United States v. Shafer

384 F. Supp. 480
District Court, N.D. Ohio·Decided March 29, 1974·No. CR 74-165·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

BATTISTI, Chief Judge.

Defendants, Lawrence A. Shafer, William E. Perkins, and Mathew J. Mc-Manus, have moved for an order dismissing those portions of the indictment in this case which concern them, claiming that their Fifth Amendment rights to due process of law have been violated by the pre-indictment delay of the government. Defendants James D. McGee, James E. Pierce, Ralph W. Zoller, and Barry W. Morris have made similar motions, relying on Sixth Amendment rights, and the provisions of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(b), as well.

The Sixth Amendment and Rule 48(b) arguments of the second group of defendants will be dealt with first. In United States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307, 92 S.Ct. 455, 30 L.Ed.2d 468 (1971), it was held that, “The Sixth Amendment speedy trial provision has no application until the putative defendant in some way becomes an ‘accused’.” (404 U.S. at 313, 92 S.Ct. at 459), and, “Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(b) clearly is limited to post-arrest situations” (404 U.S. at 319, 92 S.Ct. at 462). Since, in the present ease, as in Marion, none of the defendants were, “arrested, charged, or otherwise subjected to formal restraint prior to indictment” (404 U.S. at 325, 92 S.Ct. at 466), none can claim the protection of the speedy trial provisions of the Sixth Amendment, prior to the indictment. In such situations, the Supreme Court has stated that the indictment, itself, “transforms the appellees into ‘accused defendants’ who are subject to the speedy trial protections of the Sixth Amendment” (404 U.S. at 325, 92 S.Ct. at 466).

These same defendants press an argument that they had “become accused” prior to formal indictment, by reason of the publicity surrounding the Kent State incident. This argument fails for two reasons. First, it stands in direct contradiction to the substance of defendants’ Fifth Amendment argument, that statements by Justice Department officials gave defendants no reason to believe they would ever be subjected to criminal prosecution for their actions at Kent State. Second, and more importantly, both the Supreme Court, in Marion, supra, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, have rejected the claim that “accused” status results from a defendant’s mere “anxiety at the knowledge he was a target of a criminal investigation.” United States v. Handel, 464 F.2d 679 (2nd Cir. 1972).

Therefore, defendants’ Sixth Amendment claims must be rejected.

Although the Supreme Court in Marion, supra, rejected the Sixth Amendment as a basis for attacking indict *482 ments due to pre-indictment delay, it was said that, “the Due Process Clause . . . would require dismissal of the indictment if it were shown at trial that the pre-indictment delay in this case caused substantial prejudice to appellees’ rights to a fair trial and that the delay was an intentional device to gain tactical advantage over the accused” (404 U.S. at 324, 92 S.Ct. at 465, emphasis supplied).

While the Supreme Court has not, as yet, made it clear whether a defendant must prove that pre-indictment delay was “intentional”, as well as “actually prejudicial,” United States v. McClure, 473 F.2d 81, 82 (D.C.Cir. 1972), such an inquiry becomes necessary only if “actual prejudice” is found. United States v. McClure, supra. While the political delays alleged by defendants might constitute the equivalent of “intentional delay” necessary to meet that portion of the Marion test, this factor is made irrelevant by the failure of defendants to demonstrate the required actual and substantial prejudice.

In Marion and, thereafter, in numerous Courts of Appeals, it was made painfully clear that merely potential prejudice as opposed to actual and substantial demonstrated prejudice is insufficient to invoke Fifth Amendment due process protections. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals, in United States v. DeMasi, 445 F.2d 251 (2nd Cir. 1971), held that, “however, the courts will not presume the existence of pi’ejudiee from the mere fact of delay alone” (at 255). In DeMasi it was suggested that relevant factors to be considered in evaluating whether real, actual prejudice has occurred to the defendants’ ability to receive a fair trial include whether: (1) his freedom of movement was curtailed; (2) the defendant was subjected to derogatory publicity: (3) key witnesses have died or become unavailable; (4) loss of memory or destruction of actual evidence can be proven.

In United States v. Parish, 152 U.S. App.D.C. 72, 468 F.2d 1129, 1133 (1972), the Court held that, under Marion, a defendant must show, first, that lost evidence or testimony would have been helpful to his defense; second, that such evidence would have been significant; and, third, that there exists a “nexus between the delay and the unavailability” of the evidence (468 F.2d at 1136). Mere claims of “faded memory” have frequently been held not to constitute “actual and substantial prejudice” as is required by the Marion test. United States v. Emory, 468 F.2d 1017 1020 (8th Cir. 1972); United States v. Ferrara, 458 F.2d 868, 875 (2nd Cir. 1972); United States v. Giacalone, 477 F.2d 1273 (6th Cir. 1973).

Rather, the type of substantial prejudice required is that found by the Court in United States v. Wilson, 492 F.2d 1345 (3rd Cir. 1973), where the “only witness who could explain the circumstances . . . became terminally ill during the period of unreasonable delay” (492 F.2d at 1348). In contrast to that situation it was held in United States v. Galardi, 476 F.2d 1072 (9th Cir. 1973), that, “the assertion that a missing witness might have been useful, does not show the ‘actual prejudice’ required by Marion” (476 F.2d at 1075).

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