United States v. Shakur

656 F. Supp. 241, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1170
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 19, 1987
DocketNo. 82 Cr. 312-CSH
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 656 F. Supp. 241 (United States v. Shakur) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.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. Shakur, 656 F. Supp. 241, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1170 (S.D.N.Y. 1987).

Opinion

HAIGHT, District Judge:

Defendant Mutulu Shakur moves to be released from pre-trial detention and admitted to bail. His detained status and present motion are governed by the Bail Reform Act of 1984, 18 U.S.C. § 3141 et seq. Shakur having been detained by order of a United States Magistrate, his motion to this Court lies under § 3145(b). I consider the matter de novo. United States v. Williams, 753 F.2d 329, 333 (4th Cir.1985); United States v. Thibodeaux, 663 F.2d 520, 522 (5th Cir.1981).

I.

Shakur is awaiting trial on an indictment returned by a grand jury of this district. Following his arrest in Los Angeles, under circumstances related infra, Shakur appeared before a magistrate for the Central District of California on February 12, 1986. The magistrate ordered Shakur detained without bail, finding that he posed both a danger to the community and a serious risk of flight. The magistrate thus invoked both prongs of § 3142(e). Shakur was then transferred to this district, where he was arraigned on March 7, 1986. He has been confined in the Metropolitan Correctional Center since then.

In this Circuit, pretrial detention on the ground of danger to the community has been held unconstitutional. United States v. Salerno, 794 F.2d 64 (2d Cir.1986), cert. granted, — U.S.-, 107 S.Ct. 397, 93 L.Ed.2d 351 (1986); United States v. Melendez-Carrion, 790 F.2d 984 (2d Cir.1986). The detention hearing before this Court in the case at bar has focused to date upon statutory detention based on risk of flight. An otherwise divided Second Circuit panel in Melendez-Carrion “unanimously ruled that section 3142(e) was constitutional in permitting pretrial detention for those found to present a risk of flight.” United States v. Gonzalez Claudio, 806 F.2d 334, 336 (2d Cir.1986). Statutory detention based on risk of flight may become so extended as to exceed constitutional limits, Gonzalez Claudio at 339-340 and cases cited, and Shakur contends in the alternative that those limits have now been exceeded as to him. But I need not and should not reach that constitutional issue unless I conclude that the Government has carried its burden of proof on statutory detention. Cf. United States v. Badalamenti, 810 F.2d 17 (2d Cir., 1987) at slip op. 1287 (statutory issue of violation of § 3142(c) “must be decided first” before resolving constitutional issue based on length of detention).1

II.

In order to justify pretrial detention because of risk of flight, the trial judge must find that “no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required,” 18 U.S.C. § 3142(e). The Government bears the burden of proving that proposition by a preponderance of the evidence. United States v. Chimurenga, 760 F.2d 400, 405 (2d Cir.1985). In the case at bar the Government concedes that it is not aided by any of the presumptions appearing in § 3142(e)(lH3).

18 U.S.C. § 3142(g) provides in pertinent part:

“Factors to be considered. — The judicial officer shall, in determining whether there are conditions of release that will reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required ... take into account the available information concerning—
“(1) the nature and circumstances of the offense charged, including whether the [243]*243offense is a crime of violence or involves a narcotic drug;
“(2) the weight of the evidence against the person;
“(3) the history and characteristics of the person, including—
“(A) his character, physical and mental condition, family ties, employment, financial resources, length of residence in the community, community ties, past conduct, history relating to drug or alcohol abuse, criminal history, and record concerning appearance at court proceedings; and
“(B) whether, at the time of the current offense or arrest, he was on probation, on parole, or on other release pending trial, sentencing, appeal, or completion of sentence for an offense under Federal, State, or local law, ...”

If a defendant offers property as security under § 3142(c)(2)(K) or (L), § 3142(g) also provides:

“In considering the conditions of release described in subsection (c)(2)(K) or (c)(2)(L), the judicial officer may upon his own motion, or shall upon the motion of the Government, conduct an inquiry into the source of the property to be designated for potential forfeiture or offered as collateral to secure a bond, and shall decline to accept the designation, or the use as collateral, of property that, because of its source, will not reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required.”

I do not regard the factors listed by Congress in § 3142(g) as exhaustive. The trial judge may consider any factors called to his attention which bear on the issue of whether a defendant will keep his word if released on bail, or break his word and flee.

But the analysis should start with the factors specified in the statute.

1. Nature and Circumstances of the Crime Charged.

The nature and circumstances of the crimes charged in the indictment are very serious. Defendant Shakur and others are charged with crimes of violence culminating in loss of life. The case has come to be known as the “Brinks” case, after the unsuccessful attempt to rob an armored car operated by that company in Nanuet, New York in October 1981, during which a guard and two police officers were murdered. But the indictment also charges Shakur and others with participation in an earlier 1981 armored car robbery in the Bronx, during which a guard was murdered; and with violations of the RICO Statute, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961, 1962(a), involving several other predicate acts constituting crimes of violence.

More particulars of the indictment appear in United States v. Ferguson, 758 F.2d 843 (2d Cir.1985), which rejected the appeals of certain other individuals named in the indictment who were convicted in the first trial before Judge Duffy. Shakur did not participate in the trial because he was a fugitive.

If convicted, Shakur faces a very long period of incarceration.

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Related

United States v. Enix
212 F. Supp. 3d 408 (W.D. New York, 2016)
United States v. Mutulu Shakur
817 F.2d 189 (Second Circuit, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
656 F. Supp. 241, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1170, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-shakur-nysd-1987.