Opinion ID: 772793
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Ferguson's cross-appeal

Text: 22 The government filed its appeal of Judge Scheindlin's order on June 7, 1999, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3731. Ferguson did not appeal the district court's denial of his Rule 29 motion directly, but in a document dated June 9, 1999, defendant Ferguson filed a notice of cross-appeal purporting to raise the issue. Ferguson contends that Judge Scheindlin erred when she denied his Rule 29 motion, and he asks us to dismiss the indictment completely because the evidence supporting his convictions on counts 10 and 35 was insufficient. In his notice, defendant asserted pendent appellate jurisdiction. The government argues that we lack jurisdiction to hear the cross-appeal and that it is without merit. Because we agree that we lack jurisdiction to hear Ferguson's cross-appeal, we do not consider it on the merits. 23 Putting aside the issue of whether Ferguson's cross-appeal is timely pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 4(b), we hold that he could not appeal Judge Scheindlin's decision denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal. We have jurisdiction to consider appeals from final decisions of the district courts, which are judgments of conviction and sentence in criminal cases. See 28 U.S.C. § 1291; see also United States v. Aliotta, 199 F.3d 78, 81 (2d Cir. 1999). When Judge Scheindlin ordered a new trial, she necessarily vacated Ferguson's conviction from the first trial. Therefore, no judgment of conviction presently exists in this case. In addition, there is no pendent appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases. See Abney v. United States, 431 U.S. 651, 662-63 (1977). 24 Ferguson is attempting to appeal a collateral order, but denial of a Rule 29 motion does not fall within the narrow scope of the collateral order doctrine, which requires an appealable interim order to (1) conclusively determine the disputed question, (2) resolve an important issue completely separate from the merits of the action, and (3) be effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment. Aliotta, 199 F.3d at 81-82. Three kinds of orders fall within these parameters: pretrial motions to dismiss indictments on double jeopardy grounds, motions to reduce bail, and motions to dismiss under the Speech or Debate Clause. Id. at 82 & n.2. Ferguson's cross-appeal does not fall within any of these categories or meet any of the three criteria. Although at least two Second Circuit cases considered criminal appeals concerning non-final decisions, see United States v. Gerena, 869 F.2d 82, 83-84 (2d Cir. 1989) (considering fair trial appeal because it overlapped appealable order concerning defendants' privacy interests); see also United States v. Russotti, 717 F.2d 27, 31-32 & n.2 (2d Cir. 1983) (noting that defendant's subsidiary claim of prosecutorial vindictiveness may not be proper basis for interlocutory appeal except to extent it relates to double jeopardy), the facts of those cases were sufficiently unique to distinguish them from the present case. Ferguson's cross-appeal therefore is dismissed.