United States v. Charles Joseph Punelli, United States of America v. Charles Joseph Punelli

892 F.2d 1364
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 2, 1990
Docket89-1051, 89-1356
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 892 F.2d 1364 (United States v. Charles Joseph Punelli, United States of America v. Charles Joseph Punelli) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. Charles Joseph Punelli, United States of America v. Charles Joseph Punelli, 892 F.2d 1364 (8th Cir. 1990).

Opinion

MAGILL, Circuit Judge.

On September 27, 1988, a grand jury indicted Charles Joseph Punelli (Punelli), charging him with three counts of violating various federal narcotics statutes. The jury trial which commenced on November 28, 1988, ended in a mistrial on December 6, after the district court found the jury to be genuinely deadlocked. On December 15, 1988, a grand jury returned a superseding indictment which charged Punelli with five counts of violating various narcotics laws. Two of those five counts charged new violations of the federal narcotics laws, two restated counts of the original indictment with only changes in the dates of the crimes charged, and one was identical to one of the counts contained in the original indictment. After the district court denied Punelli’s motion for a thirty-day continuance on December 29, 1988, the case proceeded to trial for a second time. The jury trial commenced on January 3, 1989. Punelli was convicted one week later on four counts of violating various federal narcotics laws.

Punelli appeals his conviction alleging the district court 1 erred when it denied his motion for continuance and his motion to dismiss the superseding indictment due to pro-secutorial vindictiveness. He also alleges the district court erred when it dismissed Count four 2 of the superseding indictment and when it declared a mistrial due to jury deadlock. Punelli argues that: (1) his rights under 18 U.S.C. § 3161(c)(2) were violated when he was forced to go to trial less then thirty days from the date of his arraignment on the superseding indictment; (2) his retrial on January 3, 1989 violated his right under *1366 the fifth amendment to be free from double jeopardy; (3) the two new counts charged in the superseding indictment 3 were the product of prosecutorial misconduct; and (4) Count four should have been dismissed due to new evidence submitted in violation of the district court's pretrial ruling or, in the alternative, should not have been submitted to the jury. Because we find the district court’s rulings to be without error, we affirm.

I.

On September 27, 1988, a grand jury returned a three count indictment against Punelli. Count one charged Punelli with “knowingly or intentionally distributing] approximately 16 ounces of cocaine” in the Southern District of Iowa on February 10, 1985 in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B). Count two charged him with “knowingly or intentionally distributing] approximately 8 ounces of cocaine” in the Southern District of Iowa on September 20, 1985. Count three charged him with willfully and knowingly combining, conspiring, confederating and agreeing with “William R. Houck and other divers persons ... to knowingly and intentionally distribute cocaine” from October 1, 1982 until on or about December 1985 in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), 846.

The jury trial on these charges commenced on November 28,1988. During the trial, the government elicited testimony involving possible violations of law for which Punelli had not been originally indicted. First, William Robert Houck (Houck), a witness for the government and former associate of Punelli, testified that on February 23,1985, approximately one hour before his home was burglarized and he was assaulted, he received one-half pound of cocaine from Punelli. Tr. at 139. 4 Second, evidence was received which indicated not only that Punelli distributed cocaine in his home but that his home was directly across the street from a school. Tr. at 122 (Houck testified that a junior high school was located across the street from Punelli’s home on Grand Avenue); Tr. at 127 (district court noted “there is already evidence in [the] record of the fact there is a school across the street, and [the court has not] heard any protest of that.”); Tr. at 128 (Exhibit 2-A, a map showing Punelli’s house is located across street from school, received into evidence); Tr. at 158 (Houck testified he received cocaine at Punelli’s Grand Avenue home across the street from the school until Punelli moved in the summer of 1985); Tr. at 462-63 (government witness, John Beghtol (Beghtol), testified he received cocaine at Punelli’s home on Grand Avenue); Tr. at 464-65 (Beghtol testified he received cocaine five to six times at Punelli’s Grand Avenue house). Third, Beghtol testified he began receiving cocaine from Punelli in the latter part of 1984 and did not end his association with Punelli until early 1986. 5 Tr. at 466.

The case was submitted to the jury on December 5, 1988 after five days of testimony. A juror then asked to be released from the jury panel because of irregular and improper contact by a third party. The district court excused the juror and subsequently sequestered the remaining jurors after the jury had retired for the evening. The following morning, the jury sent a message to the court indicating that it was having difficulty in reaching a decision. The court gave no further instructions other than to order the jury to continue its deliberations.

At 1:45 p.m. on December 6, 1988, after approximately eight hours of deliberations, *1367 the jury sent a second message stating: “Your Honor, we have come to an impasse on all three counts, and the vote has not changed for four votes. We all believe that we are a hung jury.” Tr. at 2 (December 6, 1988). After seeking input from counsel about how to respond to the jury’s second message, the court sent a message to the jury stating: “Response to second jury note. Members of the jury, I have your second note. You should continue your deliberations, and in doing so, you should also review and take into consideration Instruction No. 28, 6 one of the instructions to the jury which I previously read and delivered to you.” Tr. at 19 (December 6, 1988).

At 5:00 p.m. later that day, after eleven hours of actual deliberations, the jury sent a third note to the court stating: “After debate on Instruction 28, more deliberations and review of instructions to the jury, we are still at an impasse as to a decision on all three counts. The situation has not changed since the last memo. We also feel that this situation is not 7 going to change.” Tr. at 20 (December 6, 1988). After consulting counsel about the appropriate response to the third communication, the court declared a mistrial.

The court identified three factors supporting its decision to declare a mistrial. First, the case was not complex. It did not involve a significant number of counts or lengthy testimony. Furthermore, the instructions were straightforward and the jury, which had appeared attentive throughout trial, did not appear to be confused by the instructions. Tr. at 22-23 (December 6, 1988). Second, the jury had appeared to be at an impasse since its first note early in the morning of December 6, 1988.

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Bluebook (online)
892 F.2d 1364, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-charles-joseph-punelli-united-states-of-america-v-ca8-1990.