Court Opinion

ID: 9468848
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:25:21.851453+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:04.896256
License: Public Domain

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I agree with the majority that in its efforts to deal promptly with a large number of illegal aliens, the government in this case inadvertently violated defendants’ rights to compulsory process under the Sixth Amendment. I respectfully disagree with the majority’s conclusion that dismissal of the indictments is the appropriate remedy on the record now before us. In United States v. Morrison, 449 U.S. 361, 365, 101 S.Ct. 665, 668, 66 L.Ed.2d 564 (1981), a unanimous Supreme Court held that “absent demonstrable prejudice, or substantial threat thereof, dismissal of the indictment is plainly inappropriate” as a remedy for even a deliberate violation of constitutional rights (emphasis added.)1 Though parts of the majority’s opinion read as if a defendant must show prejudice before the indictment against him will be dismissed where the government has made potential witnesses unavailable, the language of the announced holding and the majority’s treatment of the facts of this case demonstrate clearly that under the majority’s analysis no meaningful showing of prejudice is required.
*1141The majority states its holding as follows: “[W]e hold that the requirement of prejudice is satisfied by a showing which identifies the relevant issues about which the missing witness might reasonably be assumed to have knowledge.” at 1140. Any eyewitness to a crime can reasonably be assumed to have knowledge about the crime. The majority would not even require an allegation that the witness have knowledge favorable to the accused. Under the majority’s announced holding a defendant need only show an eyewitness is unavailable because of government action in order to win dismissal of the indictment, no matter how unlikely it is that the witness could actually benefit the defendant. Morrison requires more than this before dismissal of the indictment is warranted.
The majority “conclude[s] that the district court properly determined that the defendants DeLeon and Martinez had made sufficient showing of prejudice” to warrant dismissal of the indictments, at 1137. The District Court refused to inquire whether the missing witnesses would be of help to defendants. It made no findings of fact on whether defendants were actually prejudiced in the case. Defendants did not testify at the hearing held on defendants’ motion to dismiss the indictment. Nor did they file affidavits. The only claim of prejudice was a suggestion by counsel for De-Leon that, according to his client, the missing witnesses might testify that the aliens still remaining in this country showed him evidence of their lawful status here. This statement of DeLeon through his counsel was not subject to cross-examination. It was not made under oath. No protection existed against the possibility that DeLeon was lying or that there was no basis for his supposition.
Deciding without the benefit of Morrison, the District Court reviewed eases from the Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits that have dealt with this same issue, all of which, of course, were also decided before Morrison.2 On the basis of the above and the government’s representation that the witnesses were in fact unavailable, the court concluded that the other circuits’ standards for dismissal of the indictment were satisfied here. The unavailable aliens were eyewitnesses to the crime. See United States v. Calzada, 579 F.2d 1358 (7th Cir.), cert. dismissed, 439 U.S. 920, 99 S.Ct. 294, 58 L.Ed.2d 266 (1978). The missing witnesses “could conceivably aid” the defendants. See United States v. Gonzales, 617 F.2d 1358, 1363 (9th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Patel v. United States, 449 U.S. 899, 101 S.Ct. 268, 66 L.Ed.2d 129 (1980). Defendants made the “slightest suggestion” that the missing witnesses would aid their defense. See United States v. Avila-Dominguez, 610 F.2d 1266 (5th Cir. 1980).3
It is difficult to imagine a case where it would not be “conceivable” that a missing eyewitness could help a defendant or where the “slightest suggestion” of such help could not be made. Because the District Court did not consider the likelihood the missing witnesses could actually benefit the defendants, its decision cannot be the equivalent of a finding that the defendants were prejudiced, unless “prejudice” is defined so broadly as to be meaningless. The majority’s treatment of the District Court’s opinion makes it clear that automatic dismissal of the indictment is required whenever the government has made eyewitnesses unavailable.
I can think of no better way to illustrate the error in the majority’s opinion than *1142with the facts of this case. DeLeon was initially charged with thirteen counts of knowingly transporting an illegal alien and Martinez was charged with five. All counts were dismissed by the District Court. The government appeals the dismissal of only those four counts charging the defendants with knowingly transporting the four illegal aliens who are still in this country.
The only suggested defense available to the defendants is that they did not- have knowledge that the four remaining aliens were here illegally. Although counsel for DeLeon claimed to have interviewed the two remaining aliens his client is charged with transporting, he did not claim that those aliens, who would best know whether they showed DeLeon any documentation, would support DeLeon’s claim that they showed him documentation of their lawful presence here. In his brief on appeal De-Leon admits that these remaining aliens would not support him.
Further, both Martinez and DeLeon gave lengthy confessions admitting that none of the aliens had any papers showing their lawful presence in this country, admitting that the defendants knew the aliens they transported were here unlawfully, and detailing defendants’ extensive involvement with the illegal aliens. The majority attaches little significance to the confessions because they are not conclusive of guilt and defendants have the right to try to convince the jury of their unreliability. This is true but is not dispositive on the issue of prejudice. Unless some challenge is made to the confessions they at least demonstrate how unlikely it is that any of the unavailable witnesses would testify that the aliens still here did show the defendants documentation of their lawful presence. This is especially true if the remaining aliens will not themselves corroborate the defense. The confessions could appropriately be challenged at a hearing on prejudice, but no such hearing was held.
Martinez’s case is particularly striking. Although counsel for DeLeon suggested how his client might be harmed by the removal of the witnesses, no significant claim has been made that the missing witnesses would be of any use to Martinez.4 Martinez was convicted of smuggling illegal aliens once before, in 1978. Apparently among the aliens Martinez was convicted of smuggling at that time was one Tiburcio Hernandez-Alvarez. In this case Martinez is charged with knowingly transporting this same Hernandez-Alvarez and Hernandez-Alvarez is one of the illegal aliens still in this country. I am unable to see how, in any meaningful sense, Martinez could be “prejudiced” in his defense against the charge of knowingly transporting Hernandez-Alvarez by the lack of other witnesses. No matter what those other witnesses could state as to what Martinez was told to support Hernandez-Alvarez’s legal status in this country, because of Martinez’s prior involvement with him Martinez must almost certainly be found to have known that Hernandez-Alvarez was here illegally. However, under the majority’s standard, the indictment against Martinez for transporting Hernandez-Alvarez must be dismissed, because the government’s act in making eyewitnesses unavailable has so “prejudiced” him that he cannot get a fair trial. I cannot accept this result either as an exercise of common sense or as good law under Morrison.
The majority asserts without explanation that no remedy short of dismissal would cure the prejudice caused by unavailable witnesses. In Morrison, supra, 449 U.S. at 364, 101 S.Ct. at 668, the Supreme Court stated:
Cases involving Sixth Amendment deprivations are subject to the general rule that remedies should be tailored to the injury suffered from the constitutional violation and should not unnecessarily infringe on competing interests.
*1143An instruction to the jury that the testimony of the absent witnesses would be unfavorable to the government would probably remedy some degrees of prejudice.
I would remand this case to the District Court for a hearing on whether either defendant has demonstrated prejudice or substantial threat thereof by the departure of the aliens. Defendants should be required to make some threshold showing that the departed aliens could provide evidence material to their defense. The court could then require the government to show by a preponderance of the evidence that defendants were not prejudiced under the totality of the circumstances. If specific prejudice is identified the District Court should consider whether a sanction less severe than dismissal of the indictments can provide the necessary cure.
I fully endorse the majority’s admonition to the District Court to act more promptly where defendants are in custody in notifying appointed counsel of their appointments.

