United States v. Orozco
Opinion of the Court
Defendant-Appellee Gregory Orozco was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine,
*921Background
On February 23, 2013, Deputy United States Marshals (DUSMs) converged on a pickup truck that matched the description of a fugitive's vehicle after observing one of its occupants engage in what appeared to be a drug transaction. 3 Aplt. App. 364-65, 448-50. The deputies ordered the three passengers - Tommy Cordell-Eastland, Amy Stimec-Smart, and Mr. Orozco - out of the vehicle. 2 Aplt. App. 273-74; 3 Aplt. App. 375, 379-80, 451-53. The deputies then searched the truck and found an unloaded firearm and a clear plastic case containing pills, marijuana, and four empty bags ordinarily used for storing user-quantities of narcotics. 3 Aplt. App. 387-89, 536-37. They also found a loaded magazine that fit the recovered firearm,
Mr. Orozco was arrested and charged with two drug counts and two firearms counts. 1 Aplt. App. 26-28. At trial, Mr. Cordell-Eastland and his wife Brittany Eastland testified that they had purchased both user-quantities and occasional larger quantities of methamphetamine from Mr. Orozco. 2 Aplt. App. 133, 137, 144, 176-78; 5 Aplt. App. 557-59, 563. Mr. Cordell-Eastland also testified that the currency seized from the truck was the proceeds of his repayment of a $1,000 drug debt to Mr. Orozco. 2 Aplt. App. 155-56, 162, 165. Felix Leal and Jose Alejandro Ruiz testified that they gave or sold methamphetamine to Mr. Orozco for resale on numerous occasions. 4 Aplt. App. 631-32, 636; 5 Aplt. App. 907-08, 914-16. Mr. Ruiz also testified that he sold Mr. Orozco a chameleon-colored Chevrolet Camaro unrelated to narcotics transactions. 4 Aplt. App. 648-50. The government also called Deputy Chris Johnson, who testified that Mr. Orozco told him that the methamphetamine found in the car was his. 4 Aplt. App. 742.
Mr. Orozco intended to call two witnesses. However, one witness exercised his Fifth Amendment right not to testify. 5 Aplt. App. 950. The other witness, Mr. Ruiz-Salazar, was the brother of Jose Alejandro Ruiz, and was to testify that he, not his brother, was friends with and sold the Camaro to Mr. Orozco.
[O]ne reason I wanted to bring it up is to make sure that there had been full conversation with him about the consequences of this, that he would be subject to cross examination. And if - if it's obviously determined that he's not being truthful, that there could be consequences, you know, beyond that, not only in this case but in the case there. Because if he were to perjure himself here, that could have consequences in his pending case there.
After recess, Mr. Ruiz-Salazar no longer wanted to testify.
In response, Ms. Morehead explained:
I would take exception that I ever represented anything like that to his counsel. And I don't think she would say that either. So we discussed the fact that he had pending charges, we discussed the fact that if he was found to be lying under oath that there could be perjury consequences. And that was the extent of any consequence that I'm aware of that he could face ....
The following morning, before he testified, Mr. Orozco told the court that when he and Mr. Ruiz-Salazar rode a van back to jail the previous day, Mr. Ruiz-Salazar recounted his conversation with Ms. Spradlin following her conversation with Ms. Morehead. 6 Aplt. App. 1075-76, 1078. According to Mr. Orozco, Ms. Morehead told Ms. Spradlin to tell Mr. Ruiz-Salazar that "if you get in my way, I'm going to get in your way," and therefore that Ms. Spradlin felt that Mr. Ruiz-Salazar should "step away from this case." 7 Aplt. App. 1140. The district court proceeded with the trial, but it agreed to hold a separate hearing to investigate Mr. Orozco's allegations.
Mr. Orozco subsequently filed a motion for a new trial, alleging that the government interfered with his right to a fair trial. See 6 Aplt. App. 1071. The district court held two hearings in which it heard testimony from Mr. Orozco, Mr. Ruiz-Salazar, and Ms. Spradlin. See 6 Aplt. App. 1071, 1106. The government presented no evidence, let alone from Ms. Morehead. Mr. Orozco reiterated that "the prosecutor told [Mr. Ruiz-Salazar] if - if they get in her way, she will get in their way. So Ms. Spradlin told him just get away from this case, so he felt threatened and decided not to testify on my behalf."
