United States v. Barletta

500 F. Supp. 739, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 408, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14662
District Court, D. Massachusetts·Decided November 3, 1980·No. Crim. No. 79-335-T·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

OPINION

TAURO, District Judge.

At issue is whether a district judge may, for good cause, defer until trial a ruling on [740]*740a pretrial motion to admit evidence brought by the government in a/criminal case. The particular pretrial motion involved here is one to admit in evidence, at the retrial1 of this multi-count indictment, certain tape recordings of a telephone conversation between the defendant and a government informer.

The position of the government is that this court has no discretion to defer its decision on that motion until trial. This court disagrees. Because the issue has potentially far-reaching ramifications with respect to the orderly and effective administration of justice in the district court, it is appropriate that this court detail the basis for its determination.2

I. Procedural History

The defendant was indicted for mail fraud and conspiracy. Trial on that indictment commenced on March 4, 1980. The day prior to trial, the defendant filed a motion entitled “Motion For In Camera Hearing” which was first brought to this court’s attention on the morning of trial during an unreported lobby conference. That motion requested this court to “conduct an in camera hearing” concerning the tape and “upon the conclusion of the hearing,” to either declare the tape inadmissible or to “order the sanitizing of the tape ... to exclude ... all statements which are not admissions by the Defendant, John R. Barletta.”

At that lobby conference, defendant’s counsel advised the court that an accurate transcript of the subject tape was being prepared. Both counsel agreed that a decision as to the tape’s admissibility be deferred until after that transcript had been prepared, and until after the government’s foundation testimony had come in through its informer, Peter Aver.3

After the informer testified, the court heard the tape, read the transcript, listened to counsel’s arguments and then excluded the tape.4 The government moved for reconsideration prior to resting on March 11, 1980. This court again ruled the tapes inadmissible. After three days of deliberation, the jury was unable to agree on a verdict. Thereafter, a mistrial was declared.

One week later, the government filed the motion to admit with which we are now concerned. This court “denied” that motion, without opinion, on March 25, 1980. The government appealed. The defendant subsequently filed a motion for clarification of the March 25 denial, seeking to determine whether the court’s denial endorsement was intended to be a substantive ruling or a decision to defer ruling until trial. In response, this court issued a Memorandum on June 24, 1980 clarifying that its March 25, 1980 “denial” was a deferral order and not a substantive decision either admitting or excluding the tape. 492 F.Supp. at 912. On July 11, 1980 the [741]*741government filed a mandamus petition with the Court of Appeals seeking to compel this court to rule on the merits of its motion to admit prior to retrial. The government’s appeal and its mandamus petition are pending before the Court of Appeals.

The issue is once' again before this court because the defendant, somewhere along the way, changed his position so as to concur with the government’s view that this court had no discretion to defer a substantive ruling until after trial. The defendant so notified the Court of Appeals. In view of the changed circumstance, the Court of Appeals issued a Memorandum and Order on September 11,1980 directing the parties to present their current positions to this court. Thereafter, this court held a lengthy hearing during which both the government and the defendant presented the view that this court must make a pretrial ruling on the government’s motion to admit.

Notwithstanding the concurrence of the parties to the contrary, the court continues to feel that it has the authority to defer decision on such a pretrial motion to admit evidence. Because this motion focuses attention on a novel issue concerning the scope of a district judge’s discretion as to the timing of rulings on pretrial evidentiary motions in criminal cases, it is appropriate that this court’s rationale be explained more fully than was done in its June 24, 1980 Memorandum. Id.

II. Discussion

The government’s position is that, in a criminal case, a district court must rule, prior to jeopardy attaching, on a pretrial motion to admit evidence that is substantial proof of a material fact to be proved at trial.5 This court’s position is that a district judge may, for good cause, defer such a ruling until trial. And so, the issue is drawn.

The logical embarkation point for discussion is Rule 12 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rule 12(b) limits pretrial motions to those that relate to matters “capable of determination without trial of the general issue.”6 Rule 12(e) states, in relevant part, that pretrial motions shall be determined before trial “... unless the court, for good cause, orders that it be deferred for determination at the trial of the general issue...” But the rule goes on to admonish that “... no such determination shall be deferred if a party’s right to appeal is adversely affected.”

And so the enabling rule, itself, sets up two subsidiary issues for consideration. First, is there good cause to defer? Second, would deferral adversely affect a party’s right to appeal? In the case of the government, any effect on appeal rights must be considered in the context of 18 U.S.C. § 3731, which states in relevant part:

An appeal by the United States shall lie to a court of appeals from a decision or order of a district courts (sic) suppressing or excluding evidence or requiring the return of seized property in a criminal proceeding, not made after the defendant has been put in jeopardy and before the verdict or finding on an indictment or information, if the United States attorney certifies to the district court that the appeal is not taken for purpose of delay and that the evidence is a substantial proof of a fact material in the proceeding. (Emphasis supplied.)

[742]*742There are no cases dealing with the precise issue as to whether a district judge must make a pretrial ruling on a motion by the government to admit evidence. No case has either affirmed or reversed a district court decision to defer.7 There are cases in which there has been appellate review of a substantive decision by a district court on a government motion to admit evidence, but those cases are distinguishable from the issue here. In each of them the district judge chose to make some form of pretrial order that served to exclude evidence. U. S. v. Humphries, 600 F.2d 1238 (9th Cir. 1979), vacated on other grounds, 445 U.S. 956, 100 S.Ct. 1640, 64 L.Ed.2d 231 (1980); United States v. Day,

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

United States v. Barletta, 500 F. Supp. 739, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 408, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14662 (D. Mass. 1980).

500 F. Supp. 739 (United States v. Barletta) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

United States v. Seefried
District of Columbia, 2022
United States v. Johnson
197 F.R.D. 616 (E.D. Arkansas, 2000)
State v. Lesley
672 P.2d 79 (Utah Supreme Court, 1983)
United States v. Barletta
512 F. Supp. 220 (D. Massachusetts, 1981)
United States v. Marcello
508 F. Supp. 586 (E.D. Louisiana, 1981)