Opinion ID: 796946
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ramos-Pubill Connection

Text: 27 During trial on December 4, 2002, counsel for Misla was cross-examining Ramos, the government's cooperating witness. Seeking to impeach him, counsel asked Ramos about several different bad acts allegedly attributable to him. In one particular exchange, counsel asked Ramos about an investment of $300,000 he'd taken from a gas station owner named Eduardo Pubill to invest on his behalf in a company called Telefnica Hispanoamericano. It turned out that Eduardo Pubill's son, Edgardo, was a convicted drug trafficker, and that it was likely that the $300,000 were proceeds of illegal drug sales that Edgardo was seeking to launder through his father's gas station and the Telefónica Hispanoamericano investment. 28 Counsel for Misla challenged Ramos on whether he knew that he was laundering money, but Ramos denied knowing the source of the money, saying that he simply believed that an owner of a gas station would be likely to have excess cash to invest. At sidebar, the government said that Ramos had only discovered the illegal source of the funds while being debriefed by then U.S. Attorney Guillermo Gil in preparation for trial in this case. Gil, having worked on the prosecution of Edgardo Pubill, was aware of the gas station in question because he had attempted to seek its forfeiture, since it was likely a front for Edgardo's drug trafficking. The district court ordered the government to look into the Ramos-Pubill transaction further, and any other potential activities or cases involving Eduardo Pubill, the father. 29 Two days later, on December 6, 2002, the prosecution reported that Eduardo Pubill had no federal convictions. The court then ordered the prosecution to obtain official certification from federal investigating agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the U.S. Customs Service, as to whether there was any evidence that Ramos laundered money for Eduardo Pubill or his son, Edgardo. 30 On December 9, 2002, the judge, having inquired with the Probation Office, reported that Eduardo Pubill did in fact have a prior conviction, in case no. 92-194. On the same date, the court issued an order requiring the FBI, DEA, Customs Service, and Internal Revenue Service to produce any interview or investigation reports related to case no. 92-094, against Eduardo Pubill, and no. 91-299, against Edgardo Pubill, that referenced Ramos or Telefnica Hispanoamericana. Unbeknownst to the court or counsel, case no. 92-194 was incorrectly cited on the order as no. 92-094. Perhaps because of this error, no further information about a conviction of Eduardo Pubill was discovered. 31 Upon learning of the court's order, Deputy U.S. Marshal Roberto Vizcarrondo recalled an interview he had done with an informant named Pedro Torres Molano (Torres) on December 4, 2001, when Vizcarrondo was detailed to the FBI Intelligence Research Center, in which Torres had stated that he had helped to launder the Pubills' money through Ramos, and that Ramos was well aware of the source of the funds. On December 11, 2002, he forwarded the draft Form 302 interview sheet (Form 302), in which he had earlier written the details of the conversation, to FBI agent José Figueroa. The next day, the Form 302 was provided to the court by FBI agent Jane Erickson. She noted that the Form 302 was not related to the case numbers referenced in the court's December 9 order, but was relevant to Ramos and Telefónica Hispanoamericano. 32 After an inspection of the document, the court issued a subsequent order that: (1) indicated that the newly discovered Form 302 was relevant to witness Ramos; (2) included a redacted copy of the Form 302; and (3) granted Misla a continuance until December 17, 2002. 33 Torres was called to testify, and in his testimony on December 20, 2002, he stated that he informed Ramos that supposedly the money came from an illegal source. Tr. 12/20/02 at 44. Soon after that, the court interrupted the testimony to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Misla could also use the Form 302 to impeach Ramos. During the evidentiary hearing, Vizcarrondo, FBI Special Agent Judith Priegues-Lpez (Priegues), and FBI Agent Carlos Hernandez testified that the Form 302 was created but never indexed or uploaded to the central server where other agents would have been able to query the form. They also testified that Vizcarrando had originally provided the Form 302 to Priegues, who then hand-delivered a disk with the interview to Hernández's office after telling him by phone to expect it. Hernández testified that he recalled the conversation with Priegues, but that he never received the disk, and did not follow up with Priegues when it did not appear. 34 Misla then moved to have the jury discharged and the indictment dismissed, alleging prosecutorial misconduct. Misla argued that Hernández had been present during Ramos's testimony and remained silent despite remembering his conversation with Priegues about the Form 302. The district court denied the motion ruling that, while Misla had difficulty obtaining the impeachment material, he now had the material and could make effective use of it. 35 The testimony of Torres resumed after the close of the evidentiary hearing. Torres was allowed to review the Form 302, and he clarified his earlier testimony by further stating that he told Ramos . . . that it was being said that the money coming from Pubil[l] were proceeds of drugs. Tr. 12/20/02 at 163. 