Opinion ID: 2971358
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Appellant’s Motion for New Trial

Text: Following the jury verdict in this case, Lattner moved for a new trial based on the individual and cumulative effect of multiple alleged trial errors which Lattner argues resulted in a denial of his right to a fair trial under the Fifth Amendment. The district court’s denial of a motion for new trial is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. United States v. Gaitan-Acevedo, 148 F.3d 577, 589 (6th Cir.1998). The claimed errors include: 1) a statement by the district court judge in front of the jury intimating that a portion of the Lattner’s testimony was untrue; 2) an encounter in which several jurors saw Lattner in handcuffs and being escorted onto an elevator by U.S. Marshals during the pendency of the trial; 3) excessive interference by the district court judge in the presentation of Lattner’s cross-examination and direct examination; 4) statements by counsel for the United States during rebuttal argument that referenced facts not in evidence; and 5) failure to give the jury the option of convicting Lattner of possession with the intent to distribute less than 50 grams of cocaine base. This Court finds that the denial of Lattner’s motion for new trial was a proper exercise of the district court’s discretion because neither individually nor cumulatively do Lattner’s accusations warrant a new trial. It is true that a trial judge should exercise self-restraint and preserve an atmosphere of impartiality and that the appearance of impartiality is as important as the fact of impartiality. United States v. Whitman, 209 F.3d 619, 625 (6th Cir.2000). The district court judge indeed upheld this duty, and did not, as Lattner implies, say that Lattner’s testimony was untrue. The following statements, of which Lattner complains, were made at the beginning of the redirect examination of the defendant after he admitted under crossexamination to having prior felony convictions: REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. ROYAL: Q. How did those convictions come about? A. Some lies. I just got caught in a Catch-22 and some lies, some police officers. Q. The- Did you go to trial in one of the cases? A. No. I-I had a lawyer who - who told me that everything was going to be all right, just take a bench trial and the judge found me guilty then. He said the only way I could go home if I pled guilty to the other one, and of course, I wanted to go home- THE COURT: I’m not going to have any explanation of this nature here. I take it, um, there were guilty pleas in both cases? MR. ROYAL: No, that’s - THE COURT: We’re not going to attack those guilty pleas. MR. ROYAL: I understand it, but what I understood him to say there was a bench trial in one case and a guilty plea in the other. THE COURT: He was trying to say that he got pressured into the guilty plea too, and that very likely is not true. But whether it’s true or not, we’re not going to have testimony about it here. MR. ROYAL: All right. Very good. I have no further questions, Your Honor. THE COURT: Mr. Mueller? MR. MUELLER: No. Your Honor. THE COURT: All right. Mr. Lattner, you’re excused. Thank you. J.A. pp. 1202-1203. The defense made no immediate objection or request for an immediate instruction. Furthermore, Lattner’s testimony about which the court commented did not concern his guilt or innocence with respect to the crimes charged, but rather concerned only his motive for pleading guilty to one of the prior convictions. This statement by the district court judge did not unfairly prejudice Lattner, and, thus, he is not entitled to a new trial on this basis. No. 03-1488 United States v. Lattner Page 10 Likewise, Lattner is not entitled to a new trial simply because several jurors briefly observed him in handcuffs while he was being escorted onto an elevator. Such brief juror observation does not create the level of prejudice to the defendant as was contemplated in Illinois v. Allen, 397 U.S. 337 (1970) (discussing impact of defendant being shackled during entire trial), and, therefore, this Court has held that jurors’ observation of a defendant in handcuffs is not grounds for a new trial. See United States v. Chipman, 513 F.2d 1262, 1263 (6th Cir.1975); United States v. Crane, 499 F.2d 1385, 1389 (6th Cir.1974). Other circuits have held similarly. See United States v. Halliburton, 870 F.2d 557, 562 (9th Cir.1989); Boswell v. Alabama, 537 F.2d 100, 104 (5th Cir.1976). Lattner further argues that the trial court interfered with the presentation of his defense by excessively interrupting his counsel, while the counsel for the United States was rarely interrupted. Lattner