U.S. v. Yeager
Decision Date | 11 September 2002 |
Docket Number | No. 00-4378.,00-4378. |
Citation | 303 F.3d 661 |
Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John F. YEAGER, Defendant-Appellant. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
John M. DiPuccio (briefed), Office of the U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Ohio, Cincinnati, OH, Marc Osborne (argued and briefed), U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Delaware, Wilmington, DE, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Martin S. Pinales (briefed), John P. Feldmeier (argued and briefed), Sirkin, Pinales, Mezibov & Schwartz LLP, Cincinnati, OH, for Defendant-Appellant.
Before: SILER, COLE, and CLAY, Circuit Judges.
Defendant John F. Yeager appeals the district court's dismissal without prejudice of his indictment for nine counts of bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1344 and 2. On appeal, Yeager contends that the district court erred in not dismissing the indictment with prejudice to preclude his re-indictment on the same bank fraud charges. The government responds by arguing that the dismissal without prejudice is not an appealable order and alternatively, that the district court did not err in dismissing the indictment without prejudice. For the reasons that follow, we DISMISS Yeager's appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction.
Defendant John F. Yeager was employed as an assistant branch manager at Star Bank in Springdale, Ohio between 1994 and 1996. As a result of certain loans that he approved while at the bank, Yeager was indicted on nine counts of bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1344 and 2 on July 1, 1998. As part of pretrial discovery, Yeager's lawyer requested and moved for production of the loan applications, credit reports, and audit reports relating to the loans that Yeager authorized. The government, through Assistant United States Attorney John M. DiPuccio, repeatedly represented to the district court, Yeager, and the grand jury that many of the documents that Yeager requested were unavailable or did not exist. Rather than stand trial, Yeager entered a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and in return, the government agreed to recommend dismissal of the remaining counts at sentencing. On August 30, 1999, two days before Yeager's sentencing, the government informed defense counsel that it was in possession of certain previously requested documents. Over the next several months, the government produced additional documents to Yeager, including audit reports, which were in DiPuccio's possession for the duration of the litigation. Believing that the government violated its duty to produce evidence favorable to a defendant under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), as well as its duty to produce requested documents within its possession, custody, or control under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(1)(C), Yeager filed a motion to dismiss the indictment with prejudice under Criminal Rule 16(d)(2).
In response to Yeager's motion, the district court held an evidentiary hearing to ascertain whether the alleged discovery abuses took place. Based on that hearing, the district court concluded that the government had several of the requested documents in its possession throughout the pendency of the case. Moreover, the district court found that the government made several false statements regarding the documents in its possession to Yeager, the court, and the grand jury. In addition to those affirmative misrepresentations, the district court found that the government conducted discovery with negligence amounting to "deliberate indifference." On whole, the district court described the government's conduct as "[a]t the very least ... reprehensible."
Against the backdrop of those factual findings, the district court evaluated the merits of Yeager's motion to dismiss. The district court determined that the government did not commit Brady error because the documents were not within its exclusive control. Nevertheless, the district court concluded that the government violated Criminal Rule 16(a)(1)(C) as a result of not producing the requested documents in its possession, custody, or control. Based on that violation, the district court employed its ability under Criminal Rule 16(d)(2) to sanction parties for discovery abuses and dismissed the indictment without prejudice.
Because the dismissal without prejudice allowed for the possibility that Yeager would be indicted again, Yeager appealed the dismissal on October 26, 2000. All told, Yeager's concerns of a possible re-indictment were justified-on September 5 2001, he was indicted for eighteen counts of bank fraud.
The parties raise several arguments on appeal for our consideration. Yeager contends that the district court erred in imposing the least severe sanction against the government and that due to the severity, scope, and cumulative effect of the government's misconduct (which the government concedes was "serious"), the indictment should have been dismissed with prejudice. The government responds by arguing that this Court does not have jurisdiction over the appeal; the district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to dismiss the indictment with prejudice; Yeager waived his claims by pleading guilty; the government unwittingly violated Rule 16, but committed no other misconduct; and this case does not justify dismissal with prejudice. We now consider those arguments.
Our first task is to address the government's challenge to our appellate subject matter jurisdiction. See Steel Co. v. Citizens For A Better Env't, 523 U.S. 83, 94, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998) ; Great Southern Fire Proof Hotel Co. v. Jones, 177 U.S. 449, 453, 20 S.Ct. 690, 44 L.Ed. 842 (1900) ( ). A court of appeals independently evaluates its appellate jurisdiction over cases. Mitchell v. Maurer, 293 U.S. 237, 244, 55 S.Ct. 162, 79 L.Ed. 338 (1934) (); Great Southern Fire Proof Hotel Co., 177 U.S. at 453; see also Campanella v. Commerce Exch. Bank, 137 F.3d 885, 890 (6th Cir.1998) ( ). Moreover, for appellate jurisdiction to exist, it must be conferred by statute. Carroll v. United States, 354 U.S. 394, 399, 77 S.Ct. 1332, 1 L.Ed.2d 1442 (1957) (); see also 15A Charles Alan Wright Arthur R. Miller & Edward H. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3905, at 232 (2d ed. 1992) (). Yeager argues that we have appellate jurisdiction over the district court's dismissal of his indictment without prejudice under both 18 U.S.C. § 3742 and 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Therefore, our first priority is to assess whether either of those statutes provides appellate jurisdiction over this appeal.
Section 3742 of Chapter 18 of the United States Revised Code does not provide this Court with appellate jurisdiction over Yeager's appeal. Rather than serve as a general grant of jurisdiction over any component of a sentencing hearing, § 3742 provides appellate jurisdiction over appeals of final sentences, 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a) & (b), and appeals of plea agreements that include specific sentences under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(e)(1)(C), id. § 3742(c). But, here, Yeager did not receive a final sentence; nor did his plea agreement include a specific sentence under Criminal Rule 11(e)(1)(C). Consequently, § 3742 does not confer this Court with jurisdiction over Yeager's appeal.
Similarly, we lack jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Section 1291 cloaks appellate courts with appellate jurisdiction over "final decisions of the district courts of the United States." 28 U.S.C. § 1291. The Supreme Court explained in Parr v. United States that "[i]n general, a `judgment' or `decision' is final for purposes of appeal only `when it terminates the litigation between the parties on the merits of the case, and leaves nothing to be done but to enforce by execution what has been determined.'" 351 U.S. 513, 518, 76 S.Ct. 912, 100 L.Ed. 1377 (1956) ). For a dismissal without prejudice to be inherently final, it must, as a practical matter, prevent the parties from further litigating the merits of the case in federal court. See Amazon, Inc. v. Dirt Camp, Inc., 273 F.3d 1271, 1275 (10th Cir.2001) ; Domino Sugar Corp. v. Sugar Workers Local Union 392, 10 F.3d 1064, 1067 (4th Cir.1993) (...
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