36 The trial continued on December 26, 2002. Misla recalled Ramos and cross-examined him regarding his prior testimony about the transaction with Eduardo Pubill. Misla also moved that day to question both Hernández and Priegues regarding the Form 302, stating that such testimony would allow the jury to make inferences regarding the government's intention to withhold impeachment material. 37 On January 14, 2003, the district court denied Misla's motion to question Hernández and Priegues. The court stated that Misla was merely attempting to demonstrate prosecutorial misconduct, and that such evidence was not relevant to impeaching Ramos. Trial continued from that point, and a verdict was reached. 38 On October 9, 2003, nearly nine months after the jury had returned a verdict, the prosecution filed an informative motion stating that Eduardo Pubill, the source of the money that Ramos invested in the Telefónica Hispanoamericano stock, had been previously convicted in federal court of structuring financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements, in violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5324. The motion stated that the government was filing the motion because this information was contrary to the government's assertion at trial that Eduardo Pubill had no convictions. The government explained this lapse by saying that earlier database searches by several agencies had turned up nothing except for the conviction of Eduardo's son, Edgardo Pubill. The case number for this conviction was 92-194, which, as discussed above, had been erroneously given as 92-094 in the district court's order seeking more information on Pubill. 39 Misla moved to dismiss the indictment or, in the alternative, for a new trial. He argued that the failure to disclose Eduardo Pubill's conviction earlier was prosecutorial misconduct that denied him the chance to fully impeach Ramos, the government's main witness. The district court denied the motion, saying that even without the record of Eduardo Pubill's conviction, there was ample material with which to impeach Ramos, including the testimony of Torres. The district court also stated that it would have been straightforward for Misla to discover the error in the case number and bring it to court's attention.
40 We review for abuse of discretion a district court's decision on how to handle a delayed disclosure. United States v. Catano, 65 F.3d 219, 227 (1st Cir.1995). 41 Prior to trial, Misla sought discovery under Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972), of information potentially useful in impeaching government witnesses. Under Giglio, the withholding of such impeachment information would fall under the rule of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), that suppression of favorable evidence violates due process if the evidence is material to guilt or punishment. Giglio, 405 U.S. at 154, 92 S.Ct. 763. Where the evidence is never forthcoming, we ask whether that nondisclosure might have affected the outcome of the trial. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 104, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976). However, where the evidence is only delayed, we ask instead whether defendant's counsel was prevented by the delay from using the disclosed material effectively in preparing and presenting the defendant's case. United States v. Ingraldi, 793 F.2d 408, 411-12 (1st Cir.1986); see Catano, 65 F.3d at 227. 42 To prevail on this argument, the defendant must at a minimum make a prima facie showing of a plausible strategic option which the delay foreclosed. United States v. Devin, 918 F.2d 280, 290 (1st Cir.1990); see United States v. Lemmerer, 277 F.3d 579, 588 (1st Cir.2002). Misla has made no such showing here. Instead, he argues only that the circumstances of the disclosure imply an attempt by the government to deliberately keep the information from Misla. Even if that were true, it is not sufficient to force a mistrial where the defendant is not prejudiced. The critical inquiry is not why disclosure was delayed but whether the tardiness prevented defense counsel from employing the material to good effect. Devin, 918 F.2d at 290. 43 The district court found that the delayed disclosure had no effect, since Misla was still able to use the information to impeach Ramos. Indeed, Misla appears to have been fully aware of the allegations contained in the Form 302 prior to trial, since the allegations of money laundering first came to light through his counsel's cross-examination of Ramos. Given this, we fail to see how Misla was prejudiced by the delayed disclosure of the Form 302 interview with Torres. 44 Misla also challenges the district court's ruling to disallow the testimony of Hernández and Priegues, the FBI agents who had originally handled the Form 302. The court stated that testimony regarding an alleged cover-up was not relevant to the case, especially given that Misla already had the Form 302 admitted into evidence to use to impeach Ramos. Misla argues that the fact of any government cover-up would have bolstered his argument that Ramos was lying about laundering the Pubill money. 45 It may be that this ruling should be reviewed as a typical evidentiary matter, rather than as a ruling on a possible sanction for a Brady violation, but regardless our review is solely for abuse of discretion. United States v. Guerrier, 428 F.3d 76, 79 (1st Cir.2005) (as to evidentiary ruling); Catano, 65 F.3d at 227 (as to decision on delayed disclosure). For the same reasons as discussed above, we find no such abuse here.
