Court Opinion

ID: 9475000
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:14:28.218693+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:39:16.486637
License: Public Domain

W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
The court in today’s case reverses three convictions because they are based in part upon what it considers tainted testimony of *696a paid informant. The majority concludes that the informant, Kelly’s, testimony is tainted because the payment to him was “contingent” on his performance in gathering evidence and testifying against appellant William Nelson. I disagree with this conclusion for the following reasons: (1) Williamson and its progeny are concerned with fees that are contingent on conviction rather than fees contingent on overall performance of an informant in implicating a pre-targeted individual; (2) the government had reason to believe that Nelson was engaged in drug smuggling when it hired the informant Kelly. This knowledge of the government justified its contingent fee arrangement with the informant Kelly. (3) Even if a conviction is based in part on the testimony of an informant who is improperly paid a contingent fee, we have consistently affirmed the conviction if the informant’s testimony is corroborated by clear, independent evidence. Kelly’s testimony was a relatively minor part of the government’s case and the conviction of the three defendants in this case is supported by ample evidence independent of Kelly’s testimony. (4) The conviction of appellants, Jerry Wayne Nelson1 and Cervantes, should not be reversed in any event because the government did not ask Kelly to investigate or produce evidence against them. I will discuss each of these points in turn.
I.
A.
The majority concludes that the government is prohibited from paying an informant to obtain evidence and testify against an individual if the payment is made contingent on the informant’s overall performance. Although the cases do not speak with a single voice on this point, I am persuaded that Williamson and its progeny are concerned with the propriety of paying a fee to a government informer only if that fee is contingent on the conviction of a pretargeted individual.
In Williamson, it is difficult to determine whether Judge Rives, the author of the opinion, considered the payment to the informer contingent on the conviction of the suspects. It is clear, however, that Judge Brown had this meaning in mind. In his concurring opinion he stated: “For government to offer a specific sum of money to convict a specified suspect is really more than civilized sensibilities can stand.” Williamson, 311 F.2d at 445 (emphasis added).
In United States v. Garcia, 528 F.2d 580, 587, (5th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Sandoval v. United States, 426 U.S. 952, 96 S.Ct. 3177, 49 L.Ed.2d 1190 (1976), we clarified our statement in Williamson:
[Specifically we have condemned the use of a contingent fee where it involves the promised payment of a specified sum to convict a specified suspect.
But we have refused to extend this ruling to the situation where an informant is paid a subsistence allowance and given a reward, as long as there is no evidence that he had been promised a specific sum to convict a particular person.
(Emphasis added, citations omitted.)
Similarly, in Henley v. United States, 406 F.2d 705, 706 (5th Cir.1969), we stated: “The record also shows that while Turner was paid his expenses from time to time, there was no contingent fee arrangement between him and the federal agents whereby he would be paid a specified sum to convict a specific suspect. Thus the method of payment was not the kind condemned by this Court in Williamson____” (Emphasis added.)
The majority acknowledges that the fee paid Kelly in this case was not contingent on Nelson’s conviction. The record amply supports the district court’s finding that the fee depended on Kelly’s overall performance in infiltrating the conspiracy, gathering evidence and testifying against Nelson. 5 Rec. 295; 6 Rec. 660-63. Because the payment to Kelly was not contingent on Nelson’s conviction, the Williamson rule has no application.
B.
Appellants do not contest the district court’s finding that the government had reason to believe that Nelson was smuggling drugs when it hired the informant Kelly. In ruling on appellant’s motion to *697dismiss the indictment because of Kelly’s testimony, the district court summarized its view of the evidence relating to the reason the government hired Kelly:
In other words, the government didn’t just go around one day and said, “let’s go make a case on Nelson.” They had some information to believe, as I understand the facts, that he was involved in this and they never heard back from him and they were becoming suspicious about him and therefore started following around and surveilling him and so forth, and this fellow ... this informant doesn’t get on the scene until April, which apparently is clear already that they were already surveilling him in Arizona. They were taking pictures of him and they were following him around, suspecting monkey business.
6 Rec. 699-700.
In Williamson, the court noted that knowledge by the government that the targeted individual was engaged in illicit activity could justify a contingent fee agreement with an informer:
It may possibly be that the Government investigators had such certain knowledge that Williamson and Lowrey were engaged in illicit liquor dealings that they were justified in contracting with Moya on a contingent fee basis____
Without some such justification or explanation, we cannot sanction a contingent fee agreement____
311 F.2d at 444.
In Hill v. United States, 328 F.2d 988, 989 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 851 (1964), we found that the justification suggested by Williamson was met “when the government showed, as it did here that (1) the accused had a past record (in this case there were past convictions for the same offense), and (2) that neighbors had informed and complained to an agent of the accused’s activities.”
