Crawford v. Fenton

646 F.2d 810
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedMarch 27, 1981
DocketNo. 80-1608
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 646 F.2d 810 (Crawford v. Fenton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crawford v. Fenton, 646 F.2d 810 (3d Cir. 1981).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

GARTH, Circuit Judge.

■ After three days of deliberation, the jury found defendant Rooks Edward Crawford guilty of conspiring to violate the narcotics laws of New Jersey. The state trial judge, however, believing that the jury’s answers to special interrogatories were inconsistent with the guilty verdict, ordered the jury to continue its deliberations. After a day of further deliberation the jury, displaying confusion, asked to be released. The trial judge declared a mistrial over the defendants’ objections, holding that there was a manifest necessity to do so.

On federal habeas review, the district court determined that the trial judge had abused his discretion in ruling that manifest necessity existed for the jury’s discharge. The district court then held that the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment barred Crawford’s retrial. Crawford v. Fenton, 490 F.Supp. 776 (D.N.J.1980). We disagree and reverse.

I.

Rooks Edward Crawford was indicted on April 19, 1977 with conspiracy “to violate the provisions of the narcotics laws of the State of New Jersey, contrary to the provisions of N.J.S. 24:21-24.”1 On March 13, 1978, a jury trial for Crawford and his seven co-defendants beganjn the New Jersey Superior Court. The trial judge charged the jury on the morning of Tuesday, April 11, 1978. He requested that if the jury found any of the defendants guilty of conspiracy, it should answer supplemental questions concerning the scope of the conspiracy and the type and amount of controlled dangerous substance (CDS) involved.2

In explaining the verdict form to the jury, the trial judge said:

All right. As to the first count, you will first indicate whether any of the defendants are guilty or not guilty; the N.G. stands for not guilty, the G stands for guilty.
If you find any one of these defendants guilty then you are going to have to answer the next series of questions as to the scope of the conspiracy, whether it had to do with possession of controlled dangerous substances. If the answer is yes, check yes, if the answer is no, check no.
Possession with intent to distribute. If the answer is yes, check yes, if no, check no. If the conspiracy involved distribution of controlled dangerous substances, check yes or no. That’s only if you find any of the defendants guilty of the conspiracy.
If you don’t, you need not go to the series three questions.
Then, if you find the defendant guilty of a conspiracy, you will have to answer the next group of questions, that is, whether they conspired to possess, possess with intent to distribute, or distribute heroin, yes or no, cocaine, yes or no. That’s not been marked, you better correct this form. All right, we will have the form corrected, there will be a yes or no placed after cocaine.
[813]*813Then if it’s cocaine, you will indicate if it’s less than one ounce, but at least 3.5 grams pure, free base, or less than one ounce [sic] or more than one ounce but less than 3.5 grams pure, free base.

The record does not disclose the judge’s reason for presenting these interrogatories to the jury. Presumably they were introduced for sentencing purposes. See 5 NT at 12; State of New Jersey v. Wallace, No. 2825-76, slip op. at 5 (N.J.Super.Ct.Law Div.) (App. at 24). The punishment for violation of the conspiracy statute “may not exceed the maximum punishment prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the endeavor of conspiracy.” N.J.Stat.Ann. § 24:21-24. Thus the length of the potential sentence would depend on whether the conspiracy only involved possession rather than possession with intent to distribute or distribution, and the amount and purity of the Schedule I or II narcotic drug involved.3

On Friday afternoon, April 14, the jury returned its verdict. Crawford and two other defendants were found guilty of conspiracy, four defendants were acquitted, and the jury was unable to reach a verdict as to the eighth defendant. In answering the interrogatories, the jury found that the guilty defendants had conspired to distribute a controlled dangerous substance [CDS] but had not conspired either to possess, or to possess with intent to distribute a CDS. The jury answered “No” to the question of whether the drug was heroin, and “No” to the question of whether the drug was cocaine. One defense attorney eventually brought to the court’s attention that there was a possible inconsistency between the general verdict of guilty and the answers to the special interrogatories. The judge agreed, ordered the jury back, and the following dialogue ensued:

THE COURT: I have your verdict form in which you indicate you have found three defendants guilty of conspiracy, then you go on to say, and I ask you this question, now you are to consider the controlled dangerous substance involved as well as the amount, and you say no heroin was involved and no cocaine.
Your verdict is in error. You are to go back and deliberate and determine for me whether that verdict is correct or not. You go back to your deliberations. Your verdict form will be sent back.
VOICES: We don’t understand.
THE COURT: You don’t understand what? All right. I will send the jury back. You send me such note as you see fit, ladies and gentlemen. Give me the verdict form.

(4 NT at 21)4

Counsel for Crawford and the other defendants found guilty moved that the ver[814]*814diet be set aside as against the weight of the evidence, relying on the jury’s answer that the conspiracy had involved neither heroin nor cocaine. (4 NT at 22). One defense counsel moved for a mistrial and requested that the verdicts be set aside on the ground that they were inconsistent. The trial judge never ruled on these motions.

The jury returned at four o’clock with a corrected verdict form. Its only “correction” was to change its answer from “Yes” to “No” as to whether the scope of the conspiracy related to distribution of a controlled dangerous substance (4 NT at 29). Thus, with this change made to the verdict form, the jury had then found certain defendants guilty of conspiring to violate the narcotics laws, but in defining the scope of that conspiracy had not found these defendants guilty of either possessing or possessing with intent to distribute or distributing a controlled dangerous substance. Since the jury had already found that the conspiracy did not involve possession, or possession with intent to distribute, its “corrected” finding created still another inconsistency. The judge then explained to the jury that the jury had to determine which law the defendants conspired to violate and the identity and quantity of the drug involved. The jury then retired.

The jury soon sent back a note indicating that it did not know whether the conspiracy concerned heroin or cocaine:

There has been no testjpiony as to what any of the codes were. It was not established whether or not pants was cocaine or heroin; coats was cocaine or heroin, and so forth. Therefore it would not be fair to answer that question. We would be guessing. Thank you.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Abdur Islam
102 F.4th 143 (Third Circuit, 2024)
BRUNO v. ADMINISTRATOR
D. New Jersey, 2024
RUSSELL v. JOHNSON
D. New Jersey, 2023
State v. Anderson
Connecticut Appellate Court, 2015
Revel v. Pierce
66 F. Supp. 3d 517 (D. Delaware, 2014)
United States v. Wecht
541 F.3d 493 (Third Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Gelean Mark
284 F. App'x 970 (Third Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Allick
274 F. App'x 128 (Third Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Lucarelli
490 F. Supp. 2d 295 (D. Connecticut, 2007)
United States v. Medina
175 F. App'x 541 (Third Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Rivera
Third Circuit, 2004
Love v. Morton
944 F. Supp. 379 (D. New Jersey, 1996)
State v. Dixon
534 N.W.2d 435 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1995)
State v. Dunns
629 A.2d 922 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1993)
State v. Gallegan
567 A.2d 204 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1989)
State ex rel. D.P.
556 A.2d 335 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
646 F.2d 810, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crawford-v-fenton-ca3-1981.