United States v. Derman

211 F.3d 175, 2000 WL 528015
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedMay 8, 2000
Docket99-1577, 99-1578
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 211 F.3d 175 (United States v. Derman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First 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. Derman, 211 F.3d 175, 2000 WL 528015 (1st Cir. 2000).

Opinion

LYNCH, Circuit Judge.

Herbert Derman, a lawyer, was charged with eight counts stemming from a marijuana-growing operation on the property of his weekend home along the Massachusetts-New York border. A jury convicted Derman of two counts: conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to manufacture and distribute marijuana, see 21 U.S.C. § 846, and criminal forfeiture, see 21 U.S.C. § 853. Derman was sentenced to a term of 121 months in prison; five years of supervised release; a fine of $20,000; and forfeiture of his weekend home and property. Derman appeals his conviction and sentence on four grounds: (1) claimed prosecutorial misconduct through a persistent appeal to class prejudice; (2) denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained during searches of his properties; (3) failure of the court to offer and his trial counsel to request an opportunity for closing arguments on the forfeiture count; and (4) errors regarding the timing of his appeal of the forfeiture sentence. This last issue involves an important point of criminal procedure: we decide when an order of forfeiture, entered after the 1996' amendments to Rule 32, becomes final, thereby triggering the time for appeal. We affirm the judgment and sentence.

I.

Herbert Derman owned property, consisting of two parcels, that straddled the Massachusetts-New York border. Der-man, together with his wife, Barbara Der-man, had a weekend home on the New York side, in the town of Hillsdale. In 1983, Derman leased a portion of the property on the Massachusetts side, in the towns of North Egremont and Alford, to Marcel Rosenzweig for the purpose of erecting a greenhouse. Rosenzweig erected the greenhouse in the spring of 1984. Above ground the new structure appeared to be a commercial greenhouse, below ground the space was designed for the greenhouse’s true purpose: growing marijuana. Marijuana was grown in the underground location until September 1991 when Richard Haber, an indicted co-conspirator, was arrested at the site for possession of a small amount of marijuana. Though the underground operation was not discovered at this time, as a precautionary measure, the operation was moved to Rosenzweig’s property in Sandisfield, *178 Massachusetts, where it continued until it was exposed on August 17,1995.

In December 1995, agents obtained and executed search warrants on Derman’s New York City apartment, his New York City law office, his Hillsdale residence, his Massachusetts property, and his Vail, Colorado home. Eventually, Derman and six others, including Rosenzweig and Haber, were charged with various federal crimes relating to the marijuana-growing operation. 1

In contrast to his indicted co-conspirators, who pled guilty in accordance with plea agreements, 2 Derman decided to stand trial. His principal defense was that he had no knowledge of the marijuana-growing operation on his property. Der-man’s motion to suppress the evidence seized during the searches of his properties was denied on July 23, 1998. See United States v. Derman, 23 F.Supp.2d 95, 98 (D.Mass.1998). On July 29,1998, a jury returned guilty verdicts on counts one and thirteen and not guilty verdicts on the remaining counts. On the government’s motion, the court, after issuing three stays to allow Derman time to file a brief, entered a preliminary order of forfeiture on November 6, 1998. On December 15, 1998, Derman filed a motion for leave to file a late notice of appeal of the preliminary forfeiture order. The court denied this motion on January 4, 1999. Two days later, Derman filed another motion, which the court construed as a motion for reconsideration of the motion for leave to file a late notice of appeal. On March 5, 1999, Derman was sentenced and on March 22, 1999, the court denied Derman’s motion for reconsideration. He now appeals.

II.

Derman’s appeal concentrates on the charge of prosecutorial misconduct through a persistent appeal to class prejudice. His accusation focuses not only on statements by the prosecutor, the usual subject of misconduct allegations, but also on the government’s trial strategy, which, Derman says, combined inappropriate prosecutorial statements with the introduction of class-biased evidence. Derman points, in particular, to nine instances during the trial:

1. the admission into evidence of a photograph of Barbara Derman in a ski outfit with mountains in the background and a witness’s identification of Mrs. Derman in the photograph;
2. the questioning of Derman’s secretary about “Derman’s life-style back in the early 1970s when [she] began to work for him;”
3. the questioning of another secretary about Derman’s property, possessions, and vacations;
4. the admission into evidence of a part of a videotape of Derman’s Hillsdale home, which had been searched;
5. the admission into evidence of certain photographs from a photo album, as well as the cover page to the album, which was labeled “Special Memories” and which identified the locations photographed in the album, including some other than the locations in the admitted photographs;
6. the testimony of a Drug Enforcement Administration agent that the photo album contained photographs depicting all of the locations named in the “Special Memories” list;
*179 7. the cross-examination of Barbara Derman regarding the locations identified in the “Special Memories” list;
,8. the introduction into evidence of receipts from Cartier jewelers and another jeweler and the questioning of Barbara Derman regarding these items;
9. the references in the prosecutor’s closing argument and rebuttal to vacations and jewelry and the statement that “if there is one thing that this case has shown[, it] is that the Dermans needed and wanted to get more money.”

At trial, Derman objected to items l, 3 2, 3, 4 and 8 on various grounds and to items 4 and 5 on the basis of class bias. At trial, Derman did not make the allegation he now makes that the prosecution engaged in a course of conduct at trial that was based on class prejudice.

The government contends that the prosecutor’s comments during the trial “focused directly on Dermaris claim ... that he had no motive, financial or otherwise, to engage in a drug conspiracy.” Further, it says that “[e]vidence of Dermaris lifestyle was specially relevant ... to show how he used the proceeds.” The government also contended at oral argument that Dermaris attorney opened the door to this line of inquiry when he asked rhetorically in his opening argument, “where is the money?”

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Bluebook (online)
211 F.3d 175, 2000 WL 528015, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-derman-ca1-2000.