United States v. Schipani

44 F.R.D. 461, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12649
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMay 10, 1968
DocketNo. 63 CR 237
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 44 F.R.D. 461 (United States v. Schipani) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Schipani, 44 F.R.D. 461, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12649 (E.D.N.Y. 1968).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WEINSTEIN, District Judge.

The defendant, Joseph F. Schipani, was found guilty in this Court of five counts of income tax evasion on October 15, 1965. He was tried by the Court without a jury since both the government and defendant consented to a waiver of a jury trial. The conviction was affirmed by the Second Circuit (362 F.2d 825) and the Supreme Court denied certiorari on November 7, 1966 (385 U.S. 934, 87 S.Ct. 293, 17 L.Ed.2d 214).

On November 30, 1966, the Solicitor General filed a supplemental memorandum with the Supreme Court which suggested that “the Court vacate its order denying certiorari, grant certiorari, vacate the judgment of the court of appeals, and remand the cause to the district court for a new trial, should the government seek to prosecute petitioner anew.” The basis for this suggestion was the discovery by attorneys in the Department of Justice that the defendant had been a participant in a number of conversations which had been electronically monitored as a result of a trespass. This electronic surveillance took place during the period when much of the evidence used at the trial was discovered. Thus, the Solicitor General was unable, on the basis of the information then available to him, to “say * * * that none of the evidence used by the gov[462]*462ernment at petitioner’s trial was obtained, either directly or indirectly, froir an improper source.”

The Supreme Court, acting on this suggestion, vacated the judgment and remanded “the cause to the district court for a new trial, should the Government seek to prosecute petitioner anew.” 385 U.S. 372, 87 S.Ct. 533, 17 L.Ed.2d 428.

Following a detailed analysis of the hundreds of exhibits and the testimony of the many witnesses relied upon at the trial, the Government concluded that none of the evidence it utilized was tainted. It has decided to continue the prosecution.

Defendant moved to suppress and a full evidentiary hearing was held before this Court. The Government freely revealed all data available to it. It presented all the relevant surveillance logs; the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division of the Treasury-Department, the Intelligence Division of the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Justice; and the testimony of the many agents and attorneys involved in the 1961-1963 investigations of the defendant and the 1966 review of their work by the Department of Justice.

At the outset of the hearing the government made known its view that the second trial, if it should be had, should be before a jury. The defendant strongly indicated his desire to be tried a second time without a jury. The issue of the form of the trial has been briefed and argued. The parties have agreed that “whatever motions are required under 23(e) to raise the issue of the right to a jury trial have been made.”

The Court reserves decision on the suppression motion. The government’s motion to withdraw its consent to a non-jury trial is denied.

Subdivision (a) of rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure requires the consent of the defendant, the government and the Court to a waiver of a jury trial. See Singer v. United States, 380 U.S. 24, 85 S.Ct. 783, 13 L.Ed.2d 630 (1965). The rule provides:

“Cases required to be tried by jury shall be so tried unless the defendant waives a jury trial in writing with the approval of the court and the consent of the government.”

Prior to the first trial such a jury waiver was signed by defendant and his attorney; the United States Attorney “Consented” and a District Judge of this Court “Approved.” The body of the document they executed reads as follows :

“Waiver Of Trial By Jury
Criminal No. 63-CR-237
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED, CONSENTED TO AND AGREED by and between the defendant JOSEPH F. SCHIPANI and the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA that the above-entitled case in which the defendant JOSEPH F. SCHIPANI is charged with violations of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7201, be tried by the Court without a jury; and the defendant herein, being advised of his right to a trial by jury in this case, hereby waives his right in open court to a trial by jury.”

The waiver covers “the above-entitled case”—“Criminal No. 63-CR-237” —rather than a particular trial. The government is seeking to prosecute this case on the same, rather than upon a superceding, indictment and the waiver, by its terms, is not limited to a single trial. It is not unreasonable to construe it as applying to any trial of this indictment.

This court has not been able to find any direct authority on whether a waiver of a jury at the first trial is binding at a subsequent trial in the same criminal case. The civil cases cited by the government are not decisive; they appear to rest on the proposition that where the first trial was on an agreed statement of facts, the parties should not be precluded from introducing new evidence on the second trial. See, e. g., Northern Pacific [463]*463Ry. Co. v. Van Dusen Harrington Co., 34 F.2d 786 (D.Minn.1929) (first trial on agreed statement); F. M. Davies & Co. v. Porter, 248 F. 397 (8th Cir. 1918) (no discussion, merely cites Burnham); Burnham v. North Chicago St. Ry. Co., 88 F. 627 (7th Cir. 1898) (first trial on agreed statement). The form of the stipulation in these civil cases was apparently substantially different from the one before us.

The defendant contends that the stipulation agreed to prior to the first trial is still in effect, while it is the government’s position that the stipulation is limited to the trial in which the waiver was made and thus its consent must be given anew. If the case is in the posture defendant suggests—and, as already noted, the form of the waiver supports him— then this Court has discretion to allow the waiver to be withdrawn. See, e. g., McCranie v. United States, 333 F.2d 307 (5th Cir. 1964); Orfield, Trial By Jury In Federal Criminal Procedure, 1962 Duke L.J. 29, 77 (1962). If the government is correct then its consent to a waiver normally would be required. Singer v. United States, 380 U.S. 24, 85 S.Ct. 783, 13 L.Ed.2d 630 (1965).

As the Supreme Court recently indicated in the Singer case, however, there may be “some circumstances” in which the government’s insistence on a jury trial would be unreasonable:

“We need not determine in this case whether there might be some circumstances where a defendant’s reasons for wanting to be tried by a judge alone are so compelling that the Government’s insistence on trial by jury would result in the denial to a defendant of an impartial trial. Petitioner argues that there might arise situations where ‘passion, prejudice * * * public feeling’ or some other factor may render impossible or unlikely an impartial trial by jury.

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Bluebook (online)
44 F.R.D. 461, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12649, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-schipani-nyed-1968.