U.S. v. Billups
| Decision Date | 15 October 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 81-5213,81-5213 |
| Citation | 692 F.2d 320 |
| Parties | 111 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2962, 112 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3352, 95 Lab.Cas. P 13,831, 97 Lab.Cas. P 10,012, 11 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1198 UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Myles E. BILLUPS, Sr., Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Stanley E. Sacks, Andrew M. Sacks, Norfolk, Va. (James C. Lewis, Sacks, Sacks & Larkin, Norfolk, Va., on brief), for appellant.
Justin W. Williams & Theodore S. Greenberg, Asst. U.S. Attys. (Elsie L. Munsell, U.S. Atty. and Phillip Krajewski, Asst. U.S. Atty., Alexandria, Va., on brief), for appellee.
Before BUTZNER and SPROUSE, Circuit Judges, and KISER, * District Judge.
Myles Billups Sr. appeals his multiple convictions, entered after a jury trial, for violating the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951, the Travel Act, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1952(a)(3), and for two violations of the criminal provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 186(b)(1). 1 He challenges the venue of the district court on one Taft-Hartley count, certain evidentiary rulings of the trial judge, comments made by the judge in the jury's presence, the district court's refusal to grant a new trial based on juror prejudice, and the government's withholding of allegedly exculpatory material. He also appeals the trial court's denial of a judgment of acquittal on the Hobbs Act count, alleging that the government failed to prove that statute's requisite "fear" element. We affirm.
Billups was an International Vice-President of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) at Norfolk, Virginia, obtaining that post after many years of work and union activity on the waterfront. In essence, the government's case charged that Billups abused his office through a series of illegal transactions involving extortion and the receipt of payoffs from maritime employers operating in the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area. More specifically, the Hobbs Act and Travel Act charges against Billups were based on incidents relating to his extortion of funds from a waterfront employer in order to "settle" a claim relating to the unloading of a freighter by nonunion labor--the Lash Pacifico transaction. The Taft-Hartley counts were based on Billups' activity in furnishing ILA longshoremen to a stevedoring company in the Hampton Roads area--the Quin Marine dealings.
In August 1975, the ship S.S. Lash Pacifico, a freighter owned by Prudential Lines, encountered difficulty unloading at the Norfolk port and had to be unloaded at the Portsmouth, Virginia, naval yard by Navy personnel. In due course, the ILA claimed a contractual violation by Prudential for this work performed by non-ILA members. John Marano, a former executive vice-president of Prudential, testified that he contacted Prudential's stevedoring contractor, Nacirema, and was told that the union's claim for wages could be limited to $29,000, but that Myles Billups would have to be contacted to arrange this. Marano notified his superior at Prudential of this, indicating that the ILA claim could possibly run upwards of $130,000. In September 1975, Marano telephoned Billups and, according to Marano, Billups stated that the claim could be reduced upon the payment to him of $10,000. Marano met with Prudential's board chairman, Spiros Skouras, who told Marano to "handle" the matter, but that Prudential would not be a party to illegal activity. Nevertheless, Marano again contacted Billups, who indicated a desire to deal directly with Prudential in this matter and in cash.
Shortly thereafter, Billups notified Marano that he would be in New York and would stop to see him. Marano and a confederate, Mark Cappell, contacted Howard, a Nacirema official, asking that Nacirema inflate its future bills to Prudential, thus generating the money allegedly needed to bribe Billups. After initially rebuffing the plan, Nacirema's president agreed and gave Cappell a check for $10,000. Upon encountering difficulty in cashing the check at a New York bank, Cappell gave it to Marano, who then attempted to give it to the appellant. Billups refused the check, insisting on cash, and castigated Marano for "dragging his feet" in raising the $10,000.
Marano testified that Billups continually reminded him of this $10,000 "debt," and in an effort to raise the funds, Marano padded his expenses from a business trip to Morocco. In December, 1975, Marano met with Billups at Prudential headquarters in New York and delivered $4,000 in cash to him.
Marano left employment at Prudential shortly thereafter, and became an undercover agent after FBI agents confronted him with evidence of other waterfront crimes in which he was involved. At the FBI's behest, Marano arranged to meet with Billups in Norfolk, and deliver $1,000, purportedly to "make good" on the Lash Pacifico deal. Marano was equipped with an electronic recording device, and tapes of the Billups/Marano meeting were used as evidence at Billups' trial.
