United States v. Gerald Dean Greene

737 F.2d 572, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 21089
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJune 26, 1984
Docket83-5860
StatusPublished
Cited by49 cases

This text of 737 F.2d 572 (United States v. Gerald Dean Greene) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Gerald Dean Greene, 737 F.2d 572, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 21089 (6th Cir. 1984).

Opinion

PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge.

Defendant appeals his conviction for violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 2312, and 2313. We affirm.

I

On March 31, 1982 Gerald Dean Greene initially was charged in a three count indictment. Count one alleged that between March 16 and 19, 1981 Greene conspired to transport interstate and to receive and conceal a 1981 Chevrolet pickup truck. The second count charged Greene with interstate transportation of the vehicle knowing it to have been stolen, and count three charged Greene with receiving and concealing the same vehicle.

Initial arraignment of Greene was not until May 10, 1983. The trial judge originally scheduled trial for June 29, 1983. On June 1, 1983 Greene filed a motion to dismiss the indictment and supporting memorandum, alleging he was denied due process and a speedy trial as a result of the delay between the time of the alleged crime and the time of initial arraignment. 1

After granting the Government a continuance, the initial trial of defendant began on August 22, 1983. A hung jury resulted and a mistrial was declared. The case immediately was reassigned for a second trial on October 24, 1983 in Lexington, Kentucky. This time the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all three counts. The trial court denied a motion for a new trial and defendant appeals.

On appeal Greene contends he was denied due process and his right to a speedy trial as a result of the Government’s unreasonable delay. He also contends several errors occurred during trial which effectively denied him a fair trial.

On March 18,1981 Kentucky State Police received information that a stolen motor vehicle was to be delivered to a specific address on Brenda Sue Drive in Flatwoods, Greenup County, Kentucky. A few minutes after undertaking a surveillance of the area, two detectives intercepted the delivery of a new 1981 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Gregory Lewis. The truck had been stolen from a Chevrolet dealer in Ir-onton, Ohio. Accompanying the pickup truck was an “escort ear”, a black Cordoba-Charger, driven by Roy Mullins.

Evidence at trial linked the defendant with the black Cordoba-Charger. Further testimony set forth in detail the scheme by which Greene participated in the plan to steal the truck. Greene agreed to pay Lewis to transport the truck across the state line and deliver it to the Brenda Sue Drive address in Flatwoods, Kentucky.

*574 II

The issue of primary concern to this Court is Greene’s contention that he was denied due process of law and a speedy trial as a result of the Government’s delay. The two periods — preindictment and post-indictment delay — are subject to different considerations, therefore we address each in turn.

The alleged acts charged in the initial indictment occurred between March 16-19, 1981. The initial indictment was not returned until March 31, 1982, slightly more than a year after the alleged wrongful acts. Greene contends that as a result of this delay he was prejudiced in his ability to present his defense. In his brief to this Court, Greene asserts prejudice in only the broadest terms: “Memories are not as accurate over the years and evidence which could prove his innocence may no longer be available or in existence.”

In the district court, however, Greene set forth five specific allegations of prejudice caused by the delay: lack of recall as to the last name of an alibi witness; inability of a witness to remember defendant’s presence in a restaurant on the date in question; inability of the defendant to produce a sales slip for the truck alleged to have been stolen; lack of information about the jersey, gloves, shotgun, and medical container found in the vehicle seized; and lack of memory as to the contents of conversations with “the other men named in the indictment” and the dates and times of their occurrence. 2

The Speedy Trial Clause of the Sixth Amendment is inapplicable to an analysis of whether this indictment should have been dismissed because of a delay between the commission of an offense and the initiation of prosecution. United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 788, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 2047, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977) reh’g denied 434 U.S. 881, 98 S.Ct. 242, 54 L.Ed.2d 164 (1977); United States v. Marion 404 U.S. 307, 320, 92 S.Ct. 455, 463, 30 L.Ed.2d 468 (1971). See also United States v. McDonald, 456 U.S. 1, 7, 102 S.Ct. 1497, 1501, 71 L.Ed.2d 696 (1982). However, due process does have a limited role in protecting- defendant’s rights against oppressive delay. Lovasco, 431 U.S. at 789, 97 S.Ct. at 2048. A court must consider both the prejudice and the reasons for the delay. Id. at 790, 97 S.Ct. at 2048. However, courts are “to determine only whether the action complained of ... violates those ‘fundamental conceptions of justice which lie at the base of our civil and political institutions’, and which define ‘the community’s sense of fair play and decency’.” Lovasco, 431 U.S. at 790, 97 S.Ct. at 2049 (citations omitted).

This Court previously has stated that “[djismissal for preindictment delay is warranted only when the defendant shows substantial prejudice to his right to a fair trial and that the delay was an intentional device by the government to gain a tactical advantage.” United States v. Brown, 667 F.2d 566 (6th Cir.1982) (per curiam), citing United States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307, 92 S.Ct. 455, 30 L.Ed.2d 468 (1971) and United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977). To have this indictment dismissed Greene must meet both parts of the test. We consider the latter part of the- test first.

The defendant has made no showing that the delay between the alleged incident and the indictment was an intentional device on the part of the Government to gain a decided tactical advantage in its prosecution. The lapse' of twelve and one-half months between the alleged incidents and the actual indictment was the result of investigative delay and the Government’s efforts to make out its best case against Greene.

Greene, in arguing for dismissal before the district court, stated that as early as March 23,1981 the Government had incriminating evidence against him and therefore *575

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Bluebook (online)
737 F.2d 572, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 21089, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-gerald-dean-greene-ca6-1984.