U.S. v. Wilson

• Decision Date: 14 July 2006
• Docket Number: No. 04-CR-1016 (NGG).,04-CR-1016 (NGG).
• Citation: 493 F.Supp.2d 364
• Parties: UNITED STATES, v. Ronell WILSON, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

Page 364

493 F.Supp.2d 364

UNITED STATES, v. Ronell WILSON, Defendant.

No. 04-CR-1016 (NGG).

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

July 14, 2006.

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Ephraim Savitt, Mitchell J. Dinnerstein, New York City, Kelley J. Sharkey, Attorney at Law, Brooklyn, NY, for Bonell Wilson.

Colleen Elizabeth Kavanagh, United States Attorney, Jack Smith, Morris J. Fodeman, United States Attorneys Office, Brooklyn, NY, for United States.

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

GARAUFIS, District Judge.

Defendant Ronell Wilson ("Defendant" or "Wilson") is charged in a twenty-three count indictment with, inter alia, murdering undercover New York Police Department ("NYPD") Detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin on March 10, 2003.¹ Specifically, in connection with his alleged membership in the street gang known as the "Stapleton Crew," the criminal enterprise alleged in the Indictment, Wilson is charged with the following:' engaging in and conspiring to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity; committing obstruction of justice murder, murder in aid of racketeering, carjacking; use of a firearm and causing death through the use of a firearm; robbery and robbery conspiracy; narcotics distribution and narcotics conspiracy; use of a firearm in connection with narcotics trafficking; conspiring to murder rival gang members; and conspiring to murder "John Doe."²

Based upon the seven potential capital counts charged in the Indictment, the Government filed a Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty against Wilson on August 2, 2005. Jury selection in the Defendant's death penalty trial is scheduled to begin the week of September 11, 2006.

Currently pending before the court are a number of substantive and death penalty-related pre-trial motions submitted by the Defendant. The Defendant moves to suppress certain post-arrest statements and pieces of evidence seized from the Defendant on May 2, 2002 and March 12, 2003, and to suppress identifications of the Defendant by Government witnesses. The Defendant also moves to strike certain language from the Indictment and for a bill of particulars with respect to the charges in the Indictment and the aggravating circumstances alleged in the Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty (hereinafter "NOT"). In his death-penalty related motions, the Defendant moves for a declaration that the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 ("FDPA") is unconstitutional and to dismiss the Government's NOT. Alternatively, the Defendant requests dismissal of certain aggravating factors from the Government's Notice of Special Findings ("NOSF") and NOT. Oral argument on the motions was held before this court on June 16, 2006.

I will address each motion in turn below. As the Defendant filed each motion separately and the Government replied in an "Omnibus Response in Opposition to the Defendant's Substantive and Death Penalty Related Motions" (hereinafter "Govt. Resp."), I will address the motions in the order in which the Government responded in its responsive brief.

For the reasons set forth below, the Defendant's motions are granted in part and denied in part.

I. Defendant's Motion for a Bill of Particulars

The Defendant moves for a bill of particulars on the grounds that Wilson has been charged with "extremely serious and arranging offenses" implicating four co-defendants and others, which include murder and murder conspiracy charges "intertwined with []expansive racketeering and drug charges." (Defendant's Memorandum of Law in Support of Pretrial Motion for a Bill of Particulars and to Strike Language in the Indictment ("Def.'s Mem. Supp. BOP"), at 4). Conceding that the Government has turned over "numerous documents in discovery" that Defense counsel has reviewed, the Defendant claims that his alleged position in the charged racketeering enterprise is unspecified and that the discovery provided "does not provide essential particulars about the charges." (Id.).

The Government responds to the Defendant's motion by asserting that a bill of particulars is unnecessary in this case because the Indictment "explains in detail" the crimes for which the Defendant is charged, and because the Defendant has been provided "extensive pretrial discovery," which in combination have "sufficiently apprised" the Defendant of the charges against him. (Govt. Resp. at 6). The Government contends that, "in the face of the precisely drawn Indictment and copious discovery, it is clear that the [D]efendant is seeking a bill of particulars as a general investigative tool." (Id. at 7). In its brief, the Government addresses each of the Defendant's requests and explains the manner in which the Indictment and turned-over discovery adequately apprise the Defendant of the nature of the charges and aggravating factors it intends to prove at trial, obviating the need for a bill of particulars under controlling precedent. (See Govt. Resp. at 7-17). I will discuss each below.