. The majority distinguishes Morrison on the ground that here, unlike in Morrison, any prejudice cannot be remedied by a sanction short of dismissing the indictment. At 1139, 1140 n.5. Under Morrison, though, a finding of prejudice is a necessary prerequisite to dismissal of the indictment, or to any other remedy for that matter. 449 U.S. at 365, 101 S.Ct. at 668; id. at n.2. As set out below, I disagree with the majority on whether prejudice was shown here. On the necessity of some showing of actual prejudice before dismissal of an indictment is warranted, Morrison is not distinguishable from this case.

. I am aware of only one case decided after Morrison that addresses the question we have here. In United States v. Valenzuela-Bernal, 647 F.2d 72 (9th Cir. 1981), the Ninth Circuit, without even mentioning Morrison, followed its precedent to dismiss an indictment despite the absence of any significant showing of prejudice. The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in this case. - U.S. -, 102 S.Ct. 501, 70 L.Ed.2d 377 (1981).

. The District Court misinterpreted the Fifth Circuit’s holding in Avila-Dominguez. The court refused to dismiss the indictment because the defendant did not make the “slightest suggestion” that an unavailable witness would help him. This is not the same as holding that dismissal would be granted where a defendant did make the slightest suggestion of a possible benefit.

. The one statement made on behalf of Martinez was made by his attorney who only said that he would like to talk to the now unavailable illegal alien who arranged to bring the other aliens to Michigan. Counsel did not explain how this talk would be of any benefit at all to his client’s defense.