United States v. Malpeso

17 F. App'x 23
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedAugust 13, 2001
DocketNo. 00-1784
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 17 F. App'x 23 (United States v. Malpeso) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second 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. Malpeso, 17 F. App'x 23 (2d Cir. 2001).

Opinion

[25]*25 SUMMARY ORDER

UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the judgment be AFFIRMED.

Defendant-appellant Robert Gallagher appeals from an order entered in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Block, J.) (i) denying his motion under Fed.R.Crim.P. 33 for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence and (ii) dismissing as untimely his petition (under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 and, in the alternative, 28 U.S.C. § 2255) for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel. Gallagher was convicted by a jury on four counts of committing violent crimes for the purpose of maintaining or increasing position in a criminal enterprise, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959, and two weapons charges, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). The charges arose out of Gallagher’s alleged involvement with one of the warring factions of the Colombo Organized Crime Family. We affirm the district court’s denial of Gallagher’s motion for a new trial. We further agree that Gallagher’s petition for habeas relief, which we construe as a motion to vacate his conviction under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, was untimely, and affirm its dismissal.

1. Motion for New Trial

The district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to grant Gallagher a new trial. The alleged new evidence presented by Gallagher consisted primarily of affidavits of Thomas McLaughlin — the intended victim of one of the charged crimes of violence, a shooting, which formed the basis for one of the weapons counts — and Sarah Palazzolo, Gallagher’s former girlfriend. McLaughlin’s affidavit stated that he clearly saw the man who shot at him, as well as the three other individuals accompanying the man, and that he did not recognize any of them as being Gallagher. McLaughlin — a member of the Colombo Family faction warring with Gallagher’s faction — refused to testify at Gallagher’s trial because he had pending racketeering charges against him at the time and feared incriminating himself. An affidavit of one of Gallagher’s trial attorneys, Jeffrey Lichtman, established that the defense was aware of the substance of McLaughlin’s affidavit at the time of trial because Licht-man had interviewed McLaughlin as part of the trial team’s pretrial investigation. Palazzolo stated in her affidavit that Gallagher could not have committed one of the charged crimes on the date alleged (June 4, 1992) because she had several phone conversations with him that day and was with him the night of June 4 through June 5.

It was not an abuse of discretion for the district court to deny Gallagher a new trial based on this evidence. See United States v.. Ferguson, 246 F.3d 129, 133 (2d Cir.2001) (reviewing district court’s denial of a motion for a new trial under Fed.R.Civ.P. 33 for abuse of discretion).

The substance of McLaughlin’s proposed testimony was known to the defense at the time of trial; no effort was made to alert the district court of this fact or secure the testimony notwithstanding McLaughlin’s fear of self-incrimination. See United States v. Siddiqi, 959 F.2d 1167, 1173 (2d Cir.1992) (noting new trial under Fed.R.Crim.P. 33 based on newly discovered evidence is warranted if the evidence “could not have been discovered, exercising due diligence, before or during trial”). There is a difference between evidence that is newly discovered and evidence that was previously known but has become newly available. See United States v. Jacobs, 475 F.2d 270, 286 n. 33 (2d Cir.1973) (“[A] court must exercise [26]*26great caution in considering evidence to be ‘newly discovered’ when it existed all along and was unavailable only because a co-defendant, since convicted, had availed himself of his privilege not to testify.”). Similarly, the identity of Palazzolo, a former girlfriend, was known to Gallagher prior to trial and an individual exercising due diligence would have spoken to close friends or girlfriends at the time of a charged crime to determine whether an alibi defense was available.

Gallagher has also failed to demonstrate that the testimony of either McLaughlin or Palazzolo would have changed the outcome. See United States v. Sasso, 59 F.3d 341, 350 (2d Cir.1995) (new trial based on newly discovered evidence “should be granted only if the evidence is material to the verdict ... and is not cumulative”); United States v. Gordils, 982 F.2d 64, 72 (2d Cir .1992) (new trial should be granted only under “the most extraordinary circumstances” where the newly discovered evidence “would probably lead to acquittal”); Siddiqi, 959 F.2d at 1173 (evidence must be “so material and non-cumulative that its admission would probably lead to an acquittal” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). Nothing in the testimony of McLaughlin or Palazzolo is directly incompatible with the prosecution’s evidence implicating Gallagher in the charged shooting. The Government established, and the defense conceded, that McLaughlin would have been heavily cross-examined if he had testified at trial, and the jury would have been faced with a credibility contest. In addition, the information offered by Palazzolo fails to establish an alibi because, even if Palazzolo’s affidavit is credited, Gallagher would still have had time enough on June 4, 1992 to commit the alleged crime.

2. Petition for Habeas Relief

This Court affirmed Gallagher’s conviction and sentence on June 3, 1997, see United States v. Malpeso, 115 F.3d 155 (2d Cir.1997), and Gallagher filed his petition for habeas relief on October 14, 1999— over two years later — arguing his attorney was ineffective during the plea negotiations stage because he underestimated Gallagher’s sentencing exposure at 20 years, leading Gallagher to reject the government’s plea offer of 10 years. Gallagher ultimately received 39 years, which was upheld by this Court. See id. at 170-71.

The district court construed Gallagher’s petition for habeas relief as a petition brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2241

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Bluebook (online)
17 F. App'x 23, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-malpeso-ca2-2001.