Rule 7(f) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure permits a defendant to seek a bill of particulars in order to enable him "to prepare for trial, to prevent surprise, and to interpose a plea of double jeopardy should he be prosecuted a second time for the same offense." United States v. Bortnovsky, 820 F.2d 572, 574 (2d Cir. 1987). The decision whether to order the filing of a bill of particulars is one that rests within the sound discretion of the district court. United States v. Barnes, 158 F.3d 662, 665-66 (2d Cir.1998); United States v. Urso, 369 F.Supp.2d 254, 271 (E.D.N.Y.2005) (Garaufis, J.). A bill of particulars is warranted "only where the charges of the indictment are so general that they do not advise the defendant of the specific acts of which he is accused." United States v. Walsh, 194 F.3d 37, 47 (2d Cir.1999) (quoting United States v. Torres, 901 F.2d 205, 234 (2d Cir.1990) (internal quotation marks omitted)).

Judges of this district have characterized the test as one of necessity: "Where `facts supplemental to those contained in the indictment ... are necessary to apprise the defendant of the charges against him with sufficient precision,' a bill of particulars is appropriate." United States v. Weinberg, 656 F.Supp. 1020, 1029 (E.D.N.Y.1987) (McLaughlin, J.) (overruled on a different point) (internal citation omitted) (citing United States v. Persico, 621 F.Supp. 842, 868 (S.D.N.Y.1985)). Thus, the "ultimate test" in determining whether a bill of particulars is appropriate is "whether the information is necessary, not whether it is helpful to the defendant." Weinberg, 656 F.Supp. at 1029 (citations omitted). A bill of particulars is not a discovery device and is not meant to force the government to disclose its evidence or its legal theory. See United States v. Gottlieb, 493 F.2d 987, 994 (2d Cir.1974); United States v. Hotte, No. 97 CR 0669, 1997 WL 694718, at *3 (E.D.N.Y. Nov. 6, 1997) (Johnson, J.). Moreover, the Second Circuit has instructed that a bill of particulars should not be granted where the Government has made sufficient disclosures concerning its evidence and witnesses by means other than the indictment. Walsh, 194 F.3d at 47.

With these principles in mind, I will now consider the Defendant's requests. I note, however, at the outset that although the aforementioned general principles and precedent cited by both parties guide my analysis; they provide no clear-cut answer on whether a bill of particulars is necessary in this specific case. As Judge Sand of the Southern District of New York has explained:

The line that distinguishes one defendant's request to be apprised of necessary specifics about the charges against him from another's request for evidentiary detail is one that is quite difficult to draw.... It is not surprising, therefore, that more than one court has observed that the precedents furnish little help in disposing of requests for bills of particulars in criminal cases.

United States v. Bin Laden, 92 F.Supp.2d 225, 234 (S.D.N.Y.2000) (internal quotation and citations omitted). Thus, I am mindful of the precedent of this Circuit and of my responsibility to analyze specifically the facts and circumstances of this case. I will now discuss each of the Defendant's requests.

A. Racketeering Related Charges

i. First Set of Requests

The Defendant's first set of requests pertain to the Racketeering and Racketeering Conspiracy charges: Count 1 (Racketeering), Count 2 (Racketeering Conspiracy), Counts 5 and 6 (Murder in Aid of Racketeering), and Counts 26 and 28 (Conspiracy to Murder in Aid of Racketeering).³ Defendant's first request is for a description of how the Defendant and his four co-defendants functioned as an enterprise separate from the commission of the charged predicate acts alleged to constitute a pattern of racketeering. (Def.'s Mem. Supp. BOP at 6). The Government correctly argues that a bill is not warranted as to the enterprise allegation. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Indictment outline the manner in which the Stapleton Crew is alleged to have functioned as an enterprise under the RICO statute, stating that the gang was involved in a number of criminal activities and the various means and methods used in furtherance of the enterprise's conduct. (Indictment ¶¶ 3, 4).

I am unpersuaded by the precedent of United States v. Bailey, 689 F.Supp. 1463 (N.D.Ill.1987), to which the Defendant cites. In Bailey, the Illinois district court held that a bill of particulars was appropriate on the allegation of the enterprise's existence in a RICO charge where the indictment described the enterprise as follows: "a union or group of individuals associated in fact for the purpose of defrauding and obtaining money and property from various insurance companies by means of staging fake automobile accidents and subsequently submitting fraudulent personal injury claims, medical `bills and wage losses to such insurance companies." Bailey, 689 F.Supp. at 1473. To understand the import of...