Billups at trial presented a different picture of these transactions. He denied receiving or requesting any money from Prudential or Marano, and contended that Marano had approached him and offered to donate $10,000 to an ILA charity as a token of appreciation for the handling of the Lash Pacifico incident. According to Billups, none of this was necessary, as the Contract Adjustment Board in Norfolk had set the ILA's Lash Pacifico claims at $29,000. Billups testified that he told Marano that if he cared to make such a donation, a $5,000 gift to the Eastern Virginia Medical School would be adequate, and that he refused a $10,000 check from Marano because it was not made out to the medical school. At trial, Billups denied that statements recorded during the conversation with Marano were his, and denied any involvement in the solicitation or receipt of money for influencing ILA actions regarding the Lash Pacifico incident. The jury, however, found Billups guilty of one Hobbs Act violation and one violation of the Travel Act.
Quin Marine is a New York-based concern which provides support services to shipping companies, and in 1976, it expanded its operations to the Norfolk, Virginia, waterfront. In order to operate, Quin Marine found it necessary to secure a "work gang," a regularly assigned crew of ILA members. According to its general manager, William "Sonny" Montella, Quin Marine was initially rebuffed in these efforts by the local ILA. Montella testified that he contacted Billups for assistance, and that after Billups spoke on its behalf, Quin Marine obtained the needed work gangs. Montella further testified that shortly thereafter, he met Billups at the Omni Hotel in Norfolk and offered him $500 as "gratuity" for his help. Montella stated that although initially reluctant Billups took the money.
In the fall of 1977, Quin Marine was faced with a potential wildcat strike by ILA container repairmen. Montella stated that he met with Billups, who then "corrected" the problem. Montella testified that he thereafter gave Billups $1,000 in cash as a token of appreciation, and that he gave Billups a second $1,000 "gratuity" in January 1978, in accord with the waterfront "tradition" of Christmas gratuities from employers to ILA leaders.
Montella's involvement in illegal payments to labor and management officials on the waterfront was discovered by the FBI, and in May 1978 he became an undercover agent. He met with Billups at the Wienerwald restaurant in New York City in August 1978 and passed him an envelope containing $2,000. During the meeting, Montella was equipped with an electronic tape recorder and was observed by an FBI agent. Montella met with Billups under similar circumstances at the Omni Hotel in Norfolk in October 1978 and gave him an envelope containing $1,000. At trial, Billups denied taking money and denied that it was his voice on the tapes of the purported Montella meetings introduced at trial. Billups' two Taft-Hartley convictions were based on these August and October transactions.
Billups contends on appeal that the nondisclosure of certain information by a juror during voir dire denied him a fair trial, and that his conviction therefore violated the fifth and sixth amendments.
Due to the large amount of publicity surrounding Billups' trial, the district judge required each prospective juror to complete a written questionnaire, and submit to oral examination (in groups of four or five) in chambers. One written question asked "[a]re you or any immediate member of your family a member of a labor union, and, if so, designate the name of the union and its local number, if any." Another question asked "[h]ave you or any immediate member of your family ever been employed or done business with anyone in the waterfront industry?" The juror in question, Jadis Battle, gave a "no" response to the first question and a "yes" answer to the second.
Other prospective jurors in Battle's group asked the trial judge in chambers whether the question meant "currently" a member of a union, or "ever had been" a union member--commenting that retired members of their families had been in a union. The judge noted their responses and "amended their answers accordingly." Battle said nothing during or after this colloquy, neither the prosecutors or Billups' attorneys questioned her, and she was selected to serve on the jury. After the trial, Billups discovered that Battle's son William was in fact a member of the ILA, albeit unemployed as a longshoreman, at the time of the voir dire. A post-trial evidentiary hearing was held by the district judge, during which Battle was interrogated both by the judge and counsel. She testified that at the time of voir dire, she thought her son was a former member of the ILA, but later discovered he was in fact an inactive member, not in good standing for failure to pay his dues. The defense moved for a new trial...
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