46 Following the government's informative motion of October 9, 2003, regarding Eduardo Pubill's conviction for structuring financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements, Misla moved to dismiss the indictment or, in the alternative, for a new trial. The judge denied the motion. 47 This issue presents a slight puzzle with respect to our standard of review, though it is easily resolved. The denial of the motion appears to be subject to our review under the standards given in Brady and Giglio, just as the delayed disclosure of the Form 302 interview with Torres was, as discussed above. The government's informative motion describes this as a case of nondisclosure, which would subject them to a relatively tough standard of review if we were to review under Brady. See Agurs, 427 U.S. at 104, 96 S.Ct. 2392 (whether disclosure might have affected the outcome of the trial). However, it's not clear that this is nondisclosure — or even delayed disclosure — since the court informed both parties on December 9, 2002, during trial, of exactly this conviction. The trouble arises because of the court's error in noting the case as no. 92-094 rather than no. 92-194 in its December 9 order. Perhaps as a result of that clerical error, though we can't know for sure, no party seems to have followed up on that particular case, and thus no party informed the court of its error in reporting the case number. 7 48 As the district court itself noted after receiving the government's informative motion, 49 [t]he fact that this motion has been filed at all leads to confusion since the Court, despite the government's representation during trial that Mr. Eduardo Pubill-Rivera had not been convicted, took the initiative to probe into the matter. The result of that inquiry was the disclosure to the parties of Mr. Eduardo Pubill-Rivera's conviction and sentence. . . . We do not anticipate any controversy arising from the information provided in the government's last motion since this is not newly discovered information but rather data disclosed and utilized during the trial. 50 Sealed Order, October 10, 2003. We agree with the district court's reasoning. This is at worst an instance of delayed disclosure, since the information came out during trial, and thus we again ask whether defendant's counsel was prevented by the delay from using the disclosed material effectively in preparing and presenting the defendant's case. Ingraldi, 793 F.2d at 411-12. Our standard of review of the denial of the motion is, again, abuse of discretion. 8 Catano, 65 F.3d at 227. We find no such abuse here, simply because Misla was not prevented from preparing by the delay. In his brief, Misla constructs an unlikely string of events: knowledge of Eduardo Pubill's conviction for a financial crime would have led to him being called to testify; he would then have disclosed the money laundering scheme with Ramos; the judge would have been forced to instruct the jury that Ramos was a perjurer; and this would have so undermined his credibility, as the government's main witness, as to make conviction of Misla impossible. This is inference piled upon inference, particularly since Ramos had already been impeached over the Pubill connection (not to mention his own involvement in the conspiracy at issue in the instant case). More fundamentally, because Misla was provided this information during trial, but apparently did not pursue it, we cannot say that the delay caused any prejudice. 51 Finally, it should not be forgotten that Ramos was the witness, not Pubill. While prior convictions of Ramos would clearly be material under Giglio, it is not so clear that the conviction of a person with whom that witness did business is also material. At some point, the human chain of bad behavior becomes too attenuated to be relevant to the trial at hand. Here, however, we are not called upon to make that determination, because in any event Misla was not prejudiced. Therefore, the judge did not abuse her discretion.