Federal Circuits, 9th Cir. (March 24, 1975)
Docket number: 73-3627
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US Code - Title 21: Food and Drugs - 21 USC 846 - Sec. 846. Attempt and conspiracy
U.S. Supreme Court - Illinois v. Somerville, 410 U.S. 458 (1973)
U.S. Supreme Court - Brown v. United States, 411 U.S. 223 (1973)
U.S. Supreme Court - United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218 (1973)
Robert Michael Zweig, San Francisco, Cal. (argued in 73-3627), William L. Osterhoudt, San Francisco, Cal. (argued in 74-1036), Oscar B. Goodman (appeared in 74-1056), of Goodman, Snyder & Gang, Las Vegas, Nev., for appellants.
James Branningan, Atty. (argued), Dept. of Justice, San Diego, Cal., for appellees.Before KOELSCH and WRIGHT, Circuit Judges, and PALMIERI,* District judge.EUGENE A. WRIGHT, Circuit Judge:The appellants were convicted of a single count charge of conspiracy to import, distribute and possess marijuana (21 U.S.C. 846 and 963). On this appeal, they argue that they were twice placed in jeopardy for the same offense, that there was illegal electronic surveillance not explained by the government, and that evidence seized illegally should have been suppressed. Appellant Lillak also asserts that there was insufficient evidence to support the verdict as to him. All appellants ask that we review the sentences imposed.This smuggling effort involved the use of a small privately owned airplane, flown from Mexico to a desolate area in southern Nevada and there burned intentionally. Lillak had landed the plane at Chula Vista, California early in September 1971 and left orders for it to be serviced so that he might depart the next morning. He left his motel on the following morning and the airplane departed. It crash landed five days later on a dry lake in Nevada, while carrying a full load of marijuana, and was destroyed by fire intentionally set.The wreckage was discovered by a rancher at 8:30 that morning, and reported to county officials. The sheriff and his deputies proceeded to the scene, identified the aircraft from its numbers and observed marks left by truck tires and fuel drums on the hard surface of the dry lake. At noon, they saw in the distance the dust from two vehicles coming toward the crash site. The officers stopped two pickup trucks three and one-half miles from the wreckage, one driven by appellant See and containing three fuel drums and a gasoline transfer pump. The appellant Gordon was the driver of the other truck, its bed enclosed by a camper shell. Both drivers were armed with hand guns.An inquiry produced the answer from See that the party was going to a ranch but the officers noted that it was 50 miles in the opposite direction. See replied that they were just seeing where the dirt road might lead them, then asked if the pilot was hurt. The officers had not mentioned an airplane and the wreckage was not visible from the point where the defendants were stopped. See and Gordon were allowed to proceed after a routine check had been made. The trucks were not searched.Federal agents arrived an hour later. Agent Meglen, having information that linked See, Gordon and the burned airplane with a drug smuggling group, called the sheriff in an adjoining county to stop and search the trucks. In mid-afternoon, deputies apprehended See and Gordon at a gasoline service station in the next county, 180 miles from the dry lake. The vehicles were searched, the two defendants were lodged in the local jail and their wallets and personal effects were put into property envelopes. After an interview by federal agents, See was released without charge; Gordon was charged with an offense not relevant here and released on bond.The vehicle search revealed a map on which was marked the location of the crashed airplane. See's wallet contained two incriminating notes, one with the room and telephone numbers of Lillak at the motel. Telephone company records showed that calls were placed to Lillak's motel on September 5th and 6th from Gordon's Nevada residence. Lillak returned to the Chula Vista airport on September 15th to deny that he had taken the airplane a week earlier.See and Gordon were indicted in the district of Nevada, Lillak being named as an unindicted co-conspirator. A mistrial was declared in that action and a later indictment was filed in the southern district of California, this time joining Lillak with See and Gordon. The later case was based on the same facts as the Nevada prosecution. Prior to trial defendants See and Gordon moved to dismiss because of double jeopardy and to suppress all items taken from their persons and vehicles at the time of their arrests. Both motions were denied. Additionally, each defendant moved for disclosure of governmental electronic surveillance. Two months before trial, counsel for See by affidavit alleged that his office had been subjected to illegal surveillance, and this was denied by government affidavits directed both to See and to his counsel.I. Double JeopardyAppellants See and Gordon1 argue that the declaration of a mistrial in the Nevada district court was improper and that the second trial for the same offense in California