In re Mossie

• Decision Date: 15 June 1984
• Docket Number: No. 84-W-73-5.,84-W-73-5.
• Parties: In re Linda L. MOSSIE.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Missouri

589 F. Supp. 1397

In re Linda L. MOSSIE.

No. 84-W-73-5.

United States District Court, W.D. Missouri, W.D.

June 15, 1984.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Lynda Sybrant, Asst. U.S. Atty., Kansas City, Mo., for petitioner.

Phillip Cardarella, William H. Ergovich, Kansas City, Mo., for respondent.

CITATION OF CONTEMPT

SCOTT O. WRIGHT, District Judge.

This case is before the Court on motion by the United States Attorney pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.Proc. 42(b) requesting the Court to enter an order directing Linda L. Mossie (Respondent) to show cause why she should not be held in criminal contempt of Court. The motion arose on account of the alleged misconduct of the Respondent as a jury panel member in intentionally failing to answer questions during this Court's voir dire examination prior to a criminal trial. For the following reasons, this Court finds the Respondent guilty of the contempt as charged.

In summary, the government alleges that the Respondent was a juror in the criminal case of United States v. Ozzie K. Cheek and Belle Underhill, a/k/a Belle U. Greathouse, No. 84-00025-CR-W-5, which ended in mistrial due to a hung jury on April 13, 1984. Prior to jury selection, the entire jury panel was placed under oath and each panel member was asked certain questions by this Court concerning his or her background. After informing the jury panel that the criminal case involved allegations of cocaine distribution and conspiracy, the Court asked whether any member of the jury panel had ever been accused of a crime or a criminal offense. The government claims that the Respondent previously was charged with numerous offenses, including several traffic violations, possession of marijuana, resisting arrest, and disturbing the peace. The government contends that the Respondent purposefully failed to state this information in response to the Court's question and that the administration of justice was thereby obstructed. The Respondent's primary defense is that she did not respond to the Court's questions because she was convicted only of municipal ordinance violations and she believed that such offenses were not crimes as defined by state law. Respondent also contends that she is the victim of selective prosecution on the part of the government because she was believed to be the sole juror who voted for acquittal of defendants Cheek and Underhill.

The Court initially determined that the penalty, if any, would not exceed six months' imprisonment. Therefore, the Respondent was not entitled to a jury trial. Trial to the Court was held on May 17, 1984. The Court has reviewed the evidence presented at trial and makes the following findings of fact.

I. Findings of Fact

1. On April 9, 1984, voir dire examination of the jury panel in the criminal case of United States v. Ozzie K. Cheek and Belle Underhill Greathouse was conducted by this Court.

2. The Respondent was summoned and appeared as a prospective juror in that criminal case.

3. The Deputy Clerk of the Court administered the oath to the jury panel. (Voir Dire Transcript at 2)

4. The Court advised the jury panel that the parties to the criminal case were entitled to a completely fair and unbiased jury, and instructed the panel that their responses to the Court's questions were important. The Court instructed the panel that a panel member should alert the Court by raising his hand in order to answer a previous question of the Court. (Voir Dire Transcript at 7)

5. The Court read the criminal indictment to the jury panel, thereby advising the panel members that the defendants were each charged with six counts of distributing cocaine and one count each of conspiring to distribute cocaine. (Voir Dire Transcript at 9-11)

6. The Court again advised the panel members of the importance of truthfully answering the voir dire questions by stating the following:

"THE COURT: All right. All right, now, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I realize that some of these questions are sort of personal. But as I indicated, the parties and attorneys are entitled to know about some of these things and I hope you will excuse us for the personal nature of some of these questions but they are entitled to know about these things, as I indicated so that they can be of aid in selecting the jury that they feel like is completely unbiased, fair and unprejudiced in trying this case." (Voir Dire Transcript at 21-22).