provides a string of cites to the transcript of this trial wherein the district court judge allegedly inappropriately interrupted Lattner’s counsel. See J.A. pp. 281, 286, 293-94, 296-97, 299, 306-309, 313, 321, 363, 365, 367, and 369. Reference to these citations reveals conduct by the district court judge that, contrary to Lattner’s assertions, did not undermine the defense but rather directed the course of the litigation in an expeditious manner beneficial to all parties involved. A district court judge has the authority to control the courtroom proceedings, United States v. Warner, 971 F.2d 1189, 1197-98 (6th Cir.1992), and both the prosecution and defense were subject to the court’s intercession in the conduct of examination of witnesses and the presentation of evidence when warranted. Neither was Lattner’s due process right to a fair trial affected by a statement made by counsel for the United States in rebuttal argument. The counsel stated: “Use your common sense. You’re sitting in the City of Detroit. There are hundreds and thousands of guilty drug dealers within eight miles of you right now.” J.A. p. 1328. Lattner claims that this statement was “a means by the government to further inflame the jury, to do something about saving the community in which they live through the act of convicting the defendant before them.” Lattner, however, takes this statement out of context. The statement, while in poor taste and likely not supported by facts in evidence, was part of a larger direct response to the defense’s argument that the police officers involved in the case were motivated to convict the defendant despite his innocence in order to satisfy their war on drugs. For instance, in closing, Lattner’s counsel stated “[d]uring your deliberations, please don’t ask yourself what is reasonable, what is logical, what makes sense. We have to be fair. That’s what the whole court system, the criminal justice system is all about, and when evidence is embellished, exaggerated or changed around by police officers, it makes it very difficult for a jury to reach a fair decision.” J.A. p. 1311. The argument clearly was warranted by the summation of the defense, and the district court mitigated any possible prejudice with appropriate instructions to the jury regarding the role of attorney argument in the trial of the case. For example, in United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1 (1985), the Supreme Court held that: [i]nappropriate prosecutorial comments, standing alone, would not justify a reviewing court to reverse a criminal conviction obtained in an otherwise fair proceeding. Instead, . . . the remarks must be examined within the context of the trial to determine whether the prosecutor’s behavior amounted to prejudicial error. In other words, the Court must consider the probable effect the prosecutor's response would have on the jury's ability to judge the evidence fairly. In this context, defense counsel's conduct, as well as the nature of the prosecutor's response, is relevant. Id. at 11-12. Thus, this argument fails as well. Next, Lattner’s arguments that the trial court erred in failing to give the jury the option of convicting him of possession with the intent to distribute less than 50 grams of cocaine base and further erred in permitting Lattner to be impeached under FRE 609 with two prior narcotics-related convictions also fail. There was no evidence, and none is cited by Lattner, that the amount of crack cocaine was fifty grams or less. Therefore, the court properly ruled that the jury should not be allowed to consider such a verdict. The court also properly allowed impeachment of Lattner’s credibility by the introduction of evidence of two prior No. 03-1488 United States v. Lattner Page 11 felony drug convictions. FRE 609(a)(1) permits evidence of prior convictions when the court determines that the probative value of admitting the evidence outweighs its prejudicial effect. See United States v. Gaitan-Acevedo, 148 F.3d at 591-92. The probative value of this evidence is high in the instant matter, where the assessment by the jury of which witnesses to believe was crucial to the outcome of the case. On the other hand, the prejudicial effect of the evidence was minimal, as the prosecution had already properly introduced, under FRE 404(b), evidence of Lattner’s prior involvement in drug transactions. As the government points out in its brief, “[t]he only new thing brought to the jurors when the impeachment was introduced was the idea that they could use the evidence to assess credibility.” As there has been no single error found, there is no cumulative effect of error rising to the level of prejudice warranting a new trial. AFFIRMED.