Opinion ID: 507811
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Supervisory Authority

Text: 18 The district court also improperly dismissed the second indictment as a sanction against the prosecutor for disregarding a discovery-type order to produce evidence. The supervisory authority of the district court includes the power to impose the extreme sanction of dismissal with prejudice only in extraordinary situations and only where the government's misconduct has prejudiced the defendant. See United States v. Fulmer, 722 F.2d 1192, 1195 (5th Cir.1983); United States v. Campagnuolo, 592 F.2d 852, 865 (5th Cir.1979); see also Bank of Nova Scotia v. United States, 56 U.S.L.W. 4714, 4715-16 (U.S. June 22, 1988). A district court exceeds the proper bounds of its power to order dismissal of an indictment with prejudice when it fails to consider whether less extreme sanctions might maintain the integrity of the court without punishing the United States for a prosecutor's misconduct. Cf. United States v. Sarcinelli, 667 F.2d 5, 6-7 (5th Cir. Unit B 1982) (least severe sanction should be imposed under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16 for noncompliance with discovery orders). In this case, the district court made no finding of actual or inherent prejudice. Nor did the district court consider imposing sanctions that do not cut off the public interest in having indictments prosecuted. The court should have considered, for example, requiring the prosecutor to show cause why he should not be held in contempt. The negligent, if not contumacious, conduct of this prosecutor can be neither condoned nor excused. On the showing made in this record, however, the district court abused its discretion by ordering dismissal with prejudice as a sanction. We vacate the sanction of dismissal of the second indictment with prejudice. This ruling is not intended to preclude the district court from considering the imposition of sanctions on remand based upon the proof there developed, applied under the precedent outlined in this section of our opinion.