United States v. Jay

713 F. Supp. 377, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16369, 1988 WL 156702
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedDecember 20, 1988
DocketCrim. A. No. 88-AR-136-S
StatusPublished

This text of 713 F. Supp. 377 (United States v. Jay) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Jay, 713 F. Supp. 377, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16369, 1988 WL 156702 (N.D. Ala. 1988).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ACKER, District Judge.

The court has for consideration the oral motion offered by Gerald Wayne Daniel after a mistrial was declared on the question of his guilt or innocence. When the [378]*378jury failed to reach a verdict as to Daniel, Daniel’s counsel orally moved for a judgment of acquittal or, in the alternative, for a dismissal of the indictment as to Daniel. Thereafter, Daniel filed a formal written “Motion to Reconsider Defendant’s Motion to Suppress In-court Identification and/or Motion for Judgment of Acquittal.” The procedural and evidentiary facts bearing on Daniel’s post-trial motion are these:

Pertinent Facts

1. The original indictment was brought against Ronald Jerome Hayes, et al., in the above-numbered criminal action. The indictment was filed on June 30, 1988. It named as defendants several persons by their given names and made certain charges against somebody called “ ‘Jay’ (being a Black Male approximately 20 to 30 years of age, whose identity is otherwise unknown to the Grand Jury).” Nowhere in the original indictment did the name “Gerald Wayne Daniel,” or any similar name, appear.

2. On September 2, 1988, a superseding indictment was filed. It used exactly the same designation, “Jay,” and nowhere mentioned anyone by the name of “Gerald Wayne Daniel.” On the same day, a warrant was issued ordering the arrest of the said “ ‘Jay’ (being a Black Male approximately 20-30 years of age, address unknown).” Although “Jay” ’s address was unknown to the Grand Jury, the warrant was somehow purportedly executed by Fredrich Gasbarro, DEA officer, on September 20, 1988, and was filed with the Clerk on September 21, 1988. Neither the warrant nor the return mentions anybody by the name of Gerald Wayne Daniel. The court, nevertheless, deduces from subsequent events that the warrant was served on Gerald Wayne Daniel.

3. On September 21, 1988, for some unexplained and inexplicable reason, Gerald Wayne Daniel was placed on bond by a magistrate, the bond suddenly obtaining the style “United States of America v. Gerald Wayne Daniel, aka ‘Jay’ ”. A miraculous, subtle metamorphosis in the case against somebody named “Jay,” had begun, purporting to turn it into a case against Gerald Wayne Daniel. At the initial appearance on September 21, 1988, the magistrate noted under his “Remarks”:

It was established by testimony of DEA, Fred Gasbarro, that ‘JAY’ and Gerald

Wayne Daniel are one and the same. This judicial expression cannot constitute an adjudication of identity between “Jay” and Daniel. Not only did Agent Gasbarro never actually see “Jay” distribute cocaine (meaning that Gasbarro before the magistrate was testifying purely by hearsay), but the burden was then on the government to prove Jay’s identification to a jury and beyond a reasonable doubt. The connection between “Jay” and some black, male, human being with a legal name was one of the crucial ultimate questions of fact reserved for jury resolution, if and when the proper charge appeared.

4. On September 28, 1988, the clerk notified Daniel that he was set for arraignment on October 7, 1988. Although the word “Daniel” nowhere appeared in the indictment, this notice innovatively used the style, “United States of America v. Jay (a/k/a Gerald Wayne Daniel).” Of course, the clerk could not have amended the indictment even if he had been asked to amend it.

5. On October 7, 1988, at the purported arraignment of Daniel, J. Lester Alexander, attorney, entered a special appearance for “the defendant Gerald Wayne Daniel for the sole purpose of representation at his arraignment hearing only.” Later Alexander sought leave to withdraw.

6. On October 11, 1988, the magistrate entered an order setting Alexander’s motion “to withdraw from the representation of Jay (a/k/a Gerald Wayne Daniel)”.

7. On October 12, 1988, Alexander filed several motions on behalf of “the Defendant, Gerald Wayne Daniel, aka ‘Jay.’ ”

8. On October 17, 1988, the United States filed what it styled “Government’s Notice of Offense and Demand for Alibi,” and therein said, inter alia:

Government submits that defendant “Jay” (Gerald Wayne Daniel) did distrib[379]*379ute cocaine at Hayes’ 76 Station at 14th Place and Pearson Avenue SW, Birmingham, Alabama, from between approximately 5:15 p.m. until approximately 5:45 p.m. on June 28, 1987.

9. On October 17,1988, Alexander’s motion for leave to withdraw as attorney for Daniel was granted.

10. On October 18, 1988, Roger C. Ap-pell, attorney, was appointed by the magistrate to represent Daniel as an indigent. The notice to Mr. Appell of his appointment contained the following heading:

“Re: United States of America v. Gerald Wayne Daniel.” The notice did not refer to “Jay” or otherwise describe Mr. Appell’s client as black, male, or of any particular age group.

11. On October 21, 1988, Appell filed for “defendant Gerald Wayne Daniel” a response to the Government’s discovery requests.

12. On December 5,1988, the case went to trial apparently without Daniel’s counsel’s realizing and without the court’s realizing the fact that the indictment had never been amended nor otherwise particularized to name Daniel as a defendant.

13. After all of the evidence had been offered and received, the government presented to the court proposed jury verdict forms. Consistent with the wording of the indictment, the form submitted to the jury by which it found “JAY” guilty as to Count One read as follows:

We the jury find the defendant,
“JAY”
guilty as charged in Count One and find that he conspired to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine in the amount of:
X 5 kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine.
_500 grams or more but less than 5 kilograms of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine.
_less than 500 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine.
/s/_ FOREMAN OF THE JURY

14. “JAY” was only charged in Counts One and Six. The government’s verdict form for Count Six, as for Count One, used only the name “Jay.” If the jury had found “Jay” guilty, using the government’s form, the verdict would have been a nullity, because it would have been laughable to impose sentence on a person never mentioned in the indictment.

15. Realizing that an adjudication using the forms prepared by the government would be meaningless and could not constitute a verdict for or against Gerald Wayne Daniel, the court, without any authority or request, prepared and submitted the following special interrogatory to the jury to go along with the government’s forms as to “Jay.”

ONLY IF THE JURY FINDS “JAY” GUILTY OF ANY COUNT OR COUNTS OF THE INDICTMENT, ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:
Is “JAY” one and the same person as GERALD WAYNE DANIEL?
YES_ NO_

16.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
713 F. Supp. 377, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16369, 1988 WL 156702, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-jay-alnd-1988.