Opinion ID: 393800
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Failure to Disclose Dismissal of Witness' Indictment

Text: 27 Thomas McCloud argues that his conviction under the Travel Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1952, must be reversed because the Government intentionally failed to tell him of the prior existence, and subsequent dismissal during trial, of an indictment against one of the witnesses against him. The Government counters McCloud's argument by noting that the witness, Thelma Dekillian, was recalled after McCloud's lawyer learned from McCloud that Dekillian had been indicted. 11 The Government avers that the testimony of Dekillian, her lawyer, and the prosecutors clearly shows that the testimony against McCloud was not given in exchange for any promise of favorable treatment. Further, the Government urges that any arguable prejudice resulting from the nondisclosure was cured by Dekillian's availability for cross-examination when she was recalled. 28 The record discloses that at the time of Dekillian's original testimony against McCloud, the Government, based on her promise of restitution, had agreed to dismiss an indictment charging her with improperly cashing Government checks. Indeed, the actual dismissal of the indictment occurred in Judge Richey's courtroom the same day Dekillian testified against McCloud in Judge Oberdorfer's court, although Dekillian was not informed of the dismissal until two weeks later, on the day she was recalled in this case. Tr. at 9319. The indictment resulted from the deposit of her mother's Social Security Survival Benefits checks into their joint bank account after her mother's death. Dekillian testified that she notified the Social Security office of her mother's death shortly after it occurred, and when in spite of the notice the checks continued to come in the mail, she thought she must be entitled to them. When Assistant U.S. Attorney Polk, newly assigned to her case, learned that Dekillian had in fact notified the authorities of her mother's death, he first offered to reduce the felony charge to a misdemeanor and then agreed to dismiss the charge altogether upon the execution of a restitution agreement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Harkins, who interviewed Dekillian with respect to her testimony against McCloud, testified that he first learned of the prior indictment against the witness during the course of that interview, which occurred some time after the conspiracy trial had begun. He did not pursue the matter with her, but told her he would contact her lawyer. Tr. at 9166-67. We take notice that the office of the United States Attorney is sufficiently large so that one assistant does not always know what every other assistant is doing in all other cases. 29 Two claims of prosecutorial misconduct can be ascertained from McCloud's brief. First, he contends that the Government deleted or failed to include in the notes of the Harkins' interview with Dekillian the fact that an indictment was outstanding against her. These notes were turned over to McCloud, apparently pursuant to the Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C. 3500. Second, McCloud argues that the existence of the indictment and its dismissal should have been divulged to him under the Brady doctrine, 12 as construed by such cases as United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 392 (1976). 30 We are unpersuaded by McCloud's arguments. The Jencks Act does not require a Government attorney to take verbatim notes of interviews. It only requires the Government to give a copy of a statement made by a Government witness to the defense after the witness has testified on direct examination at trial. The Jencks Act did not require disclosure of the notes under current discussion. See 18 U.S.C. 3500(e) (statement defined as a written statement made by (the) witness and signed or otherwise adopted by him ) (emphasis added). There is no indication in the record that Dekillian adopted the notes taken during her interview. Apparently, the Government gave McCloud copies of the notes of the Dekillian interview out of an abundance of caution. In any event there was no violation of the requirements of the Jencks Act. 31 The short answer to McCloud's Brady argument is that McCloud's lawyer learned of the evidence allegedly withheld and was given an opportunity to present that evidence in the only way it held any value for his client, by cross-examining the witness and attempting to impeach her. 13 32 The evidence does not support a conclusion that there was any orchestrated attempt here to buy Dekillian's testimony and then conceal this arrangement from McCloud. Even if the Government had kept the Dekillian indictment from McCloud in bad faith, this would not necessarily require reversal. As the Supreme Court stated in U. S. v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976): 33 In Brady this Court ... expressly rejected the good faith or the bad faith of the prosecutor as the controlling consideration: We now hold that the suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution. The principle of Mooney v. Holohan (294 U.S. 103, 55 S.Ct. 340, 79 L.Ed. 791) is not punishment of society for misdeeds of a prosecutor but avoidance of an unfair trial to the accused. 373 U.S., at 87 (83 S.Ct. at 1196). (emphasis added.) If the nature of the prosecutor's conduct is not controlling in a case like Brady, surely it should not be controlling when the prosecutor has not received a specific request for information. 34 427 U.S. at 110 n.17, 96 S.Ct. at 2400. 35 The evidence that was allegedly withheld here was eventually discovered by the defense during the course of the trial and was presented to the jury. Under the circumstances we find no error.