United States v. O'Brien

734 F. Supp. 569, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4151, 1990 WL 42987
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedMarch 12, 1990
DocketCr. No. 86-0571 GG
StatusPublished

This text of 734 F. Supp. 569 (United States v. O'Brien) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. O'Brien, 734 F. Supp. 569, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4151, 1990 WL 42987 (prd 1990).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GIERBOLINI, District Judge.

On June 30, 1989 the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed the judgment of conviction under Count I (possession of marijuana with intent to distribute aboard a vessel of the United States or one subject to its jurisdiction) and III (unlawful use of social security number) of the Indictment against defendants Lynn O’Brien (O’Brien), Ralph Rios (Rios), Randy Parmeter (Parmeter), and Mercer Hopper a/k/a Dominic Santini (Santini). Judgment under Count II (possession of marijuana with intent to distribute aboard a vessel by citizens of the United States) was vacated and remanded to this court for further proceedings. A status conference was held on November 3, 1989 to discuss the Court of Appeals’ decision, and to determine if a new trial as to Count II should take place. The parties were ordered to file briefs regarding this matter; they have complied.

A jury found defendants guilty back on May 5, 1987. Without taking into account time spent in prison before the trial was held, they have been incarcerated for almost three (3) years. Defendants O’Brien and Rios were sentenced to eight (8) years in Count I and eight (8) years in Count II to be served concurrently with each other. Defendant Parmeter was sentenced to concurrent terms of twelve (12) years as to Counts I and II, and a $20,000 fine. Defendant Santini was sentenced to thirty (30) years in Count I, thirty (30) years in Count II, and one (1) year in Count III to be served concurrently, plus a $100,000 fine as to each of Counts I and II. Defendants, with the exception of Santini, have been placed on bail after posting $50,000 unsecured bond pending resolution of the retrial issue. These defendants have either already served — or are about to serve — over a third of the sentence imposed on them by this court, the minimum required to be eligible for parole.

Defendants argued before the Court of Appeals that the government introduced no lawfully obtained evidence regarding their citizenship. During the trial, the government chose not to present evidence other than the testimony of Coast Guard Officer José Cruz to establish defendants’ citizenship. Officer Cruz testified that he asked each defendant his or her name and citizenship after they had been rescued from their burning vessel, handcuffed, and brought aboard the U.S.S. KING where they were chained to the deck. Only after this questioning were defendants advised of their right not to testify in accordance with Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1612, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).

The First Circuit did not find any circumstance that justified asking defendants about their citizenship before offering the Miranda warning. United States v. John Doe a/k/a Lynn O’Brien, 878 F.2d 1546, 1552 (1st Cir.1989). Questions about citizenship, asked on the high seas, of a person present on a vessel with drugs aboard would reasonably elicit an incriminating response. Id. at 1551. Since the district court admitted unlawfully obtained evidence, a new trial is permissible regardless of the fact that the remaining evidence was not sufficient to support the verdict. Id. at 1552 (citing United States v. Porter, 807 F.2d 21 (1st Cir.1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1048, 107 S.Ct. 2178, 95 L.Ed.2d 835 (1987)).

Defendants claim in their motions to dismiss that the Appeals Court’s decision did not explicitly state if a retrial must be [571]*571held; that it left the determination of whether or not to celebrate a new trial to the district court. They argue that if the remaining evidence is not sufficient to convict defendants, a new trial should not be held because of double jeopardy considerations.

The double jeopardy clause provides that no person shall be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life and limb. U.S. Const. amend. V. The Supreme Court has recognized three separate guarantees embodied in this clause: 1) protection against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal, 2) against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction, and 3) against multiple punishments for the same offense. Justices of Boston Municipal Court v. Lydon, 466 U.S. 294, 306, 104 S.Ct. 1805, 1812, 80 L.Ed.2d 311 (1984). However, the clause does not protect against a second prosecution for the same offense after the defendant obtains a reversal on grounds of trial error. Palmer v. Grammer, 863 F.2d 588, 591 (8th Cir.1988). The First Circuit discussed this issue in Porter, supra. See also United States v. Block, 590 F.2d 535, 544 (4th Cir.1978); United States v. Sarmiento Pérez, 667 F.2d 1239, 1240 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 834, 103 S.Ct. 77, 74 L.Ed.2d 75 (1982); United States v. Key, 725 F.2d 1123, 1127 (7th Cir.1984); United States v. Harmon, 632 F.2d 812, 814 (9th Cir.1980); Linam v. Griffin, 685 F.2d 369, 373-74 (10th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1211, 103 S.Ct. 1207, 75 L.Ed.2d 447 (1983).

The facts and the legal issue in Porter, supra, are very similar, if not identical, with those in the present case. Porter was convicted on one count of conspiracy with intent to distribute marijuana and, on appeal, it was ruled that the district court had erred by admitting into evidence certain inculpatory statements made by appellant to DEA agents. The judgment of the district court was vacated and the case was remanded. After notification by the government of its intention to retry the ease, the defendant moved to dismiss the indictment on double jeopardy ground alleging that the evidence at the first trial was legally insufficient after the illegal evidence was deleted. The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit noted its disagreement with the appellant’s contention and in so doing ruled as follows:

As in the present case, the error in admitting the evidence often involves a close judgment call which a prosecutor could not have expected to predict. Once the matter is determined, it is only fair that the government, acting on society’s behalf, be permitted to review all the valid evidence it may have withheld as surplus the first time around, and continue the prosecution if that is deemed justified. (Emphasis added. Id. at 23.

The above controls and determines the outcome of the instant case. The determining factor in deciding if a new trial should be held is not whether or not the remaining evidence would have proven sufficient to support a verdict, but if the conviction was vacated for trial error or insufficiency of evidence. Id.

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Related

Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
United States v. Jorn
400 U.S. 470 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Burks v. United States
437 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Justices of Boston Municipal Court v. Lydon
466 U.S. 294 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Lockhart v. Nelson
488 U.S. 33 (Supreme Court, 1988)
United States v. William E. Block
590 F.2d 535 (Fourth Circuit, 1978)
United States v. Paul Joseph Harmon
632 F.2d 812 (Ninth Circuit, 1980)
United States v. Luis Oscar Sarmiento-Perez
667 F.2d 1239 (Fifth Circuit, 1982)
United States v. Walter Tranowski
702 F.2d 668 (Seventh Circuit, 1983)
United States v. Willie J. Key
725 F.2d 1123 (Seventh Circuit, 1984)
United States v. Paul C. Porter
807 F.2d 21 (First Circuit, 1986)
Alexandro v. United States
459 U.S. 835 (Supreme Court, 1982)
United States v. Mandel
591 F.2d 1347 (Fourth Circuit, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
734 F. Supp. 569, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4151, 1990 WL 42987, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-obrien-prd-1990.