Court Opinion

ID: 9489187
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:08:23.767614+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:53:22.995120
License: Public Domain

POLITZ, Chief Judge,
with whom BENAVIDES, Circuit Judge, joins dissenting:
Today the majority holds that the due process clause of the fifth amendment does not require dismissal of an indictment for pre-indictment delay unless that delay was “intentionally undertaken by the government for the purpose of gaining some tactical advantage over the accused in the contemplated *1524prosecution or for some other impermissible, bad faith purpose.”1 I must respectfully dissent.
The Supreme Court has never held that bad faith is a requisite to the sustaining of a challenge to an indictment based on pre-indictment delay. Although both United States v. Marion2 and United States v. Lovasco3 refer to prosecutorial bad faith, neither case holds that proof of such is required.4 The Court merely acknowledges the government’s concessions that intentional conduct would violate the due process clause if actual prejudice had been shown.5
I view the majority’s insistence on a bright-line rule requiring prosecutorial bad faith as contrary to both Lovasco and Marion which teach that the administration of justice, in the context of a defendant’s right to a fair trial, necessitates a case-by-case inquiry.6 Lovasco clearly articulated our task: we “must consider the reasons for the delay as well as the prejudice to the accused.”7 In undertaking this analysis we should balance the actual prejudice to the defendant against the reasons for the delay in our determination whether the delay violates those fundamental concepts of justice which are inherent in our civil and political institutions and which define the community’s sense of fair play and decency.8 This approach fairly accords consideration to the competing interests of the government and defendant;9 if only negligent, reckless, or slothful conduct by the government is placed on the scale then the prejudice suffered by the defendant will have to be greater than in cases where intentional governmental conduct obtains, and vice versa.10
Even if a black-letter rule were warranted, in my judgment the majority errs in requiring intentional conduct. In Lovasco the Court referred with approval to the government’s concession that recklessness may support a due process violation, stating:
In Marion we noted with approval that the Government conceded that a “tactical” delay would violate the Due Process Clause. The Government renews that concession here and expands it somewhat by stating: “A due process violation might also be made out upon a showing of prosecutorial delay incurred in reckless disregard of circumstances, known to the prosecution, suggesting that there existed an appreciable risk that delay would impair the ability to mount an effective defense.”11
*1525Today’s decision directs that despite the severity of the prejudice to the defendant, and ignoring the length of the pre-indictment delay, if a defendant cannot prove improper prosecutorial motive, no due process violation may occur. This is, to me, a smothering of fundamental concepts of justice and the community’s sense of fair play. I would balance the actual prejudice as found by the district court against the government’s assigned reasons for the delay and, in that setting, determine whether there has been a due process violation.12
In the ease at bar the district court’s finding of actual prejudice was not clearly erroneous and the government’s reasons for inaction, fairly viewed, do not justify or warrant the inordinate delay.13 I perceive a due process violation and would affirm the dismissal of the indictment.14
I respectfully dissent.

. Slip opinion at 3872.

. 404 U.S. 307, 92 S.Ct. 455, 30 L.Ed.2d 468 (1971).

. 431 U.S. 783, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977).

. See United States v. Moran, 759 F.2d 777 (9th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1102, 106 S.Ct. 885, 88 L.Ed.2d 920 (1986); Howell v. Barker, 904 F.2d 889 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1016, 111 S.Ct. 590, 112 L.Ed.2d 595 (1990).

. See Moran. See also Lovasco, 431 U.S. at 796 n. 17, 97 S.Ct. at 2051 n. 17 (“In Marion we noted with approval that the Government conceded that a 'tactical' delay would violate the Due Process Clause. The Government renews that concession here_”).

. Howell. In Lovasco the Court stated:
In Marion we conceded that we could not determine in the abstract the circumstances in which preaccusation delay would require dismissing prosecutions. More than five years later, that statement remains true. Indeed, in the intervening years so few defendants have established that they were prejudiced by delay that neither this Court nor any lower court has had a sustained opportunity to consider the constitutional significance of various reasons for delay. [] We therefore leave to the lower courts, in the first instance, the task of applying the settled principles of due process that we have discussed to the particular circumstances of individual cases. We simply hold that in this case the lower courts erred in dismissing the indictment. Id. at 796-97, 97 S.Ct. at 2052 (citations and footnote omitted).

. Lovasco, 431 U.S. at 790, 97 S.Ct. at 2049.

. Howell (citing Lovasco).

. The majority expresses concern about the difficulty in balancing the reasons for the delay against the prejudice. While this may be difficult, federal judges are required to undertake similar inquiries on a daily basis.

. Moran.

. 431 U.S. at n. 17, 97 S.Ct. at n. 17 (citations omitted).

. See, e.g., United States v. Townley, 665 F.2d 579 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 1010, 102 S.Ct. 2305, 73 L.Ed.2d 1307 (1982); United States v. Miller, 20 F.3d 926 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, -U.S.-, 115 S.Ct. 226, 130 L.Ed.2d 152 (1994); Howell; Moran.

. United States v. Crouch, 51 F.3d 480 (5th Cir.1995) (panel opinion).

.I also reject the majority’s strong admonition that an indictment should not be dismissed pretrial. In addition to the economic and other costs associated with an unnecessary trial, additional interests are imperiled. It is not merely fanciful to envision meritorious defenses, including constitutional claims, which might go begging for fear of a more harsh punishment if the matter proceeds to verdict. Our system of justice does not gain thereby.