Opinion ID: 774052
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Rugiero's Trial and Conviction

Text: 2 On June 19, 1992, a jury convicted Rugiero of distributing cocaine and conspiracy to distribute, or possess with intent to distribute, cocaine and heroin, but returned a verdict of not guilty to charges of distributing heroin, intimidating a witness, and using a firearm during a violent crime. United States v. Rugiero, 804 F. Supp. 925, 928 (E.D. Mich. 1992). On the evening following submission of the case to the jury, local news broadcasts identified Rugiero's defense counsel, N.C. Deday LaRene, as the target of a federal criminal investigation for his alleged ties to organized crime figures. Two days later, a juror passed a note to the court expressing concern about the deliberations. Shortly thereafter, the jury indicated that it had reached a verdict, and the juror who authored the first note sent a second note to the court asking that the first note be disregarded. After receiving the verdicts, the court polled each juror individually and assured itself that, although several jurors had seen or heard about the news report, outside prejudicial information did not influence the verdicts. 3 The district court denied Rugiero's motion for a new trial based on the prejudice resulting from outside influences on the jury. Id. at 931. We affirmed the conviction on appeal. United States v. Rugiero, 20 F.3d 1387 (6th Cir.) (2-1 decision),cert. denied, 513 U.S. 878 (1994). LaRene represented Rugiero in all phases of his criminal trial and appeal, and Rugiero claims that during the course of his criminal trial he never knew--and that the government withheld from him information--that the federal government was preparing to indict LaRene. Viewing his attorney's impending indictment as a conflict of interest that prejudiced his defense at trial and on appeal, Rugiero has filed an action under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 seeking to set aside his conviction. Frustrated by the government's purported obfuscation of his requests for discovery and alleged misconduct in the section 2255 proceeding, Rugiero turned to the FOIA as an alternative means of learning information to use in his efforts to set aside his conviction. The same district court judge has presided over all of these actions, the criminal trial, the section 2255 action, and this FOIA case.