U.S. v. Edelin, 98-264(RCL).
| Decision Date | 17 July 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 98-264(RCL).,98-264(RCL). |
| Citation | 175 F.Supp.2d 1 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, v. Tommy EDELIN, Earl Edelin, Shelton Marbury, Henry Johnson, Marwin Mosley, Bryan Bostick, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Cary Clennon, Esq., Washington, DC, for Defendant Bostick.
Pleasant S. Brodnax, Esq., Washington, D.C., for Defendant Tommy Edelin.
James W. Rudasill, Jr., Esq., Washington, DC, for Defendant Tommy Edelin.
Richard K. Gilbert, Esq., Washington, DC, for Defendant Johnson.
Mary Davis, Esq., Washington, DC, for Defendant Earl Edelin.
Shawn Moore, Esq., Federal Public Defender for D.C., Washington, DC, for Defendant Marbury.
Jensen Barber, Esq., Washington, D.C., for Defendant Mosley.
Stephen Pfleger, AUSA, Paul Quander, AUSA, William M. Sullivan, AUSA, Washington, DC, for the Government.
The Clerk of the Court is hereby ordered to unseal this Court's Memorandum Order filed on July 17, 2001, denying defendant Tommy Edelin's Motion to Preclude Stun Belts from Capital Trial.
SO ORDERED.
Upon consideration of the arguments advanced by defendants Tommy Edelin, Earl Edelin, Shelton Marbury, Henry Johnson, Marwin Mosley, and Bryan Bostick, in support of defendant Tommy Edelin's Motion to Preclude Stun Belts from Capital Trial, and by the government in opposition thereto, the Court orally DENIED defendants' Motion on March 22, 2001. The Court now issues this Memorandum Opinion to set forth the reasons for denying the defendants' Motion.
The charges in this case stem from an alleged large drug conspiracy in the District of Columbia. The participants in the alleged conspiracy allegedly committed fourteen murders and multiple counts of assault with intent to murder. The six defendants are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, fifty grams or more of cocaine base, and one kilogram or more of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846; continuing criminal enterprise, in violation of 21 U.S .C. § 848(a) and (b); conspiracy to participate in a racketeer influenced corrupt organization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d); armed robbery, in violation of 22 D.C.Code §§ 2901 & 3202; money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957; and various other violent crimes and drug related activity. One of the defendants, Tommy Edelin, faces the death penalty. The government did not to seek the death penalty against the other five defendants, although they are accused of crimes that have led to death penalty prosecution. These five defendants face the possibility of life in prison without parole.
Defendant Tommy Edelin filed a Motion to preclude the use of stun belts during the trial in this case. In a pretrial hearing on the Motion, each of the defendants, except defendant Mosley, orally moved to join defendant Tommy Edelin's Motion.1 The Court granted the defendants' oral motions to adopt defendant Tommy Edelin's Motion. The defendants objected to the recommendation of the United States Marshals Service that they be required to wear a Remote Electronically Activated Controlled Technology ("REACT") stun belt.
In his Motion to Preclude the Use of Stun Belts, defendant Tommy Edelin objected to wearing a REACT stun belt on the following grounds: "1) the device constitutes an unknown health threat to him and perhaps his counsel if triggered; 2) the device is subject to malfunction and could injure him; 3) his conduct in court during numerous previous court appearances does not justify such an extraordinary action; 4) the criteria for determining when to activate the device are over-broad and vague; 5) the device is psychologically damaging to him, even if it is not activated; 7) the device interferes with his ability to assist counsel; and 8) there has been an appalling error rate in activating the belt in other cases in which it has been used." See Defendant Tommy Edelin's Motion to Preclude Stun Belts at 1.