7. The Court asked whether anyone on the jury panel could not give a fair trial to an individual charged with the distribution of drugs. No panel member responded to this question. (Voir Dire Transcript at 40)

8. The Court asked whether any member of the jury panel had any legal education. (Voir Dire Transcript at 40) In response, the Respondent stated that she had recently taken some administration of justice courses at a local university. (Voir Dire Transcript at 44)

9. Immediately after the Respondent's answer, another panel member volunteered that her son had been indicted for the sale of narcotics, and that the indictment was dismissed prior to trial. (Voir Dire Transcript at 44)

10. The Court then asked the panel members the following question: "THE COURT: ... Is there anyone on this jury panel, either you or a member of your immediate family, that has ever been accused of a crime ...?" (Voir Dire Transcript at 45) The following responses were given by panel members to the above question. One panel member stated that her son-in-law was convicted of a narcotics charge and was placed on probation for five years. (Voir Dire Transcript at 45) Another panel member informed the Court she was arrested and charged with a traffic violation for careless driving but was found not guilty before a judge in municipal court. (Voir Dire Transcript at 46)

11. The Court subsequently reminded the panel of the question being discussed: "THE COURT: ... We were discussing about whether or not anyone had been accused, either you or a member of your family, had ever been accused of any criminal offense." (Voir Dire Transcript at 49) In response, a panel member stated that her father served a term of imprisonment as a result of a robbery conviction approximately forty years ago. (Voir Dire Transcript at 49) Another panel member informed the Court that her son was indicted on an unspecified charge and was released after spending two weeks in custody. (Voir Dire Transcript at 50)

12. The Respondent did not respond to the Court's question about whether any panel member had been accused of a crime or any criminal offense.

13. The Court asked the panel whether any of them had read recent newspaper articles concerning drugs or cocaine. (Voir Dire Transcript at 51) Sixteen panel members answered this question in the affirmative. (Voir Dire Transcript at 51-52) The Respondent did not respond to this question.

14. The Court then asked each panel member to state his or her name, place of residence, marital status, number of children, educational background, and employment status. (Voir Dire Transcript at 53) In response, the Respondent stated that she was single, 24 years old, lived in Lee's Summit, Missouri, had two years of college education, and had worked as a clerk in a grocery store. (Voir Dire Transcript at 56)

15. On August 6, 1977, the Respondent was arrested and charged with speeding. The case was disposed of in the Lee's Summit Municipal Court with the payment of a $15 fine.

16. On December 3, 1977, the Respondent was fined $25 by the Lee's Summit Municipal Court.

17. On May 6, 1978, the Respondent was arrested and charged with speeding. The case was disposed of in the Lee's Summit Municipal Court with the payment of a $25 fine.

18. On May 18, 1978, the Respondent was arrested and charged with speeding. The case was disposed of in the Lee's Summit Municipal Court with the payment of a $100 fine.

19. On May 18, 1979, the Respondent was arrested and charged with speeding. The Respondent was fined $75 by the Lee's Summit Municipal Court.

20. On February 5, 1981, the Respondent was arrested and charged with speeding. The case was disposed of in the Lee's Summit Municipal Court with the payment of a $30 fine.

21. On February 21, 1981, the Respondent was arrested and charged with careless and imprudent driving arising out of an automobile collision. The charge was reduced to a defective equipment violation and a fine of $75 was assessed by the Lee's Summit Municipal Court.

22. On June 24, 1981, the Respondent was arrested and charged with failure to stop at a red light. A $15 fine was assessed by the Lee's Summit Municipal Court.

23. At approximately 1:30 A.M. on November 11, 1982, Lee's Summit police officers responded to a call informing the police of a disturbance at a local bar involving the Respondent. While attempting to provide police officers with identification, the Respondent removed from her purse a plastic bag containing a hand-rolled cigarette which appeared to the officers to be marijuana. She then began to struggle with one of the officers. When an officer attempted to handcuff her, the Respondent reached into her purse, removed some more marijuana and pills, and attempted to shove them down the dress of a friend standing next to her. The Respondent then produced two bottles of pills and threw them across the hood of a car. During the course of the arrest, the Respondent struck one of the officers with her forearm. The Respondent was agitated, combative, and appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. Ultimately, the Respondent was handcuffed, placed in the patrol car, and driven to the police station.

At approximately 2:00 A.M., the Respondent arrived at police headquarters. While at the station, the Respondent removed from her purse two needles and syringes and attempted to place them in the waistband of her pants. The syringes were removed by a detention officer. The Respondent was then allowed to visit the restroom, where she removed pills from her pants' pocket and...