United States v. Candelario-Santana

360 F. Supp. 3d 94
United States District Court·Decided February 6, 2019·No. Criminal No. 09-427 (FAB)·Published

Opinion

BESOSA, District Judge.

*96Pursuant to the Fifth Amendment Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution, defendant Alexis Candelario-Santana ("Candelario") moves to bar the United States from seeking the death penalty at the retrial of his case. (Docket No. 1480.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES Candelario's motion. (Docket No. 1480.)

I. Background

In March 2013, Candelario was found guilty of violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity, drug trafficking offenses, and thirteen conspiracy-related murders pursuant to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO") by a death-qualified jury. (Docket No. 985.) At the penalty phase of trial, the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision as to whether Candelario should receive the death penalty. (Docket No. 1051.)

In August 2013, Candelario received a life sentence. (Docket No. 1145.) Candelario appealed his sentence, and the First Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded Candelario's case to the district court. United States v. Candelario-Santana, 834 F.3d 8 (1st Cir. 2016).

On November 5, 2018, Candelario moved to bar the United States from seeking the death penalty at the retrial of his case. (Docket No. 1480.) Candelario argues that "[t]he jury's decision to impose a sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of release was unanimous," and that he "was acquitted of death." Id. at pp. 11 and 16. According to Candelario, "At the moment the jury reached its 2013 [penalty] verdict, jeopardy terminated with regard to Candelario's exposure to a death sentence." Id. at p. 6. He asserts that "Double Jeopardy now bars the government from trying a second time to convince a jury to sentence [him] to death." Id. The Court disagrees.

II. Legal Standard

The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment "commands that '[n]o person shall ... be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.' " Sattazahn v. Pennsylvania, 537 U.S. 101, 106, 123 S.Ct. 732, 154 L.Ed.2d 588 (2003) (citing U.S. Const. amend. V ). "[O]nce a defendant is placed in jeopardy for an offense, and jeopardy terminates with respect to that offense, the defendant may neither be tried nor punished a second time for the same offense." Id. (citation omitted).

Double Jeopardy applies to capital-sentencing proceedings where (1) "such proceedings 'have the hallmarks of the trial on guilt or innocence,' " and (2) "a sentence of life imprisonment signifies that 'the jury has already acquitted the defendant of whatever was necessary to impose the death sentence.' " Sattazahn, 537 U.S. at 106, 123 S.Ct. 732 (citations omitted).

[T]he relevant inquiry for double-jeopardy purposes [is] not whether the defendant received a life sentence the first time around, but rather whether a first life sentence [is] an "acquittal" based on findings sufficient to establish legal entitlement to the life sentence.

Id. at 108, 123 S.Ct. 732 (citation omitted). "If a jury unanimously concludes that a State has failed to meet its burden of providing the existence of one or more aggravating circumstances, double-jeopardy protections attach to that 'acquittal' on the offense of 'murder plus aggravating circumstance(s)'." Id. at 112, 123 S.Ct. 732 (alteration in original) (citation omitted).

The "result" of a deadlocked jury on whether to impose the death penalty, which causes the Court to impose a life *97sentence, is a "non-result" that "cannot fairly be called an acquittal 'based on findings sufficient to establish legal entitlement to the life sentence.' " Sattazahn, 537 U.S. at 109, 123 S.Ct. 732 (citations omitted). In Sattazahn, the verdict form returned by the jury made "no findings with respect to the alleged aggravating circumstance" and stated that "the jury deadlocked 9-to-3 on whether to impose the death penalty." Id. As a result, the judge imposed a life sentence as required by Pennsylvania law. Id. (citations omitted). According to the United States Supreme Court, "Since judgment [was] not based on findings which resolve[d] some factual matter, it [was] not sufficient to establish legal entitlement to a life sentence." Id. at 110, 123 S.Ct. 732. The Supreme Court elaborated,

If petitioner's first sentencing jury had unanimously concluded that Pennsylvania failed to prove any aggravating circumstances, that conclusion would operate as an "acquittal" of the greater offense-which would bar Pennsylvania from retrying petitioner on that greater offense (and thus, from seeking the death penalty) on retrial.

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United States v. Candelario-Santana, 360 F. Supp. 3d 94 (usdistct 2019).

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Related

Jones v. United States
527 U.S. 373 (Supreme Court, 1999)
Sattazahn v. Pennsylvania
537 U.S. 101 (Supreme Court, 2003)
United States v. Candelario-Santana
834 F.3d 8 (First Circuit, 2016)