United States v. Martinez

923 F. Supp. 861, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5419, 40 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1509, 1996 WL 203313
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedApril 23, 1996
DocketCriminal No. 87-127-N; Civil No. 2:96cv173
StatusPublished

This text of 923 F. Supp. 861 (United States v. Martinez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Martinez, 923 F. Supp. 861, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5419, 40 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1509, 1996 WL 203313 (E.D. Va. 1996).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND FINAL ORDER

CLARKE, District Judge.

Wilfredo M. Martinez is a federal prisoner challenging pro se his 1988 conviction by jury in this Court on drug charges. Martinez proceeds under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Some three weeks prior to his scheduled April 11, 1988 trial, Martinez and his co-defendant mother, Defia Ramirez Martinez, skipped bail and fled from this jurisdiction. Martinez and his mother were tried in absentia and found guilty on all charges. Martinez now argues that the Supreme Court’s decision in Crosby v. United States, 506 U.S. 255, 113 S.Ct. 748, 122 L.Ed.2d 25 (1993), renders his conviction invalid. For the reasons set out below, the Court disagrees. Accordingly, Martinez’s Motion to vacate, set aside, or correct a sentence is DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND

In November of 1987, Martinez was indicted on seven counts related to his involvement as leader of a cocaine distribution conspiracy. On February 10, 1988, Martinez appeared in this Court before a Magistrate Judge, waived arraignment, and pled not guilty. In the defendant’s presence, jury trial was set for April 11, 1988. Martinez remained free on a $100,000 court appearance bond. On March 21, Martinez was absent irom a scheduled court appearance. Martinez’s bond was revoked and a warrant for his arrest was issued. On March 28, Martinez again did not appear at a court proceeding. On April 11, Martinez did not appear for his trial date. The government moved for forfeiture of Martinez’s bond. An affidavit of a Federal Bureau of Investigations agent assigned to this case was admitted in support of the government’s motion. The agent’s affidavit stated that on March 21 Martinez had contacted his attorney ostensibly from Miami, Florida, and stated his intention to make the court appearance on that day. Following Martinez’s non-appearance, local police went to Martinez’s Miami residence and found an empty house and four days worth of newspapers laying in front of the house. An FBI investigation revealed that on March 19 or 20, a moving truck went to Martinez’s home and emptied the home of furniture. Martinez’s attorney was no longer in contact with his client and did not know his whereabouts. Based on this information, the Court ordered Martinez’s bond forfeited.

Before the start of the trial, Defendant’s counsel moved for a continuance because of his client’s absence. The Court ascertained that Martinez was aware of the trial date. When questioned by the Court, Martinez counsel stated:

They [Defendant and his mother] knew of the trial date. I had gone over the trial date with them. In fact, I told them to make airplane reservations in advance because of the fare savings, and things of that nature. No question they knew of the trial date; they knew of the other hearing which I’ve introduced telegrams notifying them of the hearing.

Trial Proc. at 6. The government argued against Defendant’s motion citing the clear evidence of flight, the evidentiary problems caused by further delay in the trial, the expense to the government of producing witnesses, and the exposure to danger for the government’s witnesses until they in fact did testify. Trial Proc. at 7-9. The Court denied Defendant’s motion noting that the likelihood of Defendant showing up for trial soon was nil and that continuance would put the government through great and unnecessary expense. Trial Proc. at 10.

Defendant was tried in absentia, though still represented by counsel. During the one-day trial, the government put on fourteen witnesses and introduced twenty-one exhibits. The defense rested without presenting evidence. After deliberating for one hour and fifteen minutes, the jury found Martinez guilty on1 all seven counts of the indictment. Trial Proc. at 276, 278-79. Following his arrest in Tampa, Florida in December of 1988, Martinez was returned to this Court. On April 3, 1989, he was sentenced to twenty years in prison and a $10,-000 fine.

[864]*864Martinez appealed his conviction and sentence partly on the ground that this Court erred in allowing Defendant to be tried in absentia. The Fourth Circuit denied this claim citing circuit precedent that deemed a voluntary absence from trial a waiver of the right to be present at trial. United States v. Martinez, No. 89-5805, slip op. at 4-5, 1991 WL 89932 (4th Cir. June 24,1991). Martinez filed a Petition for Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court but did not raise the trial in absentia issue. Martinez’s Petition was denied on October 7,1991.

II. ANALYSIS

a.The Crosby Decision

Martinez’s sole claim in this § 2255 motion is that the Supreme Court’s 1993 decision in Crosby, 506 U.S. at 255, 113 S.Ct. at 748, rendered his conviction invalid. In Crosby, the Court addressed “whether Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 43 permits the trial in absentia of a defendant who absconds prior to trial and is absent at its beginning.” Id. at 256,113 S.Ct. at 749-50. Rule 43 states in relevant part:

(a) Presence Required. The defendant shall be present at the arraignment, at the time of the plea, at every stage of the trial including the impaneling of the jury and the return of the verdict, and at the imposition of sentence, except as otherwise provided by this rule.
(b) Continued Presence Not Required. The further progress of the trial to and including the return of the verdict, and the imposition of sentence, will not be prevented and the defendant will be considered to have waived the right to be present whenever a defendant, initially present ...,
(1) is voluntarily absent after the trial has commenced ...

Fed.R.Crim.P. 43(a)-(b). The Court noted that under the common law, felony defendants had an unwaivable right to be present at trial. In 1912, the Supreme Court recognized a limited exception to this general rule for situations where a defendant voluntarily absents himself during the course of a trial. Diaz v. United States, 223 U.S. 442, 32 S.Ct. 250, 56 L.Ed. 500 (1912). This exception, specific to the facts of the case, only applied in cases where the trial had “begun in [the defendant’s] presence.” Id. at 455, 32 S.Ct. at 254. The Court in Crosby held that the “language, history, and logic of Rule 43 support a straightforward interpretation that prohibits the trial in absentia of a defendant who is not present at the beginning of trial.” 506 U.S. at 262, 113 S.Ct. at 753. Having decided the ease by interpretation of the Federal Rule, the Court specifically did not reach the issue of the constitutionality of trial in absentia. Id.

b. Scope of Collateral Review

If Martinez were being tried today, Crosby clearly establishes that he could not be tried if he was absent at the beginning of the trial. However, in this § 2255 motion, Martinez asks the Court to retroactively apply

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923 F. Supp. 861, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5419, 40 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1509, 1996 WL 203313, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-martinez-vaed-1996.