U.S. v. Santiago

• Citation: 174 F.Supp.2d 16
• Decision Date: 31 October 2001
• Docket Number: No. 00 CR 237(VM).,00 CR 237(VM).
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, v. Jose SANTIAGO, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

174 F.Supp.2d 16

UNITED STATES of America, v. Jose SANTIAGO, et al., Defendants.

No. 00 CR 237(VM).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

October 31, 2001.

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Aitan D. Goelman, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mary Jo White, U.S. Attorney, New York City, for plaintiff.

Gary S. Villanueva, Ricco & Villanueva, New York City, for defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

MARRERO, District Judge.

Seven defendants in this case — Jose Santiago ("Santiago"), Jose Baerga ("Baerga"), Julius Williams ("Williams"), Antonio Rodriguez ("Rodriguez"), Joseph Rini ("Rini"), Adrian Agostini ("Agostini") and Julian Marquez ("Marquez") — bring before the Court different pretrial motions seeking, among other forms of relief, severance, suppression of evidence and pre-trial disclosure. As indicated below, several other defendants charged in the same indictment, while joining in aspects of the instant motions, did not file their own.¹ Oral argument in connection with these motions was heard on June 22, 2001. For the reasons set forth below, the motions are granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

On November 14, 2000, the Government filed sixteen count Indictment S3 00 Cr. 237 (the "Superseding Indictment") in this case charging eighteen defendants with engaging in racketeering and narcotics activities in this District from in or about 1994 through and including March 21, 2000.²

Count One of the Superseding Indictment charges that a racketeering enterprise known as "Thief David's Crew" operated in the Bronx, New York and engaged in various acts of violence. Eight racketeering acts are described as being committed in furtherance of such racketeering activity, including extortion, narcotics trafficking, murder, attempted murder and robbery. Count Two charges that certain defendants conspired to violate the racketeering laws of the United States.

Count Three charges other defendants with conspiracy to violate the narcotics laws of the United States by distributing and possessing with intent to distribute heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana. Count Three sets forth thirteen overt acts in furtherance of the narcotics conspiracy. The remaining thirteen counts charge various defendants with substantive crimes including murder, attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon.

To date, ten defendants charged in this matter have entered guilty pleas and have either been sentenced or are scheduled for sentencing: Renames Arroyo; Lawrence Cherry; Leighton Miles; Elvis Rodriguez; Juan Quinones; Roy Castro; Ruben Pacheco; Richard Mercado; Michael Cofield; and Juaquin Diaz. The remaining ten defendants include the seven defendants who filed motions in this case and the three of the four defendants who appeared through counsel at the oral argument. The trial in this matter is scheduled to commence on January 7, 2002.

II. DISCUSSION

A. SEVERANCE

Marquez, Rodriguez, Rini and Agostini move for severance of their trials, arguing that severance is warranted due to the length and attendant burdensomeness of a trial that aggregates all remaining defendants.³ See Marquez Memorandum of Law in Support of Pre-Trial Motions, dated Feb. 6, 2001 ("Marquez Memo"), at 3-9; Rini Memorandum of Law, dated Feb. 20, 2001 ("Rini Memo"), at 11-16; Affirmation of Sanford M. Katz in Support of Rodriguez's Pre-Trial Motions, sworn to Mar. 8, 2001 ("Katz Aff."), at 11; Agostini Memorandum of Law in Support of Pre-Trial Motions, undated ("Agostini Memo"), at 7-8.

The movants further contend that they will suffer prejudicial spillover through a joint trial because the jury will improperly associate them with defendants accused of violent crime, especially Williams, whose alleged offense made him eligible for the death penalty. See Marquez Memo at 9-10; Letter from Sanford M. Katz to the Court, dated May 2, 2001 ("Rodriguez Reply"), at 1; Katz Aff. at 12; Agostini Memo at 3-7. In addition, Marquez and Rini argue that severance is particularly appropriate in their cases because they are charged in Count Three only — the narcotics conspiracy — and the jury will be incapable of independently evaluating the evidence pertaining to their alleged narcotics violations and the evidence pertaining to the violent crimes committed by the racketeering enterprise. See Marquez Memo at 2-3; Rini Memo at 15. Agostini attempts to make the same argument, although he is charged in Count Eight — assault with a deadly weapon — and Count Three. See Agostini Memo at 3-7.

As a preliminary matter, the Court notes that the Government responded to its order inquiring about the status of the Government's position regarding Williams by submitting a letter dated July 19, 2001 indicating that the Government would not seek to impose the death penalty against Williams. In light of this determination, the four defendants requesting severance may not prevail insofar as the motions are predicated upon Williams's eligibility for the death penalty.

