Opinion ID: 503427
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: additional errors claimed by defendants

Text: 55 Seeking to avoid retrial, Ochs and Dray raise a number of additional points, none of which merits lengthy discussion. First, Dray, but not Ochs, says that the indictment should be dismissed. Dray's argument is that, after McNally, the intangible rights portion of the Count One conspiracy charge is invalid and, therefore, the indictment fails to charge an offense. We disagree. To be sure, the subparagraph of Count One pertaining to a violation of the city's intangible rights does not charge an offense after McNally. The government concedes as much. But that does not render the entire indictment invalid. [An] indictment is sufficient if the offense is described with sufficient clarity to show a violation of law, and enables the accused to know the nature and cause of the accusation against him and to plead an acquittal or conviction in bar of future prosecution for the same offense. United States v. Fusaro, 708 F.2d 17, 23 (1st Cir.) (citing Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87, 117, 94 S.Ct. 2887, 2907, 41 L.Ed.2d 590 (1974)), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 1007, 104 S.Ct. 524, 78 L.Ed.2d 708 (1983). In addition to the intangible rights violation, Count One charges Ochs and Dray with conspiracy to commit mail fraud by lowballing the construction cost estimates on the building permit and by double billing for legal services. Those independent charges both involve property deprivations and thus survive McNally. 56 In United States v. Miller, 471 U.S. 130, 105 S.Ct. 1811, 85 L.Ed.2d 99 (1985), the Supreme Court explicitly rejected the contention that it is improper to convict on charges that are narrower than, but included in, the scheme charged in the indictment. Said the Court, 57 Convictions generally have been sustained as long as the proof upon which they are based corresponds to an offense that was clearly set out in the indictment. A part of the indictment unnecessary to and independent from the allegations of the offense proved may normally be treated as a useless averment that may be ignored. 58 Id. at 136, 105 S.Ct. at 1815 (quoting Ford v. United States, 273 U.S. 593, 602, 47 S.Ct. 531, 534, 71 L.Ed. 793 (1927)). In this case, if we ignore the separate 12 ill-fated intangible rights allegations, we are left with a conspiracy count still properly alleging two schemes to defraud in violation of section 1341. The count adequately provides notice to Ochs and Dray concerning the nature of the charges and is also sufficient to allow them to plead it in the future as a bar to subsequent prosecutions. See id. at 135, 105 S.Ct. at 1815. Assuming that the improper subparagraph is stricken, we see no defect in the indictment such that Ochs and Dray cannot be retried and, if the jury so decides, convicted. See United States v. Slay, 673 F.Supp. 336, 349-51 (E.D.Mo.1987) (setting aside guilty verdicts in light of McNally but upholding indictment that continued to charge a valid mail fraud offense; granting a new trial). 59 A second claimed trial defect relates to Robinson's testimony about Dray's out-of-court statements--statements which pointed to Ochs's involvement in the scheme. The question is whether these statements were properly admitted by the district court under the coconspirator exception to the hearsay rule. See Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). At oral argument, Ochs's attorney conceded that the statements had been properly admitted under Bourjaily v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 2775, 97 L.Ed.2d 144 (1987), but continued to press the argument that there was insufficient evidence to support Ochs's conspiracy conviction. Since Dray still contests the admissibility point, we must address it in any event. 60 Dray does not challenge the admission of the disputed statements against him; rather, he says that the statements were improperly admitted against Ochs and that, without the statements, there was insufficient evidence to convict Ochs. Further, Dray claims that there is insufficient evidence that Robinson was a member of the conspiracy because he did not have the requisite criminal intent to use the mails in furtherance of the scheme to defraud. If Ochs and Robinson are eliminated as coconspirators, Dray argues that he, too, is entitled to a judgment of acquittal because there is no one left with whom he could have conspired. See United States v. Morales, 677 F.2d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1982) (a conspiracy conviction of one defendant will not be upheld when all other alleged coconspirators are acquitted). We find that the disputed statements were properly admitted and that there was sufficient evidence against Ochs. We thus reject Dray's claim without addressing his argument relating to the evidence against Robinson. 61 The same evidentiary arguments now before us were also raised by the defendants in pre- and post-trial motions. They were exhaustively analyzed in an excellent opinion by the district court. See United States v. Dray, 659 F.Supp. 1426 (D.Mass.1987) (Memorandum Regarding Post-Trial Motions). At the time the district court acted, the Supreme Court's decision in Bourjaily v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 2775, 97 L.Ed.2d 144 (1987), had not yet been handed down and the court lacked a definitive rule on the evidentiary standards for the admission of coconspirator hearsay statements. Nevertheless, presciently anticipating the holding of Bourjaily, the court examined both the hearsay and nonhearsay evidence tending to establish that Ochs was a member of the conspiracy. Standing alone, the court said, the independent nonhearsay evidence 13 did not establish by a preponderance that Ochs was a coconspirator. But, when [r]efracted by the light shed on it by Dray's hearsay statements testified to by Robinson, the district court found that Ochs' actions take on full color as the efforts of a conspirator seeking to further the ends of the conspiracy. Dray, at 1437. The court thus admitted the hearsay statements under Rule 801(d)(2)(E). The correctness of the court's analysis was confirmed in Bourjaily, where the Court explicitly held for the first time that courts may properly consider potentially inadmissible hearsay in determining whether a conspiracy has been established for purposes of Rule 801(d)(2)(E). 107 S.Ct. at 2779-83. 62 The admission of Robinson's testimony was correct. We find no basis for the defendants' assertions that the district court relied solely on inadmissible hearsay in making its Rule 801(d)(2)(E) determination, a practice the propriety of which was left unresolved in Bourjaily. See id. at 2781-82. We also find no error in the district court's conclusion that the hearsay and nonhearsay evidence combined established a conspiracy under the preponderance standard. See United States v. Reynolds, 828 F.2d 46, 47 (1st Cir.1987) (district court's determination of preponderance under Rule 801(d)(2)(E) must be upheld unless clearly erroneous). 63 Having said that, we have no trouble concluding that the sum of the evidence in this case was sufficient to support the jury's finding that Ochs was a coconspirator. The jury had before it not only the incriminating statements by Dray, but the confirming circumstantial evidence of the permit application revision and the $3,000 payment to Ochs. Thus, although we reverse the convictions of Ochs and Dray on McNally grounds, we reject their contention that they deserved a judgment of acquittal on all counts. 64 Before trial, Ochs and Dray moved in limine to exclude certain evidence on the ground that the government's bill of particulars was not particular enough. The motion was denied and, on appeal, Ochs and Dray raise the issue of whether this was reversible error. Because the issue has not been briefed by the defendants and because the case must be remanded for a new trial in any event, we will not address the argument at this time. Likewise, the claimed errors in sentencing are moot in light of our reversing the convictions and will not be addressed. 65 The judgments of conviction entered by the district court are vacated and the case is remanded for a new trial.