violated their Fifth Amendment protection against double jeopardy.The Nevada trial began on April 2, 1973. After three and a half days of trial, the case was given to the jury for deliberation at 12:22 p.m. on April 5. At 3:20 p.m. the following day the jury requested and was given instructions by the judge in open court on a point of law. They returned at 5:13 p.m. with a note to the judge indicating that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. They had then deliberated ten hours and three minutes. After the judge received the note disclosing the jury's irreconcilability, the following proceedings occurred in open court:THE COURT: Ladies and Gentlemen, I have your note you are unable to reach a unanimous agreement, signed by your foreman. You feel, do you, that it is hopeless to pursue your deliberations any further?THE JURY FOREMAN: Yes, we have tried.THE COURT: You have tried?SEVERAL JURORS: Yes.THE COURT: And you don't think that any further deliberation will be apt to produce a unanimous verdict? Is that true? Or do you think it would help?JUROR NO. 2: Not enough, Your Honor.THE COURT: Well, you have been at this since noon yesterday. And is this the consensus of the group? That is, do most of you feel this way?JUROR NO. 4: True.THE COURT: Very well. If that is the consensus of the group. In view of the length of time you have been out, the Court will declare--MR. ZWEIG: Counsel,-- Your Honor,-- just a minute. (Counsel and the Court discussing matter at side bar whispers)THE COURT: You want to make a record on that, Gentlemen?MR. GOODMAN: I wanted to think about it.THE COURT: Go ahead and think about it for awhile.(Court and Counsel adjourn to chambers, leaving the jury in the box)During the colloquy in chambers, counsel for Appellants2 objected to the declaration of a mistrial and requested that the jury be given an 'Allen charge.'3 The judge denied these motions and declared a mistrial.In Illinois v. Somerville, 410 U.S. 458, 463, 93 S.Ct. 1066, 1070, 35 L.Ed.2d 425 (1973), the Supreme Court reiterated the principles governing the applicability of the Double Jeopardy Clause in the context of a declaration of a mistrial over a defendant's objection: 'In United States v. Perez (22 U.S. (9 Wheat. 579, 6 L.Ed. 165 (1824)) and Logan v. United States, 144 U.S. 263, 12 S.Ct. 617, 36 L.Ed. 429 (1892), this Court held that 'manifest necessity' justified the discharge of juries unable to reach verdicts, and, therefore, the Double Jeopardy Clause did not bar retrial.'In Perez the Court held that the lower court had properly granted a mistrial when the jury was unable to reach a verdict:We think, that in all cases of this nature, the law has invested Courts of justice with the authority to discharge a jury from giving any verdict, whenever, in their opinion, taking all the circumstances into consideration, there is a manifest necessity for the act, or the ends of public justice would otherwise be defeated. They are to exercise a sound discretion on the subject; and it is impossible to define all the circumstances, which would render it proper to interfere. To be sure, the power ought to be used with the greatest caution under urgent circumstances, and for very plain and obvious causes; and, in capital cases especially, Courts should be extremely careful how they interfere with any of the chances of life, in favor of the prisoner. But, after all, they have the right to order the discharge; and the security which the public have for the faithful, sound and conscientious exercise of this discretion, rests, in this, as in other cases, upon the responsibility of the Judges, under their oaths of office.22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) at 580.The weight of such decisions has remained on the informed discretion of the trial judge. In Somerville, supra, the Court noted that:The broad discretion reserved to the trial judge in such circumstances has been consistently reiterated in decisions of this Court.410 U.S. at 462, 93 S.Ct. at 1069.In Gori v. United States, 367 U.S. 364, 368, 81 S.Ct. 1523, 1526, 6 L.Ed.2d 901 (1961), the Court stated that:Where, for reasons deemed compelling by the trial judge, who is best situated intelligently to make such a decision, the ends of substantial justice cannot be attained without discontinuing the trial, a mistrial may be declared . . . ..The trial judge must balance the defendant's 'valued right to have his trial completed by a particular tribunal,'4 with society's interest in just judgments and the conservation of judicial resources. In its most recent decision on the Double Jeopardy Clause, the Supreme Court emphasized that a 'defendant's valued right to have his trial completed by a particular tribunal must in some instances be subordinated to the public's interest in fair trials designed to end in just judgments.' Somerville, supra at 470, 93 S.Ct. at 1073, quoting Wade, supra at 688-689, 69 S.Ct. 834.However, the declaration of a mistrial because of the inability of a jury to reach a unanimous verdict also serves to protect the interests of the defendant in many cases. As the Second Circuit noted in United States v. Goldstein, 479 