Court Opinion

ID: 9458254
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 20:46:26.671169+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:35:41.457495
License: Public Domain

OAKES, Circuit Judge
(dissenting):
I respectfully dissent, agreeing with the majority on the speedy trial claims but disagreeing in respect to the use of Morris’s deposition. We are talking here about the use of a deposition given before trial, not about the use of testimony given at a previous trial. There are at last two substantial differences between the two. First, at the time a deposition of a prosecution witness is taken the defense may not be prepared adequately to cross-examine, while prior trial testimony is used only at a time when the defendant is presumably ready for trial. This was apparently the basis for the objection by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York to the deposition procedure here established. See 1970 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News p. 4090. The second difference is that the testimony of a witness at a prior trial has been subjected at least once to the crucible of in-eourt scrutiny by judge and jury. This is, perhaps, another way of saying that testimony in the solemn, impressive atmosphere of a federal courtroom, before the eyes of a keen judge and an observant jury, may be given with a litle more care, deliberation and accuracy on the part of the witness than it might be given in some office cr room before a notary public.1
These differences have been deemed insufficient to warrant different consti*1156tutional treatment of pretrial depositions and prior trial testimony in civil cases as a matter of due process of law. In criminal cases, however, it seems to me that these differences are critical, for we have the explicit precept of the sixth amendment that an accused has the right “to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” Thus my dissent rests on two premises, the first of which is that the majority’s supporting cases, which permit the use of testimony given at a prior trial,2 are wholly inapposite to the controversy we are here called upon to decide; and the second is that the introduction at trial of pretrial depositions against an accused is — at the very least — of extremely doubtful constitutional validity. See Barber v. Page, 390 U.S. 719, 725, 88 S.Ct. 1318, 20 L.Ed.2d 255 (1968); 8 J. Moore, Federal Practice ¶ 15.02, at 15-5 (2d ed. 1970).
Concerning that constitutional issue, I think what the Supreme Court said in Mattox v. United States, 156 U.S. 237, 242-243, 15 S.Ct. 337, 339, 39 L.Ed. 409 (1895), provides the appropriate guideline by which we should measure appellant’s confrontation clause claim:
The primary object of the constitutional provision in question was to prevent- depositions or ex parte affidavits, such as were sometimes admitted in civil eases, being used against the prisoner in lieu of a personal examination and cross-examination of the witness, in which the accused has an opportunity, not only of testing the recollection and sifting the conscience of the witness, but of compelling him to stand face to face with the jury in order that they may look at him, and judge by his demeanor upon the stand and the manner in which he gives his testimony whether he is worthy of belief.
It is true that the Advisory Committee, in support of its proposed Rule 15 which would permit the use of depositions taken at the behest of the Government and which previously had been rejected by the Supreme Court, has stated, “To the extent that the rejection was based upon doubts as to the constitutionality of such a proposal, those doubts now seem re*1157solved by California v. Green . . Committee Note to proposed amendment to Rule 15, April 1971 Preliminary Draft, at 31, quoted in 8 J. Moore, Federal Practice ¶[ 15.02, at 150 (Supp. 1971). To author Cipes, and to me, however, they seem nothing of the sort, for the reasons stated in note 2 supra. See 8 J. Moore, Federal Practice j[ 15.02, at 150-53 (Supp.1971).
Perhaps it would be sufficient to stop at this point, and meet head on the issue whether the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, in permitting the use of pretrial depositions at trial, is constitutional.3 The proper exercise of judicial restraint, however, requires that the constitutional issue be avoided if the statute does not apply in any event. Does that Act apply to Singleton’s case so as to permit the use of a pretrial deposition against him?