Generally, Rule 14 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure permits a trial judge to grant the severance of defendants "[i]f it appears that a defendant or the government is prejudiced by ... joinder for trial together." Fed.R.Crim.P. 14. Rule 14, however, does not require severance even if prejudice is shown; rather, the tailoring of relief, if any, is left to the trial court's sound discretion. See United States v. Haynes, 16 F.3d 29, 32 (2d Cir. 1994). In fact, the federal judiciary harbors a strong presumption in favor of joinder as a mechanism for promoting judicial efficiency (see United States v. Gallo, 668 F.Supp. 736, 748 (E.D.N.Y.1987)), and limiting instructions to the jury have emerged as the preferred device for curing any prejudicial spillover that may result from a multi-defendant, multi-count trial. See Zafiro v. United States, 506 U.S. 534, 539, 113 S.Ct. 933, 122 L.Ed.2d 317 (1993); United States v. Diaz, 176 F.3d 52, 103-04 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 875, 120 S.Ct. 181, 145 L.Ed.2d 153 (1999).⁴

The Gallo court determined that a trial judge should consider the following factors in determining whether severance is warranted: (1) the number of defendants and the number of counts; (2) the complexity of the indictment; (3) the estimated length of the trial; (4) disparities in the degrees of involvement by defendants in the overall scheme; (5) possible conflict between various defense theories; and (6) prejudice resulting from evidence admissible as to some defendants, but not others. See Gallo, 668 F.Supp. at 749. While none of these factors is dispositive, each is intended to provide guidance as to whether a jury will be capable of considering the evidence as to each defendant separately, independent of evidence against co-defendants. See id. The moving defendant bears the burden of showing "facts demonstrating that he will be so severely prejudiced by a joint trial that it would in effect deny him a fair trial." United States v. An-Lo, 851 F.2d 547, 556 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 966, 109 S.Ct. 493, 102 L.Ed.2d 530 (1988) (quoting United States v. Rucker, 586 F.2d 899, 902 (2d Cir.1978)).

In this case, the Court is not persuaded that severance is necessary. Defendants have not shown that a joint trial will prejudice them to a degree amounting to a miscarriage of justice. See United States v. Rosa, 11 F.3d 315, 341 (2d Cir. 1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1042, 114 S.Ct. 1565, 128 L.Ed.2d 211 (1994). This is true in large part because, despite defendants' avowals to the contrary, the racketeering and narcotics conspiracy charges in the Superseding Indictment are not mutually exclusive such that defendants accused of the narcotics involvement have no relationship to those charged with racketeering. Moreover, it has been noted that "differing levels of culpability and proof are inevitable in any multi-defendant trial and standing alone, are insufficient grounds for separate trials." United States v. Nunez, No. 00 Cr. 121, 2001 WL 91708, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 1, 2001) (quoting United States v. Carson, 702 F.2d 351, 366-67 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 462 U.S. 1108, 103 S.Ct. 2456, 77 L.Ed.2d 1335 (1983)). Defendants have simply failed to satisfy their burden because "even if the Court were to grant severance, much of the evidence regarding ... codefendants' acts of violence would be admissible in ... [their] trial as proof of the existence and nature of the narcotics conspiracy." United States v. Muyet, 945 F.Supp. 586, 596 (S.D.N.Y.1996).

Finally, ten defendants have already entered guilty pleas, and it is conceivable, as the Government has represented to the Court, that additional pleas may be entered. To that end, the Court is confident that this case — if it does go to trial — will not present such complicated legal and factual issues that the jury in its deliberations will be prone to misapply the evidence relevant to particular defendants and charges. Any risk of this kind can be mitigated through carefully crafted limiting instructions that warn the jurors to take into account only the evidence admissible against each defendant.

B. SUPPRESSION OF EVIDENCE

1. Suppression of Post-Arrest Statements

Defendants Williams, Rodriguez and Marquez move to suppress certain statements each allegedly made following his arrest. See Williams's Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion to Suppress, dated Feb. 12, 2001, at 1-10; Katz Aff. at 9-10 and Ex. A; Rodriguez Reply at 2; Marquez Memo at 10-11.

It is well established that the prosecution is barred from using statements made during the custodial interrogation of a defendant if Miranda warnings are not properly administered. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 443, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). A defendant can waive his rights and agree to respond to questions, but such a waiver is not effective unless it is made voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently. See id. at 444-45, 86 S.Ct. 1602.

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