The Court does not find defendant Tommy Edelin's arguments persuasive. The Court finds the declarations submitted by the government to be credible, and the declarations are not discredited by the assertions made by the defendants. Although defendant Tommy Edelin submitted a June 1999 report by Amnesty International and a 1998 article from the Saint Mary's Law Journal, these attachments do not counteract the information included in the declarations submitted by the government.2 The government's declarations clearly establish that the REACT belts at issue here do not pose an undue threat to the health of the defendants nor their counsel, that the belts are not subject to malfunction, and that there has been a very small number of accidental activations of the belt. See Declaration of United States Marshal Donald W. Horton, ¶¶ 9-16 (March 20, 2001); Declaration of Dennis Kaufman, ¶¶ 5-7, ¶ 9 (March 19, 2001). The overall rate for accidental activations of the REACT belt, when viewed in comparison with the total number of times the belts have been used on individuals in police custody is less than 2 thousandths of a percent, or .00015%. See Declaration of Dennis Kaufman, at ¶ 7. In fact, the United States Marshals Service has no record of any activation of a stun belt, accidental or otherwise, while worn by a prisoner or a detainee. See Declaration of Robert D. Pettit, at ¶ 3. Thus, any concerns the defendants may have about wearing the stun belts controlled by Deputy U.S. Marshals should be allayed.
As to the other reasons cited by defendants as grounds for disallowing the use of the belts, the Court finds that the lack of inappropriate conduct by the defendants within the courtroom should not be the deciding factor as to whether a stun belt should be used as a security measure. The Court also finds that the criteria established by the U.S. Marshals Service for when a stun belt can be properly activated are not overly broad nor vague, that the defendants have not shown that the stun belt is psychologically damaging to them, and that the defendants have not shown that the belt interferes with the defendants' ability to assist counsel in their defense.
Several Circuit Courts of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court have reviewed the issue of what security measures are appropriate when a defendant is tried before a jury. The Supreme Court held in Illinois v. Allen, 397 U.S. 337, 90 S.Ct. 1057, 25 L.Ed.2d 353 (1970), that binding and gagging an "obstreperous defendant" was constitutionally permissible to maintain courtroom order, but only as a last resort.3
The Sixth Circuit held that the use of physical restraints is constitutional in a criminal trial after considering the following issues:
First, is there factual support for the trial court's assertions pertaining to the record of the defendant, the desperate situation of the defendant, and his temperament and personal characteristics? Second, is the ... courtroom and courthouse physically laid out in such a manner that less drastic means of security would suffice? Third, is the physical condition of the defendant such as to reduce or eliminate the likelihood of escape or acts of violence, making less drastic security measures the most reasonable course? And fourth, does the trial court have available less prejudicial but adequate means of security, i.e., guards? Kennedy v. Cardwell, 487 F.2d 101, 110-11 (6th Cir.1973).
The Sixth Circuit went on to explain that a "clear showing of necessity" should be made before shackles were ever used in a criminal trial. Much of the analysis of the Kennedy court focused on the potential for prejudice to the defendant if the jury were to see that drastic security measures were being used. This Court finds that the use of REACT belts is less likely to draw attention to security measures than the shackles and additional guards discussed by the Kennedy court, but nonetheless finds that the criteria established by the Sixth Circuit are helpful in determining whether the stun belts are an appropriate method for ensuring the security of the courtroom during trial. The Court, if it were to apply the standards established by the Sixth Circuit in this case, would find that the use of stun belts is appropriate.
The Seventh Circuit has also held that a defendant may be "shackled in the presence of a jury upon a showing of `extreme need,' which has been defined as `necessary to maintain the security of the courtroom.'" Fountain v. United States, 211 F.3d 429, 436 (7th Cir.2000) (quoting Lemons v. Skidmore, 985 F.2d 354, 358 (7th Cir.1993)). Again, the Court does not find that the use of the REACT stun belts is as obtrusive as the wearing of leg shackles; it may be that a lesser showing would be sufficient to justify the use of stun belts in order to maintain the security of the courtroom.
The Court does find that there is an extreme need for reliable security in this case, and that the stun belts suggested by the Marshals Service are the preferable method for maintaining a secure courtroom. The use of stun belts, worn under the clothes, minimizes the likelihood of prejudice to the defendants before the jury. The Court has taken other precautions to ensure that there is a minimum amount of prejudice to the defendants. The defendants are brought into the courtroom before the jury is brought in, and they are escorted from the courtroom after the jury has left. This diminishes the likelihood that the jurors will view the defendants from an angle that would allow them to see any lump under the defendants' clothing that might indicate that some restraint has been placed on the defendants. The use of the stun belts also allows the trial to take place with a smaller number of plainclothes Deputy Marshals and courtroom guards, also diminishing the potential for jury bias against the defendants. These steps, taken to minimize the prejudicial impact...
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