U.S. v. Raffone

• Decision Date: 20 December 1982
• Docket Number: Nos. 81-5163,81-5257,s. 81-5163
• Citation: 693 F.2d 1343
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Geno Pasquale RAFFONE, Defendant-Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Thomas Ralph FARESE, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1343

693 F.2d 1343

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Geno Pasquale RAFFONE, Defendant-Appellant.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Thomas Ralph FARESE, Defendant-Appellant.

Nos. 81-5163, 81-5257.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

Dec. 20, 1982.

Louis Vernell, Miami Beach, Fla., for defendants-appellants in both cases.

Robert J. Lehner, U.S. Dept. of Justice, So. Eastern Regional Strike Force, Miami, Fla., William C. Bryson, Gloria C. Phares, Chief, Appellate Section, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for United States in both cases.

John S. Berk, Bruce S. Rogow, Nova University Law Center, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for defendant-appellant in 81-5257.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Before VANCE and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges, and ALLGOOD ^*, District Judge.

ALLGOOD, District Judge:

Appellants Farese and Raffone were tried and convicted on one count (Count One) of conspiracy to possess marijuana with the intent to distribute it in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 846. Appellant Farese was also convicted of three substantive acts (Counts Two through Four) of possession with the intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1). For his role in overseeing the events giving rise to the above charges, appellant Farese was tried and convicted of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 848 (Count Five). Appellants now contest their convictions on a number of grounds, several of which are examined below. Those not examined are either without merit or pertain to errors which were harmless.

I. FACTS

According to the evidence, Farese was the mastermind of a drug importation and distribution network centered in the Miami--Fort Lauderdale, Florida area. This "organization" supplied marijuana to local distributors who, in turn, distributed it to other cities. Farese ran this operation through a number of "lieutenants" and other, lesser-ranked, individuals.

Indicted as co-conspirators were several alleged members of the Farese network: Joseph Caruso, Patrick Robinson, John Scimone, and Robert Dello Russo. ¹ In addition to Farese, those indicted on the substantive counts included: Caruso, Counts Two through Four; Scimone, Count Two; and appellant Raffone, Count Four. ² Unindicted members of the Farese organization allegedly included Alan Rivenbark and Nicholas Forlano, among others.

The Government's principal witness was John Piazza. Piazza was one of the local distributors with whom the Farese organization dealt. In exchange for his testimony, he was granted immunity from prosecution for a number of crimes. The Government's case also included surveillance evidence, court-authorized tape-recordings, and other witnesses.

The indictment alleged that the conspiracy upon which the appellants were convicted occurred continuously from May of 1974 to April of 1977. Although a number of overt acts amounting to substantive violations were alleged, the specific acts giving rise to the three substantive counts were as follows: Count Two--Scimone and Forlano arranged the delivery of 200 or 250 pounds of marijuana to Piazza in October of 1975; Count Three--Scimone and Forlano were involved in the delivery by Caruso to Piazza of 1,000 pounds of marijuana near the end of 1976 or the beginning of 1977; Count Four--as a result of discussions between Farese, Caruso and Piazza, 2,000 pounds of marijuana were delivered to the "stash house" of Piazza and Dello Russo in March of 1977.

II. THE UNCORROBORATED TESTIMONY OF AN ACCOMPLICE

Appellants argue at great length that the testimony of Piazza was uncorroborated and that their convictions may not rest solely upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. The former Fifth Circuit has repeatedly held, however, that convictions can be based upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice, if that testimony is not incredible or insubstantial on its face. E.g., United States v. Darland, 659 F.2d 70, 73 (5th Cir.1981), cert. denied, Darland v. United States, 454 U.S. 1157, 102 S.Ct. 1032, 71 L.Ed.2d 315 (1982); United States v. Moreno, 649 F.2d 309, 312 (5th Cir.1981); United States v. Bolts, 558 F.2d 316, 323 (5th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 930, 98 S.Ct. 417, 54 L.Ed.2d 290 (1977) and 439 U.S. 898, 99 S.Ct. 262, 58 L.Ed.2d 246 (1978). Indeed, although it was not necessarily required to do so, the district court did instruct the jury to examine the accomplice testimony "with great care."

