Opinion ID: 531294
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the trial and procedural history

Text: 14 Kelly was arrested on June 24, 1987. He was indicted the next day along with Figueroa and six others. 7 Kelly requested and was granted a separate bench trial following sentencing of his codefendants, all of whom eventually pleaded guilty. 8 Kelly's trial began on Wednesday, March 30, 1988. On Friday, April 1, the district judge realized that Charles Wills was going to be a witness for Kelly when Wills's name appeared in a notation to a telephone transcript and was mentioned during Kelly's testimony. The judge had known for several months that Wills was going to be testifying in his court in some case. The judge's wife and Wills's wife were close personal friends, and Wills had been avoiding contact with the judge at social functions. On Monday, April 4, the judge noticed Wills's wife sitting in the courtroom, and he invited her back to his chambers. The judge asked why she was in court and she responded that her husband was going to testify in the case. The judge commented to her that he wished it were a jury trial rather than a bench trial. 15 On Tuesday, April 5, the judge informed the parties of the situation. 9 He declared: I don't see anything to do but ... just simply recuse myself from this trial. I can't be put in this position.... Somebody should have told me about this.... I never would have agreed to try this case nonjury had I realized this. The judge stated that the situation put him in an embarrassing position, and created the risk that he might bend over backwards to prove he lacked favoritism toward Wills, with detrimental results for Kelly. Conversely, he stated that if he found Kelly guilty he felt he might jeopardize his wife's friendship with Mrs. Wills. The judge described himself as being caught between a rock and a hard place, and he revealed that he had argued with his wife about the situation. 16 After raising the issue sua sponte, however, the judge decided not to recuse himself. The judge made it clear that he would have recused himself if he had been confident that retrial would not be barred by double jeopardy principles. 10 He left it to the parties to jointly consent either to a mistrial or to his continuing to sit on the case. The Government offered to consent to a mistrial if Kelly also consented. Kelly's attorney declined, stating that Kelly had spent a great deal of money and ... gone through a great deal. We would like to go ahead and leave it with the court. The judge thereafter continued with the trial. 17 The judge indicated on several occasions that he held Kelly responsible for putting him in such a difficult position. He stated during trial that that may have been the ace in the hole that [Kelly] had, and he could have done something about it. He didn't do it. Later, just prior to rendering the verdict, the judge stated that while he was willing to accept that it was not done deliberately, he would have hoped that Kelly would have come to him and informed him about the situation. [H]ad that been done, I would have gotten out of the case just like that, or I would have let it be tried to a jury, one of the two. So it has caused me considerable anxiety ... In an April 22, 1988 order denying Kelly's post-trial motion to recuse him from further proceedings, he stated: 18 The undersigned wishes that defendant had informed him prior to the start of trial that Mr. Wills would be testifying so that the undersigned had not been placed in such an awkward position. Had the undersigned been so informed prior to trial, he could have recused himself sua sponte or on defendant's motion without creating double jeopardy problems or could have denied defendant's request for a bench trial and instead held a jury trial. Unfortunately, defendant did not do so, and he cannot now be heard to complain that the undersigned was biased because of his acquaintance with Mr. Wills. 19 The district court found Kelly guilty on both counts on April 6, 1988. On April 22, 1988, the district judge denied Kelly's post-trial motion to recuse him from further proceedings, and on May 3, 1988, denied Kelly's supplemental motion for recusal and a new trial. Kelly's appeal to this Court for a writ of mandamus and stay of proceedings was denied on July 8, 1988. On September 16, 1988, the district court denied Kelly's motion for judgment of acquittal and renewed motion for a new trial. On October 7, 1988, Kelly was sentenced to five years' imprisonment with four years' special parole on the aiding and abetting count and a concurrent five years' imprisonment on the conspiracy count. 11 On appeal, Kelly claims that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction on either count, (2) the district court abused its discretion by excluding testimony relevant to his defense, (3) the district court abused its discretion by failing to recuse itself under 28 U.S.C.A. Sec. 455, (4) his prosecution should be dismissed on grounds of outrageous governmental conduct, 12 and (5) the district court erroneously sentenced him to a mandatory minimum five-year term under 21 U.S.C.A. Sec. 841(b)(1)(B), as amended by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, Sec. 1002, 100 Stat. 3207-2. 13