Opinion ID: 524252
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidentiary Support for the Charge of Improper Conduct

Text: 29 Robinson argues that Sherry's unsworn statement cannot alone sustain the DLA's conclusion that Heydt more likely than not bribed a government official and orchestrated a bid. Second, he claims that, in light of the affidavits of FHC's employees stating that they had no knowledge of the alleged improper conduct, the DLA erred in crediting Sherry's statement. We address these arguments in turn. 30 1. Sherry's Statement. Robinson's attack on the sufficiency of Sherry's statement to support the DLA's decision rests on the proposition, developed in the context of criminal proceedings, that accomplice testimony and testimony given in exchange for either immunity or leniency should be treated with caution. See, e.g., Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 154-55, 92 S.Ct. 763, 766, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972); United States v. Iverson, 637 F.2d 799, 803 (D.C.Cir.1980). A witness seeking immunity or leniency may have an interest in cooperating with the Government, even if it means giving a false account, United States v. Leonard, 494 F.2d 955, 961 (D.C.Cir.1974); United States v. Lee, 506 F.2d 111, 119 (D.C.Cir.1974), and an accomplice may wish to shift blame away from himself by implicating another, Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 136, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 1628, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968); Leonard, 494 F.2d at 961. Thus, courts have required the Government to disclose any plea or immunity arrangement it has with a witness, and will generally grant a defendant's request for a cautionary instruction to the jury. 31 For several reasons, however, we do not find the principle upon which Robinson relies dispositive of this case. As an initial matter, it is worthy of note that even uncorroborated accomplice testimony, standing alone, may support a criminal conviction. See Lee, 506 F.2d at 118; id. at n. 18 (citing cases). Thus the mere possibility that such testimony may be false does not create, as a matter of law, a reasonable doubt as to its truth. 32 More importantly, the present proceeding differs significantly from a criminal case. The Government need prove its case by only a preponderance of the evidence. Where, as here, the factfinder's task is to decide only whether the fact at issue is more probably true than not, 48 C.F.R. Sec. 9.403, the factfinder is certainly not bound, merely because a witness's statement may serve his interest, to find that the truth is likely to be the opposite of what the witness states. 33 Moreover, nothing in the context in which Sherry gave his statement undermines the DLA's determination not to disregard it entirely. Although, according to the Government's plea memorandum to the court in the case against Sherry, the Government specifically reserved the right to take whatever position it deems appropriate with regard to sentencing ..., Sherry agreed only generally to cooperate fully with the government in its investigation of the [DPSC] and contractors doing business with it. He did not agree specifically to implicate Heydt or anyone else in exchange for leniency in sentencing. We see no indication in the record that, at the time Sherry gave his statement, the Government suspected (or suggested to Sherry) that Heydt might have been a part of the apparent bidrigging and bribery conspiracy that it was then investigating. The Government's recitation of the factual basis underlying Sherry's plea did not refer to Heydt, although it did detail the evidence it had obtained, with Sherry's help, against others. FHC has advanced no theory under which Sherry would have had any independent motive to implicate Heydt, and we can think of none, apart from a general desire to give the Government as many names as possible. We therefore cannot fault the DLA's conclusion that Sherry's statement, standing alone, constituted sufficient proof that the events in question more likely than not occurred. 34 2. The Company's Response. In support of his argument that the company's submission precluded the debarring official from crediting Sherry's statement, Robinson first points to the statements by FHC employees denying any personal knowledge of either bidrigging or improper payments by Heydt, including the assertion of the company's inside accountant that If company money was used to pay Mr. Donald Sherry, my accounting records would reflect such a payment, and that his records show no such payment. Second, Robinson argues that the DLA should not have held against the company Heydt's failure specifically to deny the charges made by Sherry, since the company was not in a position to obtain a statement from Heydt responding to the allegations against him. In support of this last point, Robinson represents, and the Government does not dispute, that Heydt is the subject of a criminal investigation and is represented by separate counsel, who has apparently advised his client not to cooperate in this proceeding. 35 As to Robinson's first point, the statements of FHC's management employees are not inconsistent with Heydt's having made improper payments to Sherry. It would hardly be surprising for Heydt to have acted alone in his transactions with Sherry while the mechanics of the underlying bid proceeded through legitimate channels within the corporation. Recording his scheme in the company's books would only have risked its being revealed; indeed, given that he held all the equity of the company, it would have made no financial difference to him whether the payment came from company funds or from his own pocket. Therefore, in light of all the evidence before him, including the company's affidavits, the debarring official could reasonably conclude that Heydt had, more likely than not, made illegal payments off the company's books. 36 As to Robinson's second point, we agree that the company is in a somewhat difficult position because the Government is holding it accountable for failing to explain or deny acts allegedly committed by its agent, who will not make available any exculpatory information he may have. The company's dilemma stems entirely from the Government's regulation--the validity of which Robinson does not challenge--permitting the agency to impute to a contractor the improper conduct of its officer, director, shareholder, or employee, as long as that conduct occurred in connection with the individual's performance of duties for or on behalf of the contractor. 48 C.F.R. Sec. 9.406-5. This rule simply recognizes that a corporation cannot act except through the human beings who may act for it. Thus, it contemplates that a corporate contractor may be held responsible for the wrongful act of its agent, even though the corporation was not aware (as a practical matter, through its other agents) of the wrong and thus cannot specifically deny that it took place. The regulation puts FHC in a difficult but by no means an unusual position, since a rule of vicarious responsibility will inevitably result in situations in which a company charged with the acts of its agent is compromised in defending itself because it cannot compel the agent to speak in the company's defense. The Government cannot be required to suspend its rule of imputed misconduct, however, in every case in which a contractor lacks access to a witness whose testimony might exonerate it. 37 First, the Government must be able to fulfill its statutory duty of dealing only with responsible contractors. Once a credible charge of improper conduct comes to the DLA's attention and the regulatory scheme for resolving such charges is set in motion, the responsible officer must make a decision based upon the available evidence. If the record contains evidence that, standing alone, indicates to the officer that improper conduct more likely than not occurred, and no evidence to the contrary is available, we cannot deem it arbitrary for the officer to conclude that the alleged conduct did occur. The decisionmaker must protect the Government's interests--both in rooting out irresponsible contractors and in not disqualifying responsible contractors that compete for its business--and its interests would not be served by a rule requiring him to ignore evidence of wrongdoing simply because the alleged wrongdoer is unable or unwilling to come forward to deny the charges. 38 Second, adhering to a rule of imputed misconduct in a case where the wrongdoing agent is unavailable to testify does not leave the contractor without recourse, since even if it is unable to demonstrate that the improper act did not occur, it may still show that it is nonetheless presently responsible. It is to that aspect of Robinson's challenge that we now turn.