Opinion ID: 2823534
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendants’ Brady Arguments

Text: After trial, the government disclosed statements from a confidential source about the murders of Marasa and Greaves. The government ultimately provided six audio recordings made by the confidential source and a series of proffer notes handwritten by Drug Enforcement Administration agents documenting their interviews with the confidential source. Gioeli and Saracino claimed that the government’s withholding of this evidence violated Brady and moved for a new trial pursuant to Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The district court denied the motions, finding that no prejudice ensued from the government’s nondisclosure. In view of defendants’ explanations of how they would have used this evidence at trial, we agree with the district court. Under Brady, “the Government has a constitutional duty to disclose favorable evidence to the accused where such evidence is ‘material’ either to guilt or to punishment.” United States v. Coppa, 267 F.3d 132, 139 (2d Cir. 2011) (citing Brady, 373 U.S. at 87). “[A] Brady violation occurs only where the government suppresses evidence that ‘could reasonably [have been] taken to put the whole case in such a different light as to undermine confidence in the verdict.’” Id. (quoting Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 435 (1995)). Accordingly, even when the government fails to disclose favorable information to the 8 defense, a Brady violation still requires “a ‘reasonable probability’ that a different verdict would have resulted from disclosure of the information that the defendant claims was suppressed.” United States v. Rodriguez, 496 F.3d 221, 227 (2d Cir. 2007) (quoting Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 281 (1999)). Gioeli focuses on aspects of the undisclosed material that suggest Jimmy Calderone and Joseph Competiello were part of the conspiracy to murder Marasa, a conspiracy in which Gioeli was found to have participated—charged as Racketeering Act 2A. Gioeli argues that this evidence favors him for two reasons. First, Calderone and Competiello’s participation in the murder would demonstrate that the murder was not carried out in the way the government claims Gioeli had instructed. If credited by the jury, this fact would undermine the government’s underlying argument that Gioeli was in fact involved in the murder. Second, Gioeli argues that he could have used this evidence to impeach government witnesses who did not name Calderone and Competiello as participants in the Marasa murder. Neither argument supports the conclusion that the outcome of the trial would have been any different if the materials had been disclosed. The participation of additional people in the murder is not inconsistent with the government’s account of the Marasa murder. According to the government’s case, Gioeli had an important but limited role in the murder: approving it, rendering advice to the murderers, and receiving updates. True, one witness testified that Gioeli advised “[h]ow it was to be done, and who was going to be shooting, and stuff like that,” Trial Tr. 968, and that Gioeli suggested they invite the brother of the man Marasa had killed to participate in 9 the murder. The government, however, argued only that Gioeli was “aware” of the participants. Trial Tr. 5350. Participation in Marasa’s murder by additional individuals does not bear upon whether Gioeli did what the government argued he did. The argument that Gioeli’s trial counsel could have used the undisclosed material to impeach government witnesses who omitted Calderone and Competiello from their accounts of Marasa’s murder fails because this evidence was merely cumulative. Years before the trial began, the government had disclosed a statement by a different government cooperator that did list Competiello as one of the participants in the Marasa murder. Gioeli’s trial counsel also elicited testimony that Competiello was arrested for that murder. Although the identification of Competiello and Calderone by the confidential source may have added weight to this impeachment evidence, timely disclosure would not have provided any new basis on which to impeach the witnesses who omitted those two names from their accounts of the murder. The untimely disclosure was therefore not prejudicial and does not undermine our confidence in the jury’s finding as to Racketeering Act 2A. Saracino’s Brady argument is based on the confidential source’s undisclosed statement regarding the location of Greaves’s murder.4 Calabro and Competiello testified at trial that 4 Saracino was not charged with Racketeering Act 2, which included the murder of (Racketeering Act 2B) and conspiracy to murder (Racketeering Act 2A) Frank Marasa. Saracino nonetheless advanced a Brady argument in the district court based on the theory that Marasa was murdered as part of the conspiracy to murder Orena faction members, which was charged as Racketeering Act 3 and found to have been proven against both defendants. The government did not indicate which members of the Orena faction were targeted by the conspiracy. Saracino did not expressly renew this argument on appeal, although he did claim, erroneously, that he had been charged with the murder of Frank Marasa. Saracino’s Br. 17. To the extent that Saracino advances a Brady argument pertaining to Marasa’s murder, that argument is inapposite because he was not charged with that crime. Any such argument also fails for lack of prejudice because the government 10 Greaves was murdered in Saracino’s basement. According to notes from a proffer session, however, the confidential source told the government that Greaves was murdered in Competiello’s basement. Saracino argues that the confidential source’s account would have been powerful impeachment evidence. This evidence, however, would have been cumulative of other evidence that was in Saracino’s possession that could have been used for the same impeachment purpose—namely a statement made by a different confidential source that Greaves was murdered somewhere other than in Saracino’s basement. Any claim of prejudice is further vitiated by the fact that the jury ultimately found that the government failed to prove that Saracino conspired to murder Greaves.5 Because Saracino was not prejudiced by the untimely disclosure of this evidence, a new trial is not warranted.