Opinion ID: 3013258
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231. We have jurisdiction over the appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a). IV. Prosecutorial Misconduct in the Closing Statement Brennan asserts that the prosecution made several improper and prejudicial comments in its closing and that it vouched for the credibility of its key witness, Peter Bond. Brennan also contends that the prosecutor improperly argued that Brennan had an obligation to produce evidence and commented on Brennan’s failure to testify. We review the District Court’s ruling on any contemporaneous objections for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Brown, 254 F.3d 454, 458 (3d Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 944 (2002). A finding of prosecutorial misconduct requires reversal unless the error is harmless. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(a); United States v. Zehrbach, 47 F.3d 1252, 1265 (3d Cir. 1995) (en banc). Any non- contemporaneous objections are subject to plain error review.2 See Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(b); United States v. Olano, 2. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 52(b) provides that “plain errors or defects affecting substantial rights may be noticed although they were not brought to the attention of the court.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(b). Accordingly, there must be an “error” which is “plain” and that “affects substantial rights.” United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 732 (1993). “Affecting substantial rights” means that the error must have been prejudicial to the defendant and have affected the outcome of the district court proceeding. Id. at 734. The decision to correct the forfeited error is “within the sound discretion of the court of appeals, and the court should not exercise that discretion unless the error ‘seriously affect[s] the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.’ ” Id. (quoting United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 15 (1985)). 6 507 U.S. 725, 731-32 (1993). “In order to demonstrate prosecutorial misconduct under a plain error standard, the review must reveal ‘egregious error or a manifest miscarriage of justice.’ ” Brown, 254 F.3d at 458 (quoting United States v. Price, 76 F.3d 526, 530 (3d Cir. 1996)).
In United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 11 (1985), the Supreme Court reiterated that “a criminal conviction is not to be lightly overturned on the basis of a prosecutor’s comments standing alone, for the statements or conduct must be viewed in context; only by so doing can it be determined whether the prosecutor’s conduct affected the fairness of the trial.” The Court explained: The prosecutor’s vouching for the credibility of witnesses and expressing his personal opinion concerning the guilt of the accused pose two dangers: such comments can convey the impression that evidence not presented to the jury, but known to the prosecutor, supports the charges against the defendant and can thus jeopardize the defendant’s right to be tried solely on the basis of the evidence presented to the jury; and the prosecutor’s opinion carries with it the imprimatur of the Government and may induce the jury to trust the Government’s judgment rather than its own view of the evidence. Id. at 18-19 (citing Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 8889 (1935)). In United States v. Walker, 155 F.3d 180 (3d Cir. 1998), we extensively reviewed our caselaw regarding vouching, observing that two criteria must be met [to find vouching]: (1) the prosecutor must assure the jury that the testimony of a Government witness is credible; and (2) this assurance is based on either the prosecutor’s personal knowledge, or other information not contained in the record. . . . The defendant must be able to identify as the basis for [the prosecutor’s comment on witness credibility] explicit or implicit reference to either the personal knowledge of the prosecuting attorney or information not contained in the record. 7 Id. at 187. The Walker panel declared that a “prosecutor is engaging in proper argument and is not vouching” when he argues that “a witness is being truthful based on the testimony given at trial, and does not assure the jury [of] the credibility of the witness based on his own personal knowledge[.]” Id. Nor is it improper, according to Walker, for a prosecutor to comment on the “lack of evidence in the record” to support a “defendant’s argument that the witness is not credible . . . so long as the comment does not constitute an assurance by the prosecutor that the witness is credible.” Id. In other words, a “prosecutor may argue in the negative that the assertions made by defense counsel that a witness is lying are not supported