U.S. v. Minerd
| Decision Date | 04 February 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CR. 99-215.,CR. 99-215. |
| Citation | 182 F.Supp.2d 459 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Joseph P. MINERD, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania |
Shaun E. Sweeney, United States Attorney's Office, Pittsburgh, PA, for Plaintiff.
Shelly Stark, Federal Public Defender's Office, Pittsburgh, PA, Jay T. McCamic, McCamic & McCamic, Wheeling, WV, Richard Kammen, Gilroy, Kammen & Hill, Indianapolis, IN, for Defendant.
Defendant Joseph P. Minerd is charged with maliciously damaging and destroying, by means of fire and an explosive, a building which was used in interstate commerce and in an activity affecting interstate commerce, which conduct resulted in the deaths of Deana Mitts and Kayla Mitts, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(i). Deana Mitts and her daughter died as a result of an explosion and fire at their townhouse in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. The government has served notice that it intends to seek the death penalty if the defendant is convicted.
Before the Court are two motions which assert that the defendant's race may have played in the decision to prosecute him under the death penalty. Defendant Joseph P. Minerd has filed the following: (1) Motion to Dismiss the Prosecution's Request for the Death Penalty because the Defendant's Race Was Improperly Used as a Consideration by the Department of Justice in Its Decision to Seek the Death Penalty (Doc. 65); and (2) Motion for the Discovery of Information Disclosing Improper Consideration of Race in the Decision by the Department of Justice Selecting Joseph Minerd to Face the Death Penalty (Doc. 71). The defendant has also submitted additional authority to support the discovery motion (Doc. 205).
The government's response to both motions is included in its Second Omnibus Response to the Defendant's Pretrial Motions (Doc. 97).
Having fully considered the submissions of the parties and the applicable law, we will deny both motions for the reasons set forth below.
Motion to Dismiss the Prosecution's Request for the Death Penalty because the Defendant's Race Was Improperly Used as a Consideration by the Department of Justice in Its Decision to Seek the Death Penalty (Doc. 65)
Defendant argues that he was selected for prosecution under the Federal Death Penalty Act (FDPA), 18 U.S.C. § 3591 et seq., because he is white. He contends that selective prosecution of white defendants became necessary to offset the Survey of the Federal Death Penalty (1988-2000), prepared by the Department of Justice ("DOJ Survey"), which showed that since the reinstitution of the federal death penalty, prosecutions have overwhelmingly been against non-whites. Mot. at ¶ 4. He states that from 1992 to 1995, virtually all capital prosecutions in the United States were against non-whites. Mot. at ¶ 5. Now, he alleges, the DOJ is attempting to balance its statistics by selecting more white defendants for death penalty prosecution. Mot. at ¶¶ 8, 12.
Government prosecutors have broad discretion in deciding whom to prosecute. Wayte v. United States, 470 U.S. 598, 607, 105 S.Ct. 1524, 84 L.Ed.2d 547 (1985). As long as the prosecutor has probable cause to believe that the accused committed an offense defined by statute, he has discretion to decide whether or not to prosecute. United States v. Nguyen, 928 F.Supp. 1525, 1544 (D.Kan.1996) (quoting Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357, 364, 98 S.Ct. 663, 54 L.Ed.2d 604 (1978)). "`[E]xceptionally clear proof must be shown before an inference of abuse of that discretion may be drawn." United States v. Roman, 931 F.Supp. 960 (D.R.I.1996) (quoting Bordenkircher, 434 U.S. at 364, 98 S.Ct. 663). In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, we must presume that the prosecution was undertaken in good faith. Bordenkircher, 434 U.S. at 364, 98 S.Ct. 663.
Prosecutorial discretion, of course, is "subject to constitutional constraints." United States v. Batchelder, 442 U.S. 114, 125, 99 S.Ct. 2198, 60 L.Ed.2d 755 (1979). To comport with the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to our Constitution, the decision to prosecute may not be based upon an arbitrary standard such as race. United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456, 464, 116 S.Ct. 1480, 134 L.Ed.2d 687 (1996) (citing Oyler v. Boles, 368 U.S. 448, 456, 82 S.Ct. 501, 7 L.Ed.2d 446 (1962)). A claim for selective prosecution must be analyzed under an equal protection framework. Minerd contends that he was selected for the death penalty because he is white. To prevail on this claim, he must show that the decision to pursue the death penalty against him had both a discriminatory effect and was made with a discriminatory intent. Armstrong, 517 U.S. at 465, 116 S.Ct. 1480. A discriminatory effect is demonstrated by establishing that "similarly situated individuals of a different race were not prosecuted." Id. at 465, 116 S.Ct. 1480. Discriminatory intent is shown by the existence of racial animus, and the defendant must show that the "decisionmakers in his case acted with discriminatory purpose." McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279, 292, 107 S.Ct. 1756, 95 L.Ed.2d 262 (1987) (emphasis in original).