*923Ms. Spradlin also testified under oath at the first hearing, and Mr. Campbell engaged in the following exchange with her on direct examination:
Q. Ms. Spradlin, how - what was the tone of your conversation with Ms. Morehead?
A. I - I don't really know how to put it, the tone.
Q. Was it confrontational?
A. I think it was assertive, I don't think I would say confrontational.
Q. Was it made clear to you that Ms. Morehead was going to seek ramifications against your client if he testified in the matter?
A. I don't think it was made clear. It was - it was just discussed that that was a strong possible outcome that could happen.
* * *
Q. How long did that conversation take?
A. Five minutes or less.
6 Aplt. App. 1091-92. Ms. Spradlin also testified that she was not sure when Mr. Ruiz-Salazar decided not to testify.
On direct examination of Mr. Ruiz-Salazar, Mr. Campbell asked him if he "told Mr. Orozco that if you got in the prosecutor's way that the prosecutor would get in your - in your case," and whether he "[felt] threatened that if he were to testify in Mr. Orozco's case that it would impact his case," to which he responded "Yes."
After the hearings, the district court granted Mr. Orozco's motion, finding that Ms. Morehead's statements to Ms. Spradlin "went far beyond a simple perjury warning." Orozco,
The district court also concluded not only that the "tone, content and import of [Ms.] Morehead's comments" established bad faith, but that other conduct also supported such a finding.
*924
After reaching that finding, the district court turned to the remedy. It first determined that a new trial would not adequately remedy the violation because Mr. Ruiz-Salazar was still awaiting sentencing, and he would still have feared adverse consequences in his WDMO case.
Discussion
The government raises two issues on appeal. First, it argues that the district court clearly erred in finding that Mr. Orozco's Sixth Amendment right to a defense was violated by Ms. Morehead's conduct and Mr. Ruiz-Salazar's subsequent refusal to testify. Aplt. Br. at 27-47. Second, it argues that the district court abused its discretion by dismissing the indictment with prejudice rather than ordering a new trial. Id. at 48-56. We hold that the district court did not clearly err in finding that Mr. Orozco's Sixth Amendment right was violated, but we hold that the district court abused its discretion in dismissing the indictment with prejudice, thereby precluding a retrial.
Under Fed. R. Crim. P. 33(a), the district court may vacate a judgment and grant a new trial "if the interest of justice so requires." We review such decisions for abuse of discretion. United States v. Durham,
We hold, however, that the district court abused its discretion in dismissing the superseding indictment with prejudice rather than ordering a new trial. As with decisions to grant a new trial, we review a district court's dismissal of an indictment for abuse of discretion. United States v. Duong,
Despite the district court's recognition that dismissing an indictment is an extreme remedy, Orozco,
We observe that less drastic remedies were available to address the district court's concerns. The district court feared that Mr. Ruiz-Salazar felt that his testifying might subject him to adverse consequences in his WDMO case. Orozco,
The district court also noted that even if Mr. Ruiz-Salazar was willing to testify at retrial, he was subsequently convicted in the WDMO case, and he would therefore be subject to impeachment under Fed. R. Evid. 609(a)(1)(A).
*926The district court also found that Ms. Morehead acted in bad faith, Orozco,
The dissent contends that the district court should be allowed to consider the remedy of dismissal with prejudice based upon flagrant misconduct. We are convinced, however, that dismissing the indictment with prejudice would be an abuse of discretion. The prejudice resulting from Mr. Ruiz-Salazar's decision not to testify must be placed in context. At best, Mr. Ruiz-Salazar's testimony would impeach Mr. Ruiz on a collateral matter - namely, that Mr. Ruiz-Salazar, not Mr. Ruiz, sold Mr. Orozco the chameleon-colored Camaro. Mr. Ruiz-Salazar was not going to contradict any of Mr. Ruiz's testimony that Mr. Ruiz had sold or given Mr. Orozco methamphetamine for resale on multiple occasions. Mr. Ruiz-Salazar's testimony would have been entirely excludable. See United States v. Walker,
AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part, and REMANDED.