Appellants nevertheless urge this court to recognize a distinction between the use of uncorroborated accomplice testimony to prove a "mere element" of a crime and its use to prove the corpus delicti of a crime. Specifically, appellants ask this court to analogize to the principle that the corpus delicti of a crime may not be established solely by the uncorroborated confession of an accused. See Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 488-89, 83 S.Ct. 407, 417-18, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963). They support this analogy with their assertion that the possibility that an accused may confess to a non-existent crime is much more remote than the possibility that an accomplice, who, as in this case, has been immunized from prosecution, will "confess" to a non-existent crime.

This court has found no binding precedent recognizing the distinction being urged by the appellants. Former Fifth Circuit cases setting forth the law on this subject make no such distinction; nor is this court inclined to do so. Even if such a distinction were recognized, however, our disposition of the instant case would be no different since the record reveals substantial corroboration of Piazza's story. ³

III. LINKING FARESE TO THE SUBSTANTIVE ACTS

Farese (hereinafter, "appellant") also argues that even if uncorroborated accomplice testimony will suffice to support a conviction, Piazza's testimony did not sufficiently connect Farese to the events giving rise to the substantive counts. Initially it should be noted that although a conspirator may be held liable for substantive crimes committed by a co-conspirator in furtherance of the conspiracy, Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, 66 S.Ct. 1180, 90 L.Ed. 1489 (1946), the jury was not so instructed in this case. Farese's conviction cannot, therefore, be sustained on a Pinkerton theory. See Nye & Nissen v. United States, 336 U.S. 613, 618, 69 S.Ct. 766, 769, 93 L.Ed. 919 (1949). If appellant's conviction on the substantive counts is to be sustained, evidence must have been submitted to the jury sufficient to support either a constructive possession or an aiding and abetting theory as to each count.

The evidence was sufficient to support either of the above theories. Substantial evidence existed that the various persons who were in actual possession of the marijuana worked for Farese and were under his control. The jury might therefore have found that Farese was in constructive possession of the marijuana involved in Counts Two through Four. See, e.g., United States v. Gloria, 494 F.2d 477, 482 (5th Cir.1974), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 995, 95 S.Ct. 306, 42 L.Ed.2d 267 (1974).

A careful review of the testimony also reveals that Piazza's testimony, as well as other evidence, did link Farese directly to the events in question in such a way as would support an aiding and abetting theory. ⁴ Furthermore, even if there had been no evidence tying Farese directly to the events in question, a conviction based on the theory of aiding and abetting would not have been foreclosed. There was ample evidence tending to show that Farese, in his position as the "mastermind" of the operation in question, aided and abetted his "subordinates" as they carried out the acts described in Counts Two through Four. See Nye & Nissen v. United States, 336 U.S. at 619, 69 S.Ct. at 769 (1949) (involving a series of substantive crimes committed by the petitioner's subordinates).

IV. THE CONTINUING CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE

A. The Unanimity Requirement

Appellant contests his conviction under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 848 ⁵ on two grounds. The first is that the trial court erred in not instructing the jury that it must unanimously agree on the identities of at least five persons who acted in concert with, and under the direction of, the appellant.

While citing no direct authority for this proposition, appellant begins his discussion of this issue with an examination of the holdings in United States v. Gipson, 553 F.2d 453 (5th Cir.1977) and United States v. Morris, 612 F.2d 483 (10th Cir.1979). Farese Brief at 85-88. A close reading of these cases, however, reveals that Gipson is inapposite and that Morris contains certain language which, if anything, supports the Government's position on this issue. ⁶

Somewhat more analytically, the appellant also notes that the "in concert" language of Sec. 848 encompasses the same type of "agreement" necessary to the existence of a conspiracy. Jeffers v. United States, 432 U.S. 137, 149-50, 97 S.Ct. 2207, 2215, 53 L.Ed.2d 168 (1977) ("For the purposes of this case, therefore, we assume, arguendo, that Sec. 848 does require proof of an agreement among the persons involved in the continuing criminal enterprise."). In order for a jury to convict a given defendant of conspiracy, according to the appellant, there must be unanimous agreement as to the identities of the various conspirators. Appellant concludes, therefore, that a jury must unanimously agree on the identities of the five co-conspirators necessary to a Sec. 848 conviction.

Appellant cites no authority, however, for his assertion that, in a normal conspiracy case, the jury must unanimously agree as to the identities of the co-conspirator(s). The independent efforts of this court have likewise revealed no such authority. The failure of the contended for rule to surface in the dozens of cases surveyed casts doubt upon its validity.

The appellant in this case failed to request that...