F.2d 1061, 1068 (2d Cir. 1973):Requiring a jury to continue deliberations despite genuine and irreconcilable disagreement more often than not defeats the ends of public justice; not only will such compulsion needlessly waste valuable judicial resources, it may coerce erroneous verdicts.In that case the court held that the trial judge had not abused his discretion in declaring a mistrial after the jury had twice reported that it was unable to reach a verdict.As stated in Wade, supra, 336 U.S. at 691, 69 S.Ct. at 838:The guiding principles of the Perez decision . . . command courts in considering whether a trial should be terminated without judgment to take 'all circumstances into account' and thereby forbid the mechanical application of an abstract formula.However, in determining whether a judge has abused his discretion in declaring a mistrial because of a hung jury, the courts have isolated some significant factors. The trial judge must determine whether there is a probability that the jury can reach the verdict within a reasonable time.5The 'crucial factor' in determining the probability of agreement is a statement from the jury that it is 'hopelessly deadlocked.' United States v. Lansdown, 460 F.2d 164, 170 (4th Cir. 1972).6A statement by the jury that it is currently deadlocked has been held an insufficient ground for declaring a mistrial. The judge should question the jury in such circumstances, either individually or through its foreman, on the possibility that its current deadlock could be overcome by further deliberations.7Although a poll of jurors is the preferred method in some states,8 questioning the jury as a group on the possibility of a verdict is an acceptable alternative.9 Note that it has been held reversible error to inquire whether there was a predominance one way or the other.10The judge may consider whether the exhaustion of the jury might induce the minority to vote for a verdict which they would otherwise not support, cf. United States ex rel. Russo v. Superior Court of New Jersey,483 F.2d 7, 15 (3d Cir. 1973).The length of the trial and the complexity of the issues facing the jury are also elements to be examined by the trial judge.11The time taken in deliberations by the jury is also a significant factor to be evaluated by the trial judge, although no fixed standards have been set.12The American Bar Association study, Trial by Jury, concluded that 'the minimum deliberation time should depend at least in part upon the length of the trial,' at 157. It noted that in trials lasting 3-5 days, juries which were hung took an average of approximately 3 times as much time (10.8 hours) as juries which reached a verdict (3.7 hours), citing Kalven & Zeisel, The American Jury 459 (1966).Based on these considerations, it is clear that the trial judge below did not abuse his discretion in declaring a mistrial after the jury indicated it was hopelessly deadlocked after over ten hours of deliberations over two days. The trial took three and a half days, and the time spent in deliberation by the jury was not so disproportionately brief as to indicate that further discussion was necessary. The time taken by the jury falls within the average time spent by juries in cases of similar length. While this is not a determinative factor by itself, it is significant when taken in conjunction with the other issues discussed below.This jury indicated to the judge in writing that it was deadlocked. He did not rely on this statement alone, but rather called them into open court and questioned the foreman and members as to whether there was any possibility that a verdict could be reached and whether additional time for deliberation would be of assistance. The replies were all negative. The experienced trial judge, having observed the jury during the three and a half days of trial and having seen and heard their responses to his questions in open court, concluded that any additional actions on his part to 'push' the jury towards a decision would be inappropriate. Accordingly, he dismissed the jury and declared a mistrial, denying requests of counsel for continued deliberations and an Allen charge.No request was made by counsel for the appellants for the court to poll the juriors individually with respect to the prospect of reaching a verdict. The judge's questions in open court certainly provided both an opportunity for jurors to give contrary opinions and for the judge to gauge their individual reactions to his questions. In such circumstances it would be inappropriate to rule that the trial judge had abused his discretion by failing to poll the jurors individually.The case was not a complicated one and only a single count of conspiracy was involved. The judge could certainly have ruled that further deliberations would be inappropriate, given the length of time already spent, the complexity of the case, and the clear assertions of the jury that they were hopelessly deadlocked.The decision of the judge below is supported by decisions in this and other circuits. In Tolan v. United States, 370 F.2d 799 (9th Cir.), cert. deniedTry vLex for FREE for 3 days
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