In Sears v. United States, 343 F.2d 139, 144 (5th Cir.1965), we held that hiring an informer on a contingent fee arrangement to produce evidence and testify against a sheriff was justified because the detection of illegal activities on the part of a state official was difficult and the agents who hired the informer had adequate grounds to believe that the suspect was engaged in illegal activity.
In Harris v. United States, 400 F.2d 264, 266 (5th Cir.1968), we reaffirmed our earlier statement in Hill that knowledge by law enforcement officials that the accused is engaged in illegal activity is a sufficient justification for hiring an informer on a contingent basis.
Because of the government’s reasonable suspicion that Nelson was smuggling drugs, it logically focused its investigation on him. In conducting this investigation, the government was justified under Williamson and later circuit authority in hiring Kelly to infiltrate the conspiracy and obtain evidence against Nelson that could be used in a criminal trial.
C.
Even if the fee paid Kelly was improper as violative of the Williamson rule, the conviction should nevertheless be affirmed because of the overwhelming independent evidence that supports Nelson’s conviction. See Garcia, 528 F.2d at 587 and cases cited in note 4 of that opinion.
In Henley v. United States, 406 F.2d 705, 705-06 (5th Cir.1969), one of the reasons we declined to reverse the conviction was because “the combined testimony of agent Navarro and Michael Henley himself fully corroborated [the informant’s] testimony. Thus the jury was not required to base its verdict solely on the testimony of a man who admittedly is not a sterling character.”
In his testimony, Nelson admitted most of the important facts relied on by the government to support its contention that Nelson was a participating member of the drug smuggling conspiracy. Nelson asserted a narrow defense of lack of intent to the government’s broad conspiracy charge. Kelly’s testimony had little bearing on this defense. A summary of the government’s case, the admissions of Nelson and a consideration of the nature of Nelson’s defense will readily demonstrate that this is true.
The government’s evidence at trial revealed that Nelson and his co-defendants were engaged in a conspiracy to import marijuana from Colombia into the United States from December 1983 until June 1984. Nelson’s role in the conspiracy was to provide an airplane and fly it, loaded *698with drugs, from Colombia to the United States. The government contended that Santos and Cervantes agreed to fund the enterprise and provide the Colombian source for the marijuana. These two men, or the organization they represented, agreed to pay Nelson for his services.
Ronald Sharp knew both Nelson and Santos and in December of 1983, Sharp introduced Nelson to Santos. During the course of the conspiracy, Sharp continued to work for Santos and had extensive dealings with Nelson. Sharp agreed to cooperate with the government and was the government’s key witness at the trial.
The government focused on four episodes in which the conspirators planned to smuggle drugs into the United States. In the first episode, Sharp testified that Nelson agreed to furnish his DC-7 airplane and fly several tons of marijuana from Colombia into the United States. According to Sharp, he delivered $140,000 to Nelson on December 26 to partially compensate Nelson for transporting the marijuana from Colombia to the United States. Nelson admitted receiving a payment but contended he received $86,000 instead of $140,-000. Nelson was instructed to meet Santos in Panama to get further instructions on where to pick up the marijuana. Nelson failed to appear in Panama and the shipment was cancelled. An angry Santos directed Sharp to get his $140,000 back from Nelson. When confronted by Sharp, Nelson explained that he had crashed his airplane in the Cancún, Mexico area while he was en route to meet Santos in Panama. Nelson admitted at trial that he gave this excuse to Sharp but contended that it was a lie. He testified that he never left the United States. On January 3 or 4, 1984, Santos, Cervantes and Sharp met with Nelson. Santos demanded that Nelson return the money or repay him with work. Nelson agreed to work for Santos. Santos and Cervantes returned to Miami and Sharp remained in Laredo, Texas to keep an eye on Nelson.
Nelson testified that as soon as he received the $86,000 from Sharp he immediately turned it over to representatives of the anti-communist Nicaraguans (“Contras”), in whose cause he sympathized. He explained that the pro-communist Sandinis-tas financed their government in large measure through drug smuggling operations. He told the jury that he pretended to participate in the plan to smuggle drugs for three reasons: First, by thwarting Santos’ smuggling activities he would deprive the Sandinistas of financial support. He also proposed to bilk as much money as possible from the smugglers and contribute it to the Contras. He also hoped that his apparent cooperation with Santos would help him get four of his pilots released from a Mexican jail.
The next smuggling episode involved a plan to fly to Colombia via Jamaica and return to the United States with approximately three tons of marijuana. In early January 1984, Nelson flew to Kingston, Jamaica, where Sharp met him. Nelson was given instructions on where to pick up the marijuana in Colombia and on January 18, Nelson departed Kingston for Colombia to pick up the marijuana. Nelson was instructed to fly the marijuana to Big Whale Key, in the Bahamas where he was to land at night on a lighted strip and unload the marijuana in waiting boats. Nelson told Sharp in Miami on January 19, that when he arrived at the designated landing strip at night, he found no lights or boats and he instructed his crewmembers to jettison the marijuana on Big Whale Key.