I leave aside the issue whether the certification by a Deputy Assistant Attorney General was sufficient under the wording of the statute, as to which there may be doubt. Compare United States v. Pisacano, 459 F.2d 259 (2d Cir., filed April 7, 1972), with United States v. Robinson, No. 71-1058 (5th Cir., filed Jan. 12, 1972). For purposes hereof it is enough to assume its sufficiency. Is Singleton’s trafficking in narcotics (in this case allegedly selling $1,800 worth of cocaine) an “organized criminal activity” within 18 U.S.C. § 3503? Moreover, are we conclusively bound by the Attorney General’s certification, as the majority here suggests,4 so that as a court we cannot even look into the propriety of its issuance?
I do not think we may abdicate the judicial function quite so completely to the prosecution. The determination of what is “organized criminal activity” may affect the whole course of the trial. I agree with Professor Kenneth Culp Davis, speaking with reference to delegated powers, that “ [safeguards are usually more important than standards, although both may be important.” Administrative Law § 2.00-5 (b), at 54 (Supp.1970). I cannot join my brethren in so readily discarding all the safeguards in a situation in which there are no standards.5
What is an “organized criminal activity” ? The Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 itself does not purport to tell us. Although there are a number of rather precise definitions in other parts of the Act,6 “organized crime” is not defined, much less “organized criminal activity.” 7 Even the House Judiciary *1158Committee’s report will be searched in vain for a definition, although it does contain chapters relating to “syndicated gambling” and to “racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations.” H.R.Rep. No.91-1549, 91st Cong., 2d Sess. (1970), reprinted in 1970 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News, pp. 4007, 4009, 4010. The closest anything in the legislative history comes to giving us any indication of what Congress was talking about is Representative Poff’s reference on the House floor to “access to collective criminal power.”8 116 Cong.Rec. 9710 (daily ed. Oct. 7, 1970). If to be an “organized criminal activity” the activity must be one which would be shielded by “access to collective criminal power” —as good a definition as any, I suspect — there is nothing in this record to show that Singleton had any such “access” or was himself a part of or minion to or distributor for or agent of or buyer from “collective criminal power.” The majority seems to imply that because organized crime does traffic in narcotics anyone who traffics in narcotics is engaged in an organized criminal activity. If so there are doubtless thousands of youths on high school and college campuses today who unknowingly participate in “organized crime.” All that appears in this record, and this in a telegram from the United States Attorney in New York to the Department of Justice, is that “Singleton has been dealing in narcotics for at least 12 years with four prior drug arrests dating back to 1959.” 9
A case for the use of pretrial depositions in situations in which “collective criminal power” is involved could be made, I suppose, on the basis that the life of the deponent might be endangered by the defendant’s access to criminal power. Cf. Note, Prosecutorial Discovery Under Proposed Rule 16, 85 Harv. L.Rev. 994, 1014-16 (1972). The government might further, either by legislation or administrative standards, seek to establish a presumption that any sale of a given significant amount of a given narcotic is an organized criminal activity since to acquire possession of such an amount would require some “access to collective criminal power.” But until this has been done, we cannot willynilly permit such a loosely drawn statute, adopted without safeguards or standards or definitions, to apply to anyone the government seeks to have it apply to— much less when the validity of the underlying statute would thereby be cast into the gravest doubt.
It is possible that this case goes further than any other in the history of federal jurisprudence to make the sixth amendment and its confrontation clause a nullity.10 Compare Pointer v. Texas, *1159380 U.S. 400, 405, 85 S.Ct. 1065, 1068, 13 L.Ed.2d 923 (1965) (“There are few subjects, perhaps, upon which this Court and other courts have been more nearly unanimous than in their expressions of belief that the right’ of confrontation and cross-examination is an essential and fundamental requirement for the kind of fair trial which is this country’s constitutional goal.”), with West v. Louisiana, 194 U.S. 258, 24 S.Ct. 650, 48 L.Ed. 965 (1904) (deposition permissible in state case). Proper procedural protection is the keystone of the structure of American civil liberties. Today’s decision, I fear, weakens that structure.
1 would reverse and remand.

