United States v. Ilario M.A. Zannino

761 F.2d 52, 1985 U.S. App. LEXIS 31064
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedMay 3, 1985
Docket85-1070
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 761 F.2d 52 (United States v. Ilario M.A. Zannino) 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. Ilario M.A. Zannino, 761 F.2d 52, 1985 U.S. App. LEXIS 31064 (1st Cir. 1985).

Opinions

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.

The matter is before us on appeal by the United States from a denial by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts of its motion to revoke the bail of defendant/appellee Ilario M.A. Zan-nino and to detain him, after hearing, pursuant to the Bail Reform Act of 1984, specifically 18 U.S.C. § 3142(e) and 3148(b).1

[54]*54On September 19, 1983, a federal grand jury returned a twenty count indictment against Zannino and six others. The charges related to murders, gambling, and other illegal acts. When first brought before the magistrate on September 20, 1983, Zannino was ordered held without bail on the grounds that no conditions of pretrial release would reasonably assure his appearance at trial. Eventually, however, terms for release on bail were set. In his order dated December 23, 1983, the magistrate expressly found that Zannino posed a serious and substantial threat to the safety of the community and that, were it not for the fact that he had no authority to detain the defendant under the 1966 Bail Reform Act on those grounds, he would unhesitatingly order Zannino held without bail pending trial. Zannino was, therefore, released on bail in early January, 1984.

Shortly after the passage of the Bail Reform Act of 1984 in October of that year, the Government filed a motion to revoke bail as to Zannino and to hold a detention hearing, alleging, as grounds thereof, the previous findings of the magistrate concerning dangerousness to the community and the provision of the new 1984 Act which now provided for restrictive detention without bail under those circumstances. 18 U.S.C. § 3142(e) (1984). Additionally, the Government submitted affidavits to support a finding of probable cause that the defendant had committed a felony while on pretrial release, which under the 1984 Act was grounds for revocation of bail. 18 U.S.C. § 3148(b) (1984). The magistrate denied the motion, finding that the 1984 Act did not apply to pending cases in which the defendant was already released on bail. In his order, however, he once again reiterated his conclusion that no condition or combination of conditions could reasonably assure the safety “of any other person” or the community in the absence of Zannino’s pretrial detention. The magistrate’s denial was thereafter affirmed by the district court and the government appealed. Thus, the specific issue before us is whether Sections 3142(e), which provides for the pretrial detention, and 3148(b), which provides for bail revocation, apply to a defendant released on bail prior to the effective date of the 1984 enactments.2

The Supreme Court has held that the federal courts must apply the law in effect at the time it renders its decision, unless doing so would result in manifest injustice [55]*55or where there is clear statutory direction or legislative history to the contrary. Bradley v. Richmond School Board, 416 U.S. 696, 711, 94 S.Ct. 2006, 2016, 40 L.Ed.2d 476 (1974). See United States v. Gennaro J. Angiulo, 755 F.2d 969, 970 (1st Cir.1985) (Breyer, J.); New England Power Co. v. United States, 693 F.2d 239, 244 (1st Cir.1982). Furthermore, and more to the point, it is clear that the conditions under which a defendant is originally released on bail are subject to review when changed circumstances require that the release be reappraised.

That the decision releasing Zannino was not unalterable and, even as originally issued, was subject to revision at any time prior to trial, is particularly evidenced by the text of the section of the pre-1984 Act under which he was released:

A judicial officer ordering the release of a person on any condition specified in this section may at any time amend his order to impose additional or different conditions of release. Provided that, if imposition of such additional or different conditions results in the detention of the person as a result of his inability to meet such conditions or in the release of the person on a condition requiring him to return to custody, subsection (d) [requiring review] shall apply.

(Emphasis in original). Bail Reform Act of 1966, 18 U.S.C. § 3146(e), repealed by Bail Reform Act of 1984, 18 U.S.C. § 3142(c). Thus the decision regarding the terms of bail may be considered to have been an open matter, subject to post-bail release review, even before the 1984 Act was passed on October 12th.

We thus look to the situation created by the passage of the 1984 Act, to ascertain whether an individual in Zannino’s position should in effect receive a privilege vis-a-vis all defendants charged after October 12th, notwithstanding the pendency of all their proceedings. Since nothing in the new Act or its legislative history suggests that the new Act does not apply, Bradley requires that we look to the “justice” or “injustice” of the new Act’s application. United States v. Angiulo, supra, at 970.

In our opinion in Angiulo, for a point of comparison with the facts in that case, we stated that a defendant released on bail prior to enactment of the new Act might have a stronger argument to support his contention that the pretrial detention provisions did not apply to his case. Id. By positing this hypothetical, we were not creating a hard and fast rule. Closer examination, within the context of an actual case and controversy, does not support this exception to the retroactivity of the new Act. Section '3146(e) of the 1966 Act clearly states that conditions of the release can be changed, and that the inability to meet such conditions could require the return to custody. Thus the release on bail allowed under the 1966 Act was not an absolute grant; defendants were given notice that a change in conditions or terms could bring about the revocation of the release. That statute, furthermore, created no expectation that conditions would not change.

What has actually occurred with the passage of the pretrial detention provision may be considered a statutorily mandated change in those conditions. That is, under Section 3142(e) of the 1984 Act, for a defendant to be eligible for pretrial bail, he must be able in certain instances to rebut the presumption that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of “any other person and the community.” 18 U.S.C. § 3142(e). We hold that defendants released under the 1966 Bail Act must show their continued eligibility for bail by meeting the newly imposed conditions if this issue is affirmatively raised by the Government.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Reynolds
98 F.4th 62 (First Circuit, 2024)
VALDEZ
21 I. & N. Dec. 703 (Board of Immigration Appeals, 1997)
United States v. Carmen A. Tortora
922 F.2d 880 (First Circuit, 1990)
United States v. Mark Allan Bayko
774 F.2d 516 (First Circuit, 1985)
United States v. Rourke
611 F. Supp. 860 (E.D. Virginia, 1985)
United States v. Payden
609 F. Supp. 1273 (S.D. New York, 1985)
United States v. Ilario M.A. Zannino
761 F.2d 52 (First Circuit, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
761 F.2d 52, 1985 U.S. App. LEXIS 31064, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ilario-ma-zannino-ca1-1985.