At trial, Nelson denied that he flew to Colombia and picked up the marijuana. He contended this story he told Sharp was a complete fabrication.
Despite the first two misfires, Nelson was again asked to fly approximately three tons of marijuana from Colombia to the United States in early February 1984. The plan for this trip was virtually identical to the previous trip. Nelson was instructed to fly to Jamaica, get instructions on where to pick up the marijuana and then fly the marijuana to a lighted landing strip on Big Whale Key. The day after Nelson was scheduled to deliver the marijuana, he *699called Sharp from Jamaica and told him that because the lights were not lit on the landing strip at Big Whale Key, he was unable to land and his crew was again forced to kick the marijuana out of the airplane.
Nelson admitted during trial that he picked up this load of marijuana in Colombia but he contended that he and his crew kicked the marijuana out of the airplane shortly after take-off in Colombia. He again explained that this was part of his plan to aid the Contras and harm the Sandi-nistas.
The final episode involved a plan to fly a large load of marijuana from Colombia into Monterrey, Mexico and then transport it in smaller loads into the United States. Santos told Nelson he wanted him to acquire a DC-7 and fly 20,000 pounds of marijuana to Mexico in the first flight with the possibility of nine similar additional flights. In order to transport this quantity of marijuana, Nelson bought a DC-7 airplane in Arizona, equipped the airplane with specially designed fuel tanks to increase the range of the aircraft and certain hi-tech equipment to assist in the smuggling operation.
Kelly infiltrated the conspiracy on April 8, 1984 after the aircraft had been purchased and equipped. Nelson needed another pilot for this trip and he was instrumental in having Kelly hired by Santos in May to assist in flying this load of marijuana from Colombia. Kelly testified about the plans to transport this load of marijuana. Some of the details of the plan for this trip that Kelly referred to in his testimony include the amount of money he and Nelson were to be paid, aircraft repairs they planned to make, steps they took to obtain a crew, the route they proposed to fly, the location of refueling stops and preparation of bogus documents so the plane could land in Mexico.
Nelson admitted that he participated with the other members of the conspiracy in planning the movement of this load of marijuana. Nelson contended however that he went along with the plan to spoil it so he could assist the Nicaraguan Contras. Sharp’s testimony was consistent with the testimony of Kelly and with Nelson’s admission of the role he played in planning this episode.
In summary, Kelly’s testimony was not of major importance to the prosecution. It did not assist the government in establishing the first three episodes; his testimony only related to planning the final episode. Nelson did not dispute the critical parts of Sharp’s or Kelly’s testimony. Nelson maintained that he was playing the role of a participant in the scheme but that he never intended to import drugs into the United States. The jury apparently considered Nelson’s defense incredible and concluded that Nelson intended to fly the missions he admitted that he planned. Our cases do not support reversal of these convictions under these circumstances.
D.
Kelly’s testimony in no event justifies the reversal of the convictions of William Nelson’s co-defendants, Cervantes and Jerry Wayne Nelson. Williamson explicitly limits application of its prohibition to the production of evidence against “particular named defendants as to crimes not committed.” 311 F.2d at 441. We have consistently refused to give the benefit of this rule to individuals who were not singled out by the government for the informant’s effort. United States v. Yater, 756 F.2d 1058, 1067 (5th Cir.1985); United States v. Lane, 693 F.2d 385, 388 (5th Cir.1982); United States v. Onori, 535 F.2d 938, 942-43 (5th Cir.1976). The government did not ask Kelly to investigate and obtain evidence against Cervantes or Jerry Wayne Nelson and consequently they cannot claim the benefit of the Williamson rule.
In United States v. Dickens, 524 F.2d 441 (5th Cir.1975), cert. denied sub nom. Glenos v. United States, 425 U.S. 994, 96 S.Ct. 2208, 48 L.Ed.2d 819 (1976), the government hired an undercover informant to investigate and produce evidence against Morrison. The informant, during the course of the investigation also developed evidence against .two additional men who *700were indicted and tried with Morrison. The district court instructed the jury that if it determined that the government agreed to pay the informant a fee contingent upon conviction of Morrison, it should acquit Morrison. The court added, however, that this instruction had no application to Morrison’s co-defendants. On appeal, the convictions were affirmed. We held that the fee paid the informant was not a contingent fee prohibited by Williamson. We also stated that “the court’s action in limiting its ‘contingent fee informer’ instruction to the defendant Morrison was not reversible error.” Id. at 447.
