Opinion ID: 760471
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Zambardi's Plea Withdrawal

Text: 54 Following the Government's disclosure of Scarpa's role and DeVecchio's misconduct, Zambardi moved to withdraw his plea, arguing that he would not have pled guilty if he had known of this impeachment material. He contends that the District Court exceeded its discretion under Fed.R.Crim.P. 32(e) by not allowing him to withdraw his guilty plea. His argument is without merit, particularly in light of this Court's decision in Orena, 145 F.3d at 560-61. 55 Rule 32(e) allows a defendant to withdraw a guilty plea before sentencing for any fair and just reason. The Government's obligation to disclose Brady materials is pertinent to the accused's decision to plead guilty; the defendant is entitled to make that decision with full awareness of favorable (exculpatory and impeachment) evidence known to the Government. See United States v. Avellino, 136 F.3d 249, 255 (2d Cir.), reh'g denied, 136 F.3d 262 (2d Cir.1998). In the context of withdrawal of a guilty plea because of newly disclosed Government information, evidence is considered material where 'there is a reasonable probability that but for the failure to produce such information the defendant would not have entered the plea but instead would have insisted on going to trial.'  Id. at 256 (quoting Tate v. Wood, 963 F.2d 20, 24 (2d Cir.1992)). This test is objective, involving an inquiry into the likely persuasiveness of the undisclosed information. See id. 56 To support his claim that he would have gone to trial if he had known about the Scarpa/DeVecchio information, Zambardi combines the following arguments: (1) in trials where the Scarpa disclosures have been admitted, involving some of the same crimes and co-defendants of Zambardi, many Colombo family defendants have been acquitted; (2) other judges of the Eastern District have found the Scarpa disclosures relevant and material to different Colombo family defendants; 4 (3) when judges have so found, the Government has sometimes decided not to use cooperating witnesses who might be impeached with that material, and who were the principal witnesses able to implicate Zambardi; (4) the evidence against Zambardi presented at the instant trial should not be counted, because, having pled guilty, he had no opportunity to cross-examine; and (5) the disclosed information is so shocking that it would have influenced a jury. 57 Zambardi's argument rests on a sequence of hypothetical events all of which are highly speculative and most unlikely to have occurred. He predicts that if he had gone to trial, the Scarpa/ DeVecchio information would have been admitted into evidence, that evidence would have significantly reduced the chances of his conviction, and, if the information had been disclosed before his plea, he would have had sufficient confidence in the admissibility of the information and its likely effect on the jury to go to trial and risk exposure to a life sentence instead of the 15 years specified in his plea bargain. 58 As to possible admissibility, the District Court properly analyzed the evidence as it related to Zambardi's case, and found that the impeachment evidence was not material. See Orena, 145 F.3d at 551 (finding that same evidence was not material as to Zambardi's co-defendants at his trial); Malpeso, 115 F.3d at 163 (noting tendency of Scarpa/DeVecchio evidence in different trial to distract and confuse jury with evidence more prejudicial than probative). If the evidence would not have been admissible, it obviously would not have had any influence on the jury. Even if admissible, it is highly doubtful that the information would have lessened the likelihood of Zambardi's conviction in light of the substantial evidence against him. The acquittals of some defendants in other cases demonstrates the relative weakness of the evidence against those defendants, rather than any mitigating force of the Scarpa-DeVecchio information. 59 The District Court properly assessed Zambardi's motion in light of the strength of the evidence against him, as demonstrated at the Persico trial, and our review must consider this assessment. As the Supreme Court has cautioned: 60 The reviewing court should assess the possibility that such effect might have occurred in light of the totality of the circumstances and with an awareness of the difficulty of reconstructing in a post-trial proceeding the course that the defense and the trial would have taken had the defense not been misled by the prosecutor's incomplete response. 61 United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 683, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985). Furthermore, the Supreme Court has more recently held that the impact of suppressed evidence should be considered collectively, not item by item, considering the availability of other exculpatory or impeachment evidence. Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 436-37, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995). 62 Finally, the claim that Zambardi would have risked exposure to a life sentence, rather than 15 years, on a prediction that the disclosed information would be both admissible and significantly helpful is a totally unlikely speculation. Chief Judge Sifton did not exceed his discretion by denying Zambardi's motion to withdraw his plea. 63