Court Opinion

ID: 9465931
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:00:14.292084+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:39:26.991909
License: Public Domain

HEANEY, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the result reached by the majority, but I cannot agree with the dicta in the opinion that a criminal defendant never has a right to have a conviction set aside because of a violation of the Petite policy. In my view, when a defendant has properly raised this policy at the District Court level and raises it again on direct appeal, we should follow the lead of the Supreme Court in Rinaldi v. United States, 434 U.S. 22, 27, 98 S.Ct. 81, 54 L.Ed.2d 207 (1977), and hold that the policy against multiple prosecutions serves the “important purpose of protecting the citizen from any unfairness that is associated with successive prosecution based on the same conduct.”
I recognize that the Supreme Court in Rinaldi was considering the question on the application of the government. I believe, however, that the policy should be enforceable by a defendant in an appropriate case. This case is not an appropriate one. The defendant was aware of the policy and its violation before the direct appeal to this Court and failed to raise the issue. He should not be permitted to raise it now. We need decide nothing more on this appeal.
The majority states the obvious when it notes that the killings were brutal and implies that the three consecutive life sentences imposed on the defendant are somehow insufficient, and that the federal government is justified in imposing another ninety-nine years. However, the adequacy of the punishment is not the issue. The question is whether the United States District Attorney should be required to receive permission from the Department of Justice before instituting a successive prosecution. I believe that he should. The Petite policy is of long standing and is designed to achieve fairness, encourage the states to enforce the law and conserve judicial time. Its enforcement by a defendant is necessary to achieve the first and primary goal.
It is difficult for me to understand why any case should be delayed or complicated by the simple requirement of asking the Justice Department for permission to proceed in a case where the accused has already been charged and convicted in state court.