by the testimony in the record.” Id. Since our decision in Walker, we have had several opportunities to revisit the vouching issue. In almost every instance, we have held that the district court did not err in denying a mistrial. See United States v. Milan, 304 F.3d 273, 289-90 (3d Cir. 2002); United States v. Nelson, 284 F.3d 472, 476 n.3 (3d Cir. 2002); United States v. Saada, 212 F.3d 210, 225 (3d Cir. 2000); United States v. Helbling, 209 F.3d 226, 240-41 (3d Cir. 2000) (holding that any vouching by prosecutor was harmless error because the judge informed the jury not to consider the relevant comments, there was a great deal of evidence to support the conviction and defendant was not prejudiced); cf. Lam v. Kelchner, 304 F.3d 256, 271-72 (3d Cir. 2002) (vouching did not so infect the trial with unfairness as to constitute a violation of due process as is required on habeas review); Marshall v. Hendricks, 307 F.3d 36, 65, 70 (3d Cir. 2002) (same); Hartey v. Vaughn, 186 F.3d 367, 372-73 (3d Cir. 1999) (on habeas review, concluding that Pennsylvania Superior Court did not act unreasonably in finding that there had been no improper vouching). In Milan, the defendant alleged for the first time on appeal that the prosecutor engaged in improper vouching by eliciting testimony on the district court’s role in approving wiretaps, the truthfulness of cooperating witnesses, and the prosecution of Government witnesses before they decided to cooperate. Milan, 304 F.3d at 289- 8 90. We held that there was no plain error because the prosecutor was not offering his personal opinion based on facts not before the jury. Id. Similarly, in Saada, the defendant alleged for the first time on appeal that the prosecution improperly vouched for the credibility of its two informant witnesses by suggesting in closing argument that the two would be entitled to a reduced sentence in exchange for their cooperation only if they were truthful, and that they had numerous other crimes on which to cooperate and no motive to falsely implicate the defendant. Saada, 212 F.3d at 225. Noting that there was evidence introduced at trial that cooperation agreements were in place requiring the witnesses to testify truthfully, and also evidence that they had spent thousands of hours cooperating with the Government on other matters, we held that there was no plain error since the prosecutor was not referring to evidence outside the record. Id. After Walker, the only case in which we found improper vouching requiring a mistrial was United States v. Dispoz-O- Plastics, Inc., 172 F.3d 275 (3d Cir. 1999). During the closing argument in Dispoz-O-Plastics, the prosecutor stated, “[the Government witnesses] told the Government they fixed prices twice and I can guarantee you the Justice Department doesn’t give two for one deals; they had to plead guilty to both price-fixing conspiracies and their sentence reflected that.” 172 F.3d at 283. We concluded that this statement was improper vouching because it was intended to convey to the jury that the prosecutor knew the witnesses were telling the truth when they testified about the conspiracies. Id. Moreover, we held that the statement did not constitute harmless error because the testimony from the witnesses was essential to the Government’s case, the other evidence against the defendant was not overwhelming, and the judge failed to instruct the jury that the prosecutor’s statement could not be considered as evidence. Id. at 286-87. Here, Brennan contends that the prosecutor vouched for Bond’s credibility. To be sure, Peter Bond’s credibility was hotly contested and vigorously challenged by the defense. In summation, the prosecutor discussed Bond’s credibility 9 at length by pointing out that he was examined for approximately five days on the witness stand and by asserting that Bond “stood by what he had originally told you. He never waivered [sic]. He never flagged. You had a chance to look him in the eye. . . And it comes down to credibility, you have to make the judgment.” The prosecutor then reviewed Bond’s agreement to cooperate with the Government and addressed the defense’s contention that Bond was not believable. In particular, the prosecution referred to a defense attack on Bond’s credibility which accused him of laundering money for Russian criminals. The prosecutor sought to meet this challenge by arguing: Where’s the proof? Where’s the evidence? You’re going to have a whole lot of documents that were shown to Mr. Bond. Take as long as you need. Pass them around. Read them from top to bottom, backwards to forwards. And if anybody can find anything that indicates Mr. Bond was laundering money for Russian criminal interests, by all means disregard his testimony. The FBI has conducted an investigation of this matter since 1998. The FBI. And