United States v. Piccioli

• Decision Date: 29 October 1965
• Docket Number: Docket 29521.,No. 489,489
• Citation: 352 F.2d 856
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Carl A. PICCIOLI, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

352 F.2d 856 (1965)

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Carl A. PICCIOLI, Appellant.

No. 489, Docket 29521.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued June 8, 1965.

Decided October 29, 1965.

Philip Baroff, Bridgeport, Conn. (Charles Hanken, Bridgeport, Conn., on brief), for appellant.

Howard T. Owens, Jr., Asst. U. S. Atty. (Jon O. Newman, U. S. Atty., District of Connecticut), for appellee.

Before WATERMAN, FRIENDLY and SMITH, Circuit Judges.