Because the government did not single out Jerry Wayne Nelson or Cervantes for investigation by Kelly, the Williamson rule should in no event apply to them.
II.
It is not easy for me to determine what the court holds in this case. First the majority soundly and at some length, criticizes the government for setting up an impermissible contingent fee arrangement with its informant and concludes that “this case involves a stronger form of contingency than Williamson did.” P. 693. After condemning the payment to Kelly as a prohibited one under Williamson, the majority in a footnote then asserts that what it finds wrong with the use of Kelly’s testimony is the failure of the government to establish by objective evidence — subject to judicial review — that the fee paid to Kelly was reasonable. The majority does not favor us with citation of authority that reveals the source of the court’s power to review the reasonableness of such a payment or the standard we should use in such a review. If, however, the court wishes to review the reasonableness of the payment, I do not know what additional facts it needs for such a review. Kelly remained on the witness stand for the better part of a day and testified in excruciating detail about his activities from April 8 until June 6, 1984, while he worked in an undercover capacity. The DEA agent who hired Kelly was also cross-examined extensively about how he determined the sum he would recommend to his superiors that Kelly should receive. The court has only one reason to be concerned with the amount of the government’s payment to Kelly and that is whether the payment affected his credibility as a witness. Ordinarily the jury judges the credibility of the witnesses. The majority suggests no reason we should depart from that rule in this case and no reason occurs to me.
Counsel’s right to cross-examine Kelly and the DEA agents instrumental in hiring him on the subject of Kelly’s compensation was not restricted by the district court. No contention is made that the government withheld information on this subject. It was up to the jury to judge Kelly’s credibility based on this evidence and the court has no need for additional information if indeed any exists.
III.
The Williamson prohibition against paying an informant a fee contingent on his performance is not an unrestricted one in this circuit. I have not found a single reversal of a conviction in this circuit based on this rule since Williamson was decided.2 At least three of the well-accepted *701exceptions to Williamson are established in this case: the fee to Kelly was not contingent on conviction; the government had reasonable suspicion that Nelson was engaged in drug smuggling when it hired Kelly; and the conviction was supported by strong evidence independent of Kelly’s testimony. Jerry Wayne Nelson and Cervantes fall within an additional exception: they were not targeted by the government for the informant’s efforts. The majority may not be pleased with the exceptions we have placed on the Williamson rule but they are not entitled to disregard them. Because I cannot read the circuit authority as supporting the reversal of these convictions, I respectfully dissent.

. I will use Jerry Wayne Nelson’s full name when referring to him. Nelson used alone will refer to appellant William E. Nelson.

. I also did not find a single decision from another circuit that reversed a conviction because it was based on the testimony of a paid informer who received a contingent fee. Some of the courts expressly declined to decide whether to adopt the Williamson rule: United States v. James, 494 F.2d 1007 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Jackson v. United States, 419 U.S. 1020, 95 S.Ct. 495, 42 L.Ed.2d 294 (1974); United States v. Chavez, 620 F.Supp. 1516 (D.C.Pa.1985), aff'd mem., 787 F.2d 584 (3d Cir.1986); United States v. Reynoso-Ulloa, 548 F.2d 1329 (9th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 926, 98 S.Ct. 2820, 56 L.Ed.2d 769 (1978). Others determined that the facts presented exceptions to Williamson which precluded its application: United States v. Jett, 491 F.2d 1078 (1st Cir. 1974); United States v. Cuomo, 479 F.2d 688 (2d Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Rizzo v. United States, 414 U.S. 1002, 94 S.Ct. 357, 38 L.Ed.2d 238 (1973); United States v. McCaghren, 666 F.2d 1227 (8th Cir.1981); United States v. Frazier, 434 F.2d 238 (10th Cir. 1970); United States v. Richardson, 764 F.2d 1514 (11th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. CrespoDiaz v. United States, — U.S. -, 106 S.Ct. *701320, 88 L.Ed.2d 303 (1985). At least two circuits have rejected the Williamson rule.
In United States v. Grimes, 438 F.2d 391 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 402 U.S. 989, 91 S.Ct. 1684, 29 L.Ed.2d 155 (1971), the Sixth Circuit concluded that it made no sense to prohibit the testimony of a paid informant and yet permit the testimony of a co-conspirator who had been promised immunity or other favorable treatment in return for his testimony. The court concluded that rather than exclude the paid informant’s testimony, the monetary benefit the witness expected to receive should be considered by the jury in determining that witness’s credibility, just as immunity or a promised favorable sentence is considered when the cooperating co-conspirator testifies. Similarly, the Seventh Circuit in United States v. Hodge, 594 F.2d 1163 (7th Cir. 1979), held that the "method of payment is properly a matter for the jury to consider in weighing the credibility of the informant.”