Opinion ID: 536025
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Postpone.

Text: 61 A district court's decision to deny a continuance can be disturbed on appeal only for abuse of discretion. Morris v. Slappy, 461 U.S. 1, 11-12, 103 S.Ct. 1610, 1616-17, 75 L.Ed.2d 610 (1983); Real v. Hogan, 828 F.2d 58, 63 (1st Cir.1987); see also Note, A Capital Defendant's Right to a Continuance Between the Two Phases of a Death Penalty Trial, 64 N.Y.U.L.Rev. 579, 593 (1989) (district judge's discretion to deny a continuance is limited only where refusal to grant more time infringes upon a constitutional right). Moreover, in a case where a continuance request is predicated on medical dangerousness, the judge must be given a relatively wide berth. He has firsthand knowledge of the defendant and his situation, gained over time; he knows the courtroom conditions and the circumstances of trial intimately, and possesses great familiarity with the scope and complexity of the litigable issues; he has the ability to question health care providers and solicit additional opinions; he can best sift overstatement from understatement, eyeing the defendant's and the doctors' credibility, and tempering the prosecutors' zeal; and he will usually have developed a feel for factors like intensity and stressfulness. We believe it is perilous for an appellate tribunal, traversing the frozen tundra of an inert record, to secondguess the trial judge's informed synthesis of the relevant integers which enter into so ramified an equation. See United States v. Bernstein, 417 F.2d 641, 643 (2d Cir.1969) (The determination of competence to stand trial is basically a question of fact; [and] the trial judge is in a better position to resolve it than the appellate courts.). 62 While we give deference to the district court's assessment, we do not owe it blind allegiance. We look to see whether the court below had evidence before it which was, qualitatively and quantitatively, sufficient to support the decision which it reached. See United States v. Alexander, 869 F.2d 808, 811 (5th Cir.1989); United States v. Brown, 821 F.2d 986, 988 (4th Cir.1987); Bernstein, 417 F.2d at 643; see also Independent Oil and Chemical Workers of Quincy, Inc. v. Procter & Gamble Mfg. Co., 864 F.2d 927, 929 (1st Cir.1988) (stating test for abuse of discretion). The mere possibility of an adverse effect on a party's wellbeing is not enough to warrant a postponement. We agree with the Fourth Circuit that the medical repercussions must be serious and out of the ordinary; the impending trial must pose a substantial danger to a defendant's life or health. Brown, 821 F.2d at 988. Throughout, we bear in mind that our function is one of review, not of independent evaluation: if the evidence can, on balance, fairly sustain either of two plausible conclusions, and the lower court chose one, we have no right to interfere. 63 Because circumstances vary so widely, we can present no all-inclusive checklist of the factors which bear on such a determination. When a colorable claim of medical dangerousness is lodged and contested, the court must carefully investigate the situation, assemble the pertinent data, and then consider not only the medical evidence but also the defendant's activities (in the courtroom and outside of it), the steps defendant is taking (or neglecting to take) to improve his health, and the measures which can feasibly be implemented to reduce medical risks. Once a dangerousness quotient is established, the judge must weigh the foreseeable risks against the demonstrable public interest, taking into account factors such as the severity of the charges and the extent of the government's interest in trying the defendant. If the perceived risks overbalance the perceived benefits, a continuance must be granted. 64 In the case at bar, we note approvingly that the court gave appellant ample time to allow his condition to ameliorate or stabilize. The court also took elaborate pains to gather the best information and opinions obtainable: the parties were allowed full rein to present their evidence; the judge then solicited assessments from three eminent (and detached) cardiologists. The court considered the medical opinions, the defendant's activities, the foreseeable risks (including the fact that a trial would doubtless subject Zannino to considerable emotional strain, thus aggravating his angina attacks and perhaps exacerbating other health problems) 12 , the nature of the charges, their separability, the public interest in a trial, the defendant's right to assist in his own defense, the prospect that more time might alter the scales' angle, and a series of intangibles. All in all, the court appears to have weighed the correct factors. The question then becomes whether, in constructing the balance, the court committed a meaningful error in judgment. See Independent Oil and Chemical Workers, 864 F.2d at 929 (so long as the proper factors have been considered, judicial discretion is abused only if the court makes a serious mistake in weighing them). 65 We review the district judge's findings and the balance he struck. The judge found that Zannino would have chest pains whether or not he was in court; that, in all likelihood, his angina attacks could be palliated by oral medication; and that such attacks, although potentially serious if not relieved, were not life threatening. The judge noted that much of the maintenance of defendant's health was in his own hands; he was responsible for monitoring his diet and medication in order to avoid untoward consequences. The court fully considered the ravages of trial and concluded that, while a trial would increase the risk of [Zannino's] sustaining another life threatening coronary incident in some degree that is neither trivial nor precisely measurable, the danger was not undue. And the court found that the public interest in bringing Zannino to trial was great. 66 In addition, the district court took substantial steps to reduce the medical risks incident to trial. First, it ordered Zannino tried alone and severed most of the charges against him, leaving only three. These three were handpicked to create both a shorter trial and one likely to curtail wear and tear on the defendant (emotional as well as physical). 13 Second, the normal trial day and week were abbreviated. Third, special medical safeguards were made available, including provisions for periodic medical examinations during trial, continuous coronary monitoring, and on-the-spot accessibility to medical equipment. Two emergency medical technicians were in attendance during court sessions. An ambulance was parked in the courthouse garage. These precautions not only minimized the chance that a tragedy would occur, but must have served to ease the defendant's health-related concerns. 67 We acknowledge that a stand-trial determination in the case of an ailing defendant is among the most problematic that a federal district judge is called upon to make. Whether a defendant's physical condition is so poor as to require a continuance or severance is not only a difficult determination ..., but it is one which carries with it the tremendous responsibility of weighing the invariably unpredictable factor of defendant's health against the government's, indeed the public's, legitimate interest in a fair and speedy disposition. Bernstein v. Travia, 495 F.2d 1180, 1182 (2d Cir.1974). A criminal trial is by its nature ordealistic--but that fact alone cannot abrogate the pronounced public interest in bringing promptly to book those accused of high crimes and felonies. See id. In this case, the crimes charged were of the gravest order and the defendant's involvement was alleged to be at the uppermost level. His medical condition was unlikely to improve, rendering a continuance functionally equivalent to a permanent ban against trial. In ordering Zannino into the dock, the court below carefully evaluated these factors and the other pertinent considerations; tailored the charges to fit the defendant's physical and emotional resources; and utilized critical firsthand impressions that we lack. We cannot say that the district judge--whose thoroughness resonates from every page of the record pertaining to this issue--misused his broad discretion. 68 Because the dangerousness quotient, though palpable, was not excessive, the denial of appellant's motion for a continuance was permissible. See, e.g., Alexander, 869 F.2d at 811 (trial judge's reasoned determination that defendant was physically able to testify in his own behalf and stand trial must prevail absent abuse of discretion); United States v. Pastor, 557 F.2d 930, 939 (2d Cir.1977) (where defendant suffered from angina pectoris but trial judge had implemented sufficient safeguards, deference was justified); Travia, 495 F.2d at 1182 (similar); see also Brown, 821 F.2d at 989. The perceptible risks inherent in a specially-structured trial did not overbalance the perceptible benefit to the public. 69