as Special Agent Sica told you, there’s no evidence that Mr. Bond laundered money for anybody in Russia or anywhere else. The prosecutor also disputed the defense’s contention that Bond was arms dealing with Russians and embezzling Brennan’s money. After praising the jury system, the prosecutor then stated: But one very prominent feature that [sic] about this system, one — one hallmark of our system is that we don’t make accusations without proof. Even if it’s against a man who lives in another country. And that’s what’s happened here. Peter is not lying to you. You have the proof in the form of corroboration. You have the proof in the form through looking at him for five days and watching him testify. He’s not a Russian money launderer. He’s not a Russian arms dealer. He’s not a thief. Those are accusations and accusations without proof are unacceptable and you can’t accept them. 10 On rebuttal, a second prosecutor told the jury that the evidence demonstrated that Bond committed crimes with Brennan, not that Bond was dealing arms. Again, attempting to blunt the impact of the defense’s attack on Bond’s credibility, the prosecutor declared: Evidently, . . . judgment was made that it was more important to obtain Mr. Bond’s cooperation than to prosecute Mr. Bond. He was somebody . . . in the business of hiding money, and fell into this relationship with Mr. Brennan. That’s what this is about. But that’s not what you hear. What you hear is that this is about Russian money laundering. There’s no evidence to that. Brennan takes issue with several comments made by the prosecutors to the jury: (1) the reference to the FBI’s investigation of Bond with respect to Russian money laundering; (2) the statement that “one hallmark of our system is that we don’t make accusations without proof ”; and (3) the assertion in rebuttal that the Government made the judgment that it was “more important” to obtain Bond’s cooperation than to prosecute him. In Brennan’s view, the assertion that the Government does not make accusations without proof indicates that “there has been a predetermination of [Brennan’s] guilt.” Referring to the FBI’s investigation, Brennan submits, amounted to improper vouching for Bond’s credibility since it suggested to the jury the prosecutor’s belief that Bond was not involved in such criminal activity. In short, Brennan contends that these statements pointed to evidence outside of the record, namely the FBI’s investigation and conclusion that Bond was not involved in Russian money laundering. In determining whether these remarks warrant reversal, it is important to note that the defense objected during a break in the summation to the Government’s statement that it does not “make accusations without proof.” Thus, any potential prosecutorial misconduct related to this statement is reviewed for harmless error under Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(a). See, e.g., Zehrbach, 47 F.3d at 1265. The defense also objected to the argument about the absence of proof of money laundering, but on different 11 grounds than those now raised on appeal. At trial, the defense objected because the Government had prevented the admission of documents which the defense claimed demonstrated Bond’s involvement in money laundering and arms dealing. Those documents showed Bond’s company sending money to a company listed in his cooperation agreement and contemplating membership in a defense manufacturers association. Bond was cross-examined about these documents when he testified, but the District Court did not allow them to be admitted at that time. Later, however, following a defense objection during summation, the District Court allowed the defense to reopen its case and admitted into evidence the previously excluded documents. Although the defense objected to the exclusion of these documents, no objection was made that the argument about absence of proof and the FBI investigation vouched for Bond’s credibility. Brennan contends that he objected during the trial to any expression by Special Agent Sica of his opinion about Bond’s character for truthfulness. Agent Sica’s testimony regarding the results of the FBI’s investigation into money laundering, however, does not relate to Bond’s truthfulness. For that reason, we review the challenge to this portion of the summation for plain error under Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(b). See Olano, 507 U.S. at 731-32. We likewise review for plain error the prosecutor’s speculation regarding the comparative importance of securing Bond’s cooperation rather than prosecuting him because the defense first objected to that statement in its motion for a new trial. In determining whether these statements to the jury improperly vouched for Bond’s credibility, we must consider them in context. See Young, 470 U.S. at 11-12. We believe that the prosecutor’s initial rhetorical question regarding any proof of Russian money laundering and his comment regarding Sica’s testimony constituted appropriate argument that merely reviewed the evidence admitted at trial. That evidence included Sica’s testimony that the FBI did not uncover evidence that Bond was involved in Russian money laundering. As we recognized in Walker, a “prosecutor may argue in the negative that the assertions 12 made by defense counsel that a witness is lying are not supported by the testimony in the record.” 