The government objected to Mr. Orozco's testimony as hearsay. In response, the district court explained that it would not "consider whatever Mr. Orozco testified to that Mr. Ruiz[-Salazar] said as being the truth in terms of what Mr. Ruiz[-Salazar] says, [it is] not going to consider that to be the truth but just to explain subsequent events that occurred." 6 Aplt. App. 1077-78.
The evidence consisted of over 200 pictures that Ms. Stimec-Smart testified were hers, 4 Aplt. App. 701-06, that were stored on a SIM card recovered from the pink nylon case. 2 Aplt. App. 110-12. The government argued that its late disclosure was inadvertent, as it learned only shortly before trial that the evidence had been stored as personal property rather than as evidence, and that the government had not believed it was material or exculpatory. 2 Aplt. App. 111-13. The district court continued the trial to give Mr. Orozco time to make use of the newly available evidence. Id. at 120.
Rule 609 provides that such a conviction "must be admitted subject to rule 403." Fed. R. Evid. 609(a)(1)(A) (emphasis added). Rule 403 in turn allows for exclusion of evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of, inter alia, unfair prejudice. Fed. R. Evid. 403. The district court thus could have excluded Ruiz-Salazar's subsequent conviction under the Rules based on any unfair prejudice to Mr. Orozco resulting from the change in circumstances.
Concurring in Part
My esteemed colleagues and I are constant in our view that the district court neither erred in finding a violation of Orozco's Sixth Amendment right to present a defense, nor abused its discretion in vacating his conviction and granting his motion for a new trial. Further, we agree that the district court failed to conduct the proper balancing analysis required by United States v. Morrison,
Given such agreement, why do I dissent? Separating us is what I consider to be the majority's impermissible decision to limit the remedies available to the district court to correct the Sixth Amendment violation on remand. Guiding authorities, clearly established by the Supreme Court and our circuit, provide that dismissing the indictment with prejudice is an allowable remedy for appropriate cases of flagrant prosecutorial misconduct. My colleagues leave the district court free to pursue remedies it finds appropriate to correct the Sixth Amendment violation except for dismissing the indictment with prejudice. In doing so, the majority goes farther than allowed by precedent. I dissent from this limitation on the remedies the district court may consider on remand, and would allow the district court the discretion to impose any remedy it finds necessary after conducting the Morrison balancing analysis and our circuit's seriousness analysis under United States v. Apodaca,
I
Morrison does not proscribe the discretion of trial courts, it merely prescribes that "[c]ases involving Sixth Amendment deprivations are subject to the general rule that remedies should be tailored to the injury suffered from the constitutional violation and should not unnecessarily infringe on competing interests," including "society's interest in the administration of justice."
I agree with the majority that the district court did not adequately consider more narrowly tailored remedies and did not balance the need to remedy the constitutional violation with competing social interests as required by Morrison.
II
Unlike the majority, I would not preclude the district court from dismissing the indictment with prejudice. We generally review a district court's dismissal of an indictment for abuse of discretion. United States v. Duong,
We ordinarily decline to decide a matter in the first instance if that matter is committed to the sound discretion of the trial court. See Surefoot LC v. Sure Foot Corp.,
*928Fox v. Maulding,
Our circuit recognizes that "flagrant misconduct" may warrant dismissal of an indictment with prejudice if necessary "to insure proper standards of conduct by the prosecution." Pino,
I would allow the district court on remand to determine if the prosecutor's conduct in this case amounts to such flagrant misconduct. The majority does not purport to disturb the district court's findings of prejudice to defendant, or bad faith on the part of the prosecutor. Intimidating a witness to dissuade him from testifying through improper means can result in criminal sanctions. See
As the Supreme Court has explained, a federal prosecutor
is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done. As such, he is in a peculiar and very definite sense the servant of the law, the twofold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer. He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor-indeed, he should do so. But, while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one.
Berger v. United States,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. Gregory OROZCO, Defendant - Appellee.
- Cited By
- 23 cases
- Status
- Published