. See Ryland, J., in State v. McO’Blenis, 24 Mo. 402, 421 (1857) (“There are many tilings, aside from the literal import of the words uttered by the witness while testifying, on which the value of his evidence depends. These it is impossible to transfer to paper. Taken in the aggregate, they constitute a vast moral power in eliciting the truth, all of which is lost when tho examination is had out of court and the mere words of the witness are reproduced in the form of a deposition.’-) ; and see Lord Strafford’s plea in his November, 1GS0, impeachment : “I beg your lordships that lie [the witness Dugdalel may look me in the face, and give his evidence, as the law is .... I desire the. letter of the law, which says, my accuser shall come face to face.” 7 Howell’s State Trials 1293, 1341 (Cobbett’s ed. 1810). Sea also the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh for treason in 1003, referred to in California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 157 n. 10, *115690 S.Ct. 1930, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970). While Singleton was ready for trial at the time of taking Morris’s deposition, and was there to confront him face to face, no trier of fact has had the opportunity at any time to observe the prosecution’s chief witness at the time of that confrontation.

. E. g., Motes v. United States, 178 U.S. 458, 20 S.Ct. 993, 44 L.Ed. 1150 (1900) (preliminary trial testimony inadmissible where absence of deponent is due to negligence of prosecution); Mattox v. United States, 156 U.S. 237, 15 S.Ct. 337, 39 L.Ed. 409 (1895) (prior trial testimony of deceased witness admissible) ; Mattox v. United States, 146 U.S. 140, 152, 13 S.Ct. 50, 36 L.Ed. 917 (1892) (dying declarations admissible); United States v. Hughes, 411 F.2d 461 (2 Cir.), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 867, 90 S.Ct. 145, 24 L.Ed.2d 120 (1969); United States v. Bentvena, 319 F.2d 916, 941 (2d Cir.), cert. denied [Ormento v. U. S., Di Pietro v. U. S., Fernandez v. U. S., Panico v. U. S., Galante v. U. S., Loicano v. U. S., Mancino v. U. S., Sciremammano v. U. S., Mirra v. U. S.], 375 U.S. 940, 84 S.Ct. 345, 346, 353, 354, 355, 360, 11 L.Ed.2d 271, 272 (1963). California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970), does not go to our problem at all. There the witness whose prior statements were permitted to be used as substantive evidence was in fact in court, present to testify and subject to cross-examination, albeit uncooperative and evasive. Thus Oreen goes no further than to say that “the Confrontation Clause is not violated by admitting a declarant’s out-of-court statements, as long as the declarant is testifying as a witness and subject to fall and effective cross-examination.” 399 U.S. at 158, 90 S.Ct. at 1935 (emphasis supplied). Moreover, Oreen was not in a jury trial context and the witness’s testimony was given at a preliminary hearing. See Report of the Committee on Trial Practice and Technique for the Second Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals Relating to the Advisory Committee’s Preliminary Draft of Proposed Amendments to the Federal Rules of Criminal and Appellate Procedure 17-20 (mimeographed) (Jan. 6, 1972) (concluding that Proposed Rule 15 “should be rejected”).

. R. Cipes, writing the criminal volumes of Moore’s Federal Practice, calls the deposition feature of the Act “simply a trial balloon for the government,” and goes on to say: “Civil libertarians who have long been sensitive to governmental abuse of process and procedure in ‘organized crime’ prosecutions — seeing this as an ‘early warning signal’ — have now, at least in this writer’s opinion, gained great credibility with the issuance of the 1971 proposed amendment to Rule 15 [permitting the use of depositions generally].” 8 J. Moore, Federal Practice ¶ 15.02, at 149 (Supp.1971).

. The majority writes, at p. 1154 supra, “ . . . the decision whether or not a proceeding is against a person believed to have participated in organized criminal activity is to be made by the Attorney General or his designee and not by the court.”

. Here there is not the slightest suggestion that the Department of Justice has set up its own standards as to what is an “organized criminal activity.” Cf. K. Davis, Administrative Law § 2.00-5 (b), at 54 (Supp.1970).

. See, e. g., 18 U.S.C. § 1511(b), defining an “illegal gambling business” as one remaining in substantially continuous operation for 30 days or grossing $2,000 in any one day.

. “While this imprecise standard is enough to raise the hackles of any constitutional lawyer — at least one of whom will hopefully have an opportunity to take on the Attorney General in the appellate courts —that is hardly the only vice in the new deposition procedure.” 8 J. Moore, Federal Practice ¶ 15.02, at 149 (Supp. 1971). And see the dissent to the House Judiciary Report by Representatives John Conyers, Abner Mikva and William Ryan, printed in 1970 U.S.Code Cong. & *1158Admin.News, pp. 4076, 4091: “Even in its draftsmanship it would rather equivocate than fight. Thus one searches the bill in vain for a definition of ‘organized crime.’ In a criminal statute where the term ‘organized crime’ is an operative device, it is not defined. When asked about the omission, the drafters explained that it was impossible to define, but everybody knew what it was.”

. We must, of course, bear in mind Mr. Justice Jackson’s admonitions about probing too casually into what is called legislative history. See Schwegmann Bros. v. Calvert Distillers Corp., 341 U.S. 384, 395-396, 71 S.Ct. 745, 95 L.Ed. 1035 (1951) (concurring opinion).

. Appellant’s counsel tells us the telegram is factually incorrect. Apparently appellant, a black, was convicted of robbery when lie was 16 and of marijuana possession in 1963 at age 20 and has had two other arrests, one resulting in a refusal to indict and one in dismissal by the court. The reference to his “dealing in narcotics” is, of course, hearsay. But even if all of the allegations of the government’s telegram were true, there is no indication that he is in an “organized criminal activity” in the sense I believe Congress intended the phrase.

. See, in American Bar Foundation, Sources of Our Liberties (R. Perry ed. 1959), the following: Va.Const. § 8 (June 12, 1776), at 312; Pa.Const. art. IX (Aug. 16, 1776), at 330; Del. Declaration of Rights § 14 (Sept. 11, 1776), at 339; Md.Const. art. XIX (Nov. 3, ”1776), at 348; N.C.Const. art. VII (Dec. 14, 1776), at 355; Vt.Const. art. X *1159(July 8, 1777), at 366. The inclusion of a confrontation clause in the constitutions adopted in the early revolutionary era suggests that the right is pretty fundamental. Id. at 429.