United States v. DiSalvo

663 F. Supp. 145
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 12, 1987
DocketCrim. No. 83-00041-01
StatusPublished

This text of 663 F. Supp. 145 (United States v. DiSalvo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. DiSalvo, 663 F. Supp. 145 (E.D. Pa. 1987).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

LOUIS H. POLLAK, District Judge.

Defendant John DiSalvo was convicted in July of 1983 of one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 and three counts of unlawful use of a communication facility in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b). His conviction was affirmed by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. In a Memorandum and Order dated March 14, 1985, I denied his motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 for relief from sentence. He filed an appeal from denial of his § 2255 motion, and moved in this court for a stay of execution of his sentence until the appeal was acted on. On July 24,1985, I ordered that defendant’s release on bond [146]*146be continued “during pendency of defendant’s appeal of this court’s denial of his Motion for Habeas Corpus.” On May 22, 1986, 791 F.2d 922, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals summarily affirmed the denial of defendant’s motion for relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255; his petition for rehearing en banc was denied on July 28, 1986, and his motion for stay of mandate was denied on August 15, 1986. Accordingly, the government has moved this court to order defendant to commence service of his sentence of eleven years’ imprisonment.1 Defendant has opposed this motion, and has moved this court to stay his sentence during the pendency of his petition for writ of certio-rari to the Supreme Court. For the reasons articulated below, the government’s motion will be granted and defendant’s motion will be denied.

I.

The inherent authority of a court to direct that a petitioner be released from custody during the pendency of habeas corpus proceedings was discussed in an earlier memorandum and order in this case. United States v. DiSalvo, Crim. No. 83-00041-01 (E.D.Pa. May 19, 1985). The government has not questioned defendant’s assumption that this court’s inherent authority to grant bail in habeas corpus proceedings also extends to bail pending petition for a writ of certiorari, and we hold that this court has the power to grant the relief defendant seeks.

II.

The Bail Reform Act of 1984, 18 U.S.C. § 3143(b), authorizes a court to stay the sentence of a defendant “who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment and who has filed an appeal or a petition for a writ of certiorari” (emphasis added). This court held in its May 19, 1985 memorandum and order that “the Bail Reform Act of 1984 establishes, at the very least, a minimum standard which petitioner must satisfy in order to be eligible for release pending the appeal of this court’s decision on petitioner’s motion for a new trial.” Memorandum at 4. Under the Act, a defendant must be detained unless the court finds that the defendant “is not likely to flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community” and “that the appeal is not for purpose of delay and raises a substantial question of law or fact likely to result in reversal or an order for a new trial.”

This court’s order of July 24, 1985 granting defendant’s motion for release pending appeal was predicated on a finding, after an evidentiary hearing, that defendant had proven by clear and convincing evidence that he was not likely to flee or to be dangerous. The government has not argued that this court must reevaluate those findings in order to find that defendant is now entitled to a stay of sentence pending disposition of his petition for a writ of certiorari. Nor has the government argued that the standards this court must apply in determining whether a petition for a writ of certiorari raises a “substantial question” differ from the standards this court held to be applicable in determining the substantiality of the questions raised by defendant’s appeal to the Third Circuit. See United States v. DiSalvo, 663 F.Supp. 142 (E.D.Pa.1985). Instead, the government argues that the intervening appellate history of defendant’s case demonstrates that the questions raised by defendant are no longer substantial.

In order to evaluate this argument, it is necessary to review the issues raised in defendant’s appeal to the Third Circuit and his petition for writ of certiorari. Defendant’s conviction was based in part on out-of-court statements of persons not called to testify but not shown to be unavailable; defendant challenged the admission of those statements in his § 2255 motion. This court found that the out-of-court statements in question were used for a non-hearsay purpose, and held that the use of those statements therefore did not violate the Confrontation Clause as interpreted by the Third Circuit in United States v. Inadi, [147]*147748 F.2d 812 (3d Cir.1984). United States v. DiSalvo, Crim. No. 83-00041-01 (E.D.Pa. March 15, 1985). On March 10, 1986, the Supreme Court reversed the Third Circuit’s decision in Inadi, holding that the government need not show that nontestifying co-conspirators are unavailable as a foundation for admitting their out-of-court statements. United States v. Inadi, 475 U.S. 387, 106 S.Ct. 1121, 89 L.Ed.2d 390 (1986). The Third Circuit, in which defendant’s appeal was pending, requested supplemental briefing in light of the Supreme Court's opinion in Inadi. In his supplemental memorandum, defendant argued that, even after Inadi, out-of-court statements of absent co-conspirators were admissible only if they bear adequate indicia of reliability. The Third Circuit summarily affirmed the denial of defendant’s § 2255 motion. United States v. DiSalvo, 791 F.2d 922 (3d Cir.1986) (judgment order). Defendant’s motions for rehearing and for a stay of mandate were also denied. United States v. DiSalvo, No. 85-1192 (3d Cir. July 28, 1986) (petition for rehearing); United States v. DiSalvo, No. 85-1192 (3d Cir. Aug. 15, 1986) (motion for stay of mandate).

The government argues that this history “highlights the meritlessness of DiSalvo’s challenge to his conviction,” Government’s Motion to Commence Sentence at 5, and that defendant is not entitled to release pending further appellate review.

We do not find the issue quite as simple as the government’s presentation would suggest. Under United States v. Miller, 753 F.2d 19 (3d Cir.1985), a court considering a motion for a stay of sentence pending appeal must make two determinations: (1) “that the question raised on appeal is a ‘substantial’ one, i.e. ... that the significant question at issue is one which is either novel, which has not been decided by controlling precedent, or which is fairly doubtful;” and (2) “whether that issue is sufficiently important to the merits that a contrary appellate ruling is likely to require reversal or a new trial.” Id. at 23.

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Related

United States v. Inadi
475 U.S. 387 (Supreme Court, 1986)
United States v. Stanton Miller and Robert Miller
753 F.2d 19 (Third Circuit, 1985)
United States v. Disalvo
791 F.2d 922 (Third Circuit, 1986)
United States v. DiSalvo
663 F. Supp. 142 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1985)
United States v. Perez
658 F.2d 654 (Ninth Circuit, 1981)
United States v. Ammar
714 F.2d 238 (Third Circuit, 1983)
Bourjaily v. United States
479 U.S. 881 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Marotta v. United States
479 U.S. 882 (Supreme Court, 1986)

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Bluebook (online)
663 F. Supp. 145, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-disalvo-paed-1987.