Minerd's motion is supported by a table showing Review Committee Recommendations by Capital Offense and Race/Ethnicity of the Defendant between 1995 and 2000 (Def.'s Ex. A), as well as a table of the Attorney General's Decisions between 1995 and 2000, also broken down by offense and the defendant's race or ethnicity. (Def.'s Ex. B). Exhibit B shows that the Attorney General considered fifteen defendants charged with violations of 18 U.S.C. § 844(i) for the death penalty. Ten defendants were white, and five were minorities. Of this group, she decided to seek the death penalty as to three white defendants (30%) and one minority defendant (20%). Seven white defendants and three minority defendants were not selected for death penalty prosecution. The total number of death penalty-eligible defendants evaluated from 1995 to 2000 was 796. Of these, only 166 defendants were white. The Attorney General decided to seek the death penalty for 79 white defendants (47.6%) and for 175 minority defendants.
The government responds that prior to 1995, the only federal offenses that could be prosecuted as capital crimes were drug-related homicides brought under 21 U.S.C. § 848. These offenses were disproportionately committed by minority defendants. In 1994, Congress passed legislation which created death penalty procedures for dozens of other crimes, including 18 U.S.C. § 844(i), the provision under which Minerd is being prosecuted. Thus the range of offenses subject to the death penalty as well as the number of defendants potentially eligible for death penalty prosecution, have dramatically increased. Therefore, the government argues, it is hardly surprising that the number of white defendants selected for death penalty prosecution since 1995 has increased as well.
We find that Minerd has failed to satisfy either prong of the equal protection analysis. The statistics he has produced show that the Attorney General decided to seek the death penalty against 30% of the white defendants charged under the federal arson statute, and against 20% of the nonwhite defendants charged with the same offense. However, we are not convinced that this disparity shows that similarly situated individuals of a different race were not prosecuted. The numbers of defendants here are simply too small to be taken as proof that similarly situated individuals were treated differently because of their race. McCleskey teaches that statistics, when produced "without regard to the facts of a particular case," are insufficient proof of discrimination. McCleskey, 481 U.S. at 293, 107 S.Ct. 1756. See, also United States v. Walker, 910 F.Supp. 837, 859 (N.D.N.Y.1995); United States v. Davis, 904 F.Supp. 554, 560 (E.D.La.1995). Furthermore, there is no evidence that the facts underlying the charges brought under section 844(i) against the other defendants in the DOJ statistics, were similar to the facts of the case before us. We have no evidence that any of the cases not determined to be death-eligible involved alleged residential arson by means of a pipebomb, which caused the deaths of a pregnant woman and her young child. Minerd has failed to show that the decision to pursue the death penalty in this case had the requisite discriminatory effect.
Nor has Minerd offered any evidence that the Attorney General's decision in his particular case was made with discriminatory intent. As the McCleskey Court noted, discriminatory purpose "implies that the decisionmaker ... selected or reaffirmed a particular course of action at least in part `because of,' not merely `in spite of its adverse effects upon an identifiable group." McCleskey, 481 U.S. at 298, 107 S.Ct. 1756. Minerd offers no evidence specific to his own case from which we may infer that race played any part in the decision to prosecute him under the federal death penalty statute. Accordingly, his motion to dismiss the government's notice of intent to seek the death penalty in this case must be denied.
Motion for the Discovery of Information Disclosing Improper Consideration of Race in the Decision by the Department of Justice Selecting Joseph Minerd to Face the Death Penalty (Doc. 71).
In the alternative, Minerd requests broad discovery regarding the decision-making process used by the Justice Department and the Attorney General, which might support his selective prosecution claim that he was singled out for death penalty prosecution because he is white.
Minerd seeks an order directing the DOJ to provide the following information: a list of all cases in which a defendant was charged with a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(i) that resulted in a death; a statement describing whether or not the Attorney General was requested to and did authorize the prosecution to seek the death penalty in any case identified above; the...
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