock, 604 F.2d 336, 340 (5th Cir.1979). 8 When a defendant merely objects to the admission of evidence, however, none of these requirements are met: (1) evidentiary objections can be raised in the future, (2) evidentiary objections are merely one aspect of an ongoing trial and are not collateral, and (3) evidentiary objections do not involve a right that will be lost absent appeal--regardless of the outcome of the objection, the defendant will nevertheless be put to risk. 5 Consequently, evidentiary orders that raise double jeopardy concerns are not immediately appealable on an interlocutory basis. Because these orders are not appealable as interlocutory orders, the defendants in the present appeals are not likely to succeed on the merits and we therefore deny their motions to stay and dismiss their appeals for lack of jurisdiction.