155 F.3d at 187. To preclude a prosecutor from making such an argument would deny him use of a legitimate tool of effective advocacy. The assertion that the Government does not make accusations without proof is, at first blush, more problematic because it could be read to suggest that evidence outside the record demonstrated Brennan’s guilt. Read in isolation, this statement is not unlike the comment in Dispoz-O-Plastics that the government does not give “two for one deals.” 172 F.3d at 283. However, immediately following his assertion that the Government does not make accusations without proof, the prosecutor directed the jury to consider the corroborating evidence and Bond’s demeanor during his five days of testimony. This assertion was made in the midst of the prosecutor’s discussion of Brennan’s accusations against Bond and his argument that there was no evidence to support such accusations. This was also permissible argument under Walker. 155 F.3d at 187. Significantly, when read in context, neither of these brief statements made during summation suggest that the prosecutor had personal knowledge or possessed other information not contained in the record that would have supported Bond’s credibility. Neither statement occasioned error. Both statements were intended to call the jury’s attention to the absence of any evidence to support the defense’s accusations against Bond. In both instances, the prosecutor immediately followed his statements with instructions to the jury to examine the evidence of record. Indeed, the FBI’s investigation of Bond for his involvement in money laundering, the results of that investigation, and his eventual agreement to cooperate with the Government were all matters of record testified to by Special Agent Sica. Finally, while Brennan may take issue with the statement that “judgment was made” that Bond’s cooperation was more important than his prosecution, considering the context, we can find no error, let alone plain error. That statement related to the evidence of record which showed that Bond’s testimony was gained by virtue of an agreement 13 and that the Government’s star witness had his own credibility problems. Indeed the making of such “judgments” — routine exercises of prosecutorial discretion — commonly form the basis of defense attacks upon the prosecution when an uncharged accomplice cooperates by providing testimony. Since it was obvious to the jury that the Government had charged Brennan, and since they learned from the testimony that the Government had not charged Bond, the prosecutor’s remark conveyed to the jurors no more than they already knew. See Saada, 21 F.3d at 225 (holding that prosecutor’s reference to cooperation agreements with Government witnesses was not plain error); Milan, 304 F.3d at 289-90 (holding that it was not improper for prosecutor to refer to testimony about prosecution of Government witnesses before they decided to cooperate). Accordingly, we conclude that none of the challenged remarks constitute improper vouching.
In Griffin v. State of California, the Supreme Court held “that the Fifth Amendment, in its direct application to the Federal Government . . . forbids either comment by the prosecution on the accused’s silence or instructions by the court that such silence is evidence of guilt.” 380 U.S. 609, 615 (1965). A remark is directed to a defendant’s silence when “ ‘the language used was manifestly intended or was of such character that the jury would naturally and necessarily take it to be a comment on the failure of the accused to testify.’ ” Bontempo v. Fenton, 692 F.2d 954, 959 (3d Cir. 1982) (quoting United States v. Chaney, 446 F.2d 571, 576 (3d Cir. 1971)). Statements regarding the “absence of facts in the record[,]” however, “need not be taken as comment on [a] defendant’s failure to testify.” Bontempo, 692 F.2d at 959 (citing Braxton v. Estelle, 641 F.2d 392, 397 (5th Cir. 1981)); see also Brown, 254 F.3d at 462-63 (statements by prosecutor in summation did not impermissibly comment on defendant’s silence or shift burden of proof to the defense); United States v. Isaac, 134 F.3d 199, 206-07 (3d Cir. 1998) (prosecutor did not violate 5th amendment by stating in his closing argument that “[the defendant] captained that boat from Jamaica, and the 14 only people who would know that [the defendant] captained that boat from Jamaica are [the defendant], Conrad Brown, Irvin Reid, and that fourth individual in Jamaica. Those are the only people”). In the instant case, Brennan argues that the prosecution improperly commented on his failure to testify and suggested to the jury that he had the burden to produce evidence. He points to the following remarks by the prosecution on rebuttal regarding the transfer of the bearer bonds: The next thing that happened is in June, 1995 Mr. Bond says, Mr. Brennan gave him $4 million thereabouts in bearer bonds. We agree there’s no direct evidence of this, except Mr. Bond’s testimony. There was nobody else there except Mr. Brennan and Mr. Gaito [Brennan’s accountant]. There’s also no evidence that this didn’t happen. Mr. Critchley [defense counsel] spent a lot of time on this. On the plane record, the telephone record, credit card record. None of it proves anything. It’s — it is an argument that Mr. Bond changed the date from June 5 to June 10th. Somehow this is supposed to show that Mr. Bond is lying about the whole thing. This is more a power of suggestion. If you hear it often enough that it — you know, it’s changed from June 5th to June 10th indicates that he’s lying, maybe you’ll believe it. But there’s no indication that it means anything. The evidence is that he always said he never knew exactly what the date was. What he knew is that it happened when he was taking a trip with his family to Disneyland . . . That’s what he always said. He was here in late May, early June. He didn’t know exactly when during that trip this occurred. What’s clear is that he was in the United States during that period. What’s also clear is that he was at Due Process Farm. He described it to you in detail. You didn’t hear that description challenged by the defense. Why? Because it was very, very accurate. In addition, Brennan challenges the rhetorical questions of the prosecutor in his initial closing which asked where the proof was that Bond had engaged in money laundering, arms dealing, or embezzlement. He also contends that the 15 prosecution improperly compared the number of witnesses and exhibits put forth by the prosecution and defense, thereby “direct[ing] the jury to consider why Brennan had not testified.” Moreover, Brennan asserts that the prosecution shifted the burden by commenting that the three defense witnesses “knew nothing about the case” and then asked the jury to “think about the defense witnesses, and just reflect upon the fact that after four weeks of trial, they called no one who knows anything about the case.” Brennan concedes in his brief that he did not object to the remarks that he claims shifted the burden of proof, and that the issue was first raised when he filed his motion for a new trial. Thus, in the absence of an objection at trial, we must review for the presence of plain error. See Olano, 507 U.S. at 731-32. With respect to the prosecution’s remarks during rebuttal concerning the transfer of the bearer bonds, nothing in the remarks suggested that the jury should consider the fact that Brennan failed to testify. Viewed in context, the statements concerned Bond’s credibility and the fact that the record lacked evidence contradicting his testimony concerning the point in time he claimed to have received the bonds from Brennan. This was permissible argument regarding what evidence was, and was not, in the record. We declared supra that the rhetorical question concerning any proof of record that Bond engaged in money laundering was not improper vouching. Likewise, comment on the absence of evidence on this issue did not impermissibly direct the jury to consider Brennan’s election not to testify. Nor were the prosecution’s remarks about the defense’s failure to call anyone who knew anything about the case a comment on Brennan’s failure to testify. The context of this statement reveals that it was directed toward the weight the jury should accord to the testimony of the three defense witnesses. At the conclusion of the prosecutor’s review of the testimony of these witnesses, he emphasized that the jury must honor the presumption of innocence and “hold us to the burden of proof and you must be convinced of Mr. Brennan’s guilt, beyond a reasonable doubt.” Under these circumstances, this remark did not constitute an 16 impermissible reference to Brennan’s failure to take the witness stand. See United States v. Balter, 91 F.3d 427, 441 (3d Cir. 1996) (observing that prosecutor’s comment, which focused on pointing out to the jury the holes in the defense’s theory, was permissible argument). In sum, nothing in either the Government’s summation or rebuttal was improper argument. There was, therefore, no error.