Court Opinion

ID: 9483235
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:14:58.91896+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:30.382259
License: Public Domain

KRAVITCH, Circuit Judge,
specially concurring:
As was noted in the panel opinion in this case, the question of which standard of proof applies to section 853(a) is an extremely close question; the majority en banc opinion makes a convincing case for adoption of the “preponderance” standard, and I join that opinion.
Nevertheless, the majority fails to address one important issue. In the panel opinion, we stated that “there is no statutory requirement that criminal forfeiture be a separate, bifurcated proceeding.” El-gersma, 929 F.2d at 1549 n. 24; see also id. at 1545, n. 17. Several circuits have explicitly declined to require such bifurcation. See United States v. Jenkins, 904 F.2d 549, 557-58 (10th Cir.1990), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 395, 112 L.Ed.2d 404 (1991); United States v. Perholtz, 842 F.2d 343 (D.C.Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 821, 109 S.Ct. 65, 102 L.Ed.2d 42 (1988). Other courts have exercised their supervisory powers to require bifurcation of in personam forfeiture proceedings from the guilt phase of a criminal trial. United States v. Sandini, 816 F.2d 869, 874 (3d Cir.1987) (“After [a jury finding of guilt], both the prosecution and the defense may present evidence to the same jury, which can resolve the forfeiture issue through a special verdict pursuant to [Fed. R.Crim.P. 31(e) ].”; United States v. Feldman, 853 F.2d 648, 662 (9th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1030, 109 S.Ct. 1164, 103 L.Ed.2d 222 (1989) (requiring separate jury instructions, deliberations and closing arguments for forfeiture after guilt phase, but declining to require evidentiary hearings in all cases).
Various concerns have motivated courts to require some form of bifurcation. The Sandini court recognized that a defendant subjected to a unitary proceeding in which both guilt/innocence and forfeitability of assets were determined was faced with a Hobson’s choice between testifying to preserve his assets, and remaining silent to avoid self-incrimination:
If [the defendant] wished to testify, for example, that some of the property was outside the reach of the statute, he was required to take the stand in the guilt phase. Once having chosen to testify, even in a very narrow area, he could have been exposed to cross-examination on at least some aspects of the offenses charged. A criminal defendant who takes the stand waives, to some extent, his right to remain silent.
*698Sandini, 816 F.2d at 873-74; See also Feldman, 853 F.2d at 661-62. Thus, courts have recognized that “the right of rebuttal [provided for in 21 U.S.C. § 853(d) ] may be illusory when made contingent on waiving the privilege not to testify during trial.” Sandini, 816 F.2d at 874 (quoted in Jenkins, 904 F.2d at 557).
Our holding in this case makes the need for such bifurcation even more manifest. A jury required to consider guilt and for-feitability during the same unitary proceeding could well be misled into applying a preponderance standard not only to the forfeiture aspects of a criminal trial, but also to those aspects of the trial pertaining to guilt or innocence which demand proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial court in this case did in fact bifurcate the proceedings to some degree, charging the jury on forfeiture and the applicable standard of proof after it had returned a guilty verdict. No such bifurcation is required in this circuit, however, raising the possibility that a unitary proceeding on forfeiture and guilt would operate to a criminal defendant’s substantial prejudice, given two different standards of proof and the attendant possibility of jury confusion. See Jenkins, 904 F.2d at 559. See also United States v. Cauble, 706 F.2d 1322, 1348 (5th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1005, 104 S.Ct. 996, 79 L.Ed.2d 229 (1984); United States v. Mating, 737 F.Supp. 684, 705 (D.Mass.1990) (bifurcation promotes fairness and efficiency)) aff'd United States v. Richard, 943 F.2d 115 (1st Cir.1991).
The fact that a court properly could instruct a jury as to the different standards of proof provides insufficient protection against jury confusion. As the Supreme Court stated in Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 135, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 1627, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), “there are some contexts in which the risk that the jury will not, or cannot, follow instructions is so great, and the consequences of failure so vital to the defendant, that the practical and human limitations of the jury system cannot be ignored.” See also United States v. One Parcel of Real Estate, 963 F.2d 1496 (11th Cir.1992). This situation presents such a context, and in my view makes a bifurcation requirement of critical importance.