United States v. Byrne

192 F.3d 888, 1999 WL 722710
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 17, 1999
DocketNo. 98-50405
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 192 F.3d 888 (United States v. Byrne) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Byrne, 192 F.3d 888, 1999 WL 722710 (9th Cir. 1999).

Opinion

WARE, District Judge:

Appellant Charles Frederick Byrne (“Appellant”) appeals from the district court’s order denying his motion under Fed.R.Crim.P. 29 to dismiss Count 5 of a multi-count indictment based on the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The district court had first granted the motion after oral argument but then immediately took the order under reconsideration and denied the motion five days later. Appellant contends that the motion to dismiss was unambiguously granted during oral argument, and that the district court violated the Double Jeopardy Clause by later reversing the ruling and reinstating the acquitted count. Appellant also contends that Rule 29 does not allow for reconsideration of a judgment of acquittal, and that the proper action for the district court was to reserve ruling on the motion until it was confident in its ruling.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

I. Background

Appellant and five other former Marine Corps military policemen were named in a six-count indictment charging deprivation of civil rights, conspiracy to violate civil rights, and conspiracy to commit false statements. The charges stemmed from an assault on three undocumented immigrants near Camp' Pendleton, California. Appellant was charged only in Count 5, 18 U.S.C. § 3, Accessory after the fact, and Count 6, 18 U.S.C. § 371, Conspiracy to commit false statements.

After completion of a military training exercise on the evening of August 1, 1994, five of the defendants (except Appellant) went to a small camp just outside the boundaries of Camp Pendleton, where they confronted three undocumented immigrants. One of the defendants yelled “Mi-gra,” to indicate to the immigrants that they were immigration authorities and demanded to see immigration papers. One undocumented immigrant was then handcuffed and severely beaten, requiring medical attention.

The incident was investigated by the Oceanside Police Department and the Naval Investigative Service (“NIS”). Appellant and the other defendants were questioned and initially denied involvement. Appellant signed a statement claiming that neither he or any of the other Marines left the base perimeter on the night in question and further that none of them had anything to do with the assault of the immigrants. The investigation was closed by the NIS in October, 1994.

The investigation was reopened in June, 1997, when one of the defendants confessed to the assault while applying for a position with the Vermont State Police. This defendant cooperated with the FBI, who then obtained confessions from three defendants and a statement from another defendant in which he admitted to punch[890]*890ing one of the úndocumented immigrants and providing false statements to cover up the assaults.

All defendants except Appellant and Mark Adam Burton pled guilty and testified at trial for the government. Severance of Appellant and Burton was denied. The case was tried before Judge Gonzalez and a jury starting on June 12, 1998. On June 19, 1998, the government rested its case, and Appellant filed his motion under Fed.R.Crim.P. 29 on the same day. In his motion, Appellant asserted that the government had failed to prove an element of Count 5, the accessory-after-the-fact charge, Specifically, Appellant alleged that the government had not proven that Appellant had knowledge that the. other defendants had acted under color of law during the assault. The district court heard oral argument on the motion on June 25.

After oral argument, the district court granted Appellant’s motion. Counsel for the government then immediately asked the Court for permission to file a motion for reconsideration including the trial testimony transcript of Mr. LaCosta, the NIS agent who had questioned the Marines. The district court granted the government’s request. The government filed a motion to reconsider, including the transcript of Mr. LaCosta’s testimony, on June 29.

On June 30, the next scheduled trial date, the district court informed the parties that it was denying Appellant’s Rule 29 motion, based on the information provided by the government. Appellant’s counsel objected, asserting that jeopardy had terminated due to the June 25 order granting the motion for judgment of acquittal. The district court disagreed, as the jury had not been told that Count 5 was not going forward. The district court then severed Count 5 and allowed Appellant to file his notice of appeal. The rest of the case proceeded and Appellant was acquitted on the remaining count.

II. Analysis

A. Standard of Review. “Whether the Double Jeopardy Clause has been violated is a matter of law, reviewed de novo by this court.” United States v. McClain, 133 F.3d 1191, 1193 (9th Cir.1998), cert denied, — U.S. —, 118 S.Ct. 2386, 141 L.Ed.2d 752 (1998); See United States v. Blount, 34 F.3d 865, 867 (9th Cir.1994).

B. Double Jeopardy. The Double Jeopardy Clause “protects a defendant in a criminal proceeding against multiple punishments or repeated prosecutions for the same offense.” United States v. Gaytan, 115 F.3d 737, 742 (9th Cir.1997). Jeopardy attaches when the jury is empaneled and sworn. See United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S. 564, 569, 97 S.Ct. 1349, 51 L.Ed.2d 642 (1977). Jeopardy terminates when the jury reaches a verdict, or when the trial judge enters a final judgment of acquittal. See Fong Foo v. United States, 369 U.S. 141, 143, 82 S.Ct. 671, 7 L.Ed.2d 629 (1962).

The issue on appeal, disputed by the parties, is whether the district court’s oral granting of a motion for acquittal was a “final judgment of acquittal,” thus terminating jeopardy. Both parties rely on United States v. Blount, 34 F.3d 865 (9th Cir.1994) to support their respective contentions.

Blount involved a felony prosecution for “tree spiking” on federal lands, under a statute that made the act a felony if damages exceeded $10,000 and provided for a misdemeanor charge if damages were less. At the close of the government’s case, the defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal, arguing that there was no evidence that the damages exceeded $10,000. The court gave the government a chance to modify its charge to the lesser-included misdemeanor offense, but the government declined to do so.

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Related

United States v. Charles Frederick Byrne
192 F.3d 888 (Ninth Circuit, 1999)

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192 F.3d 888, 1999 WL 722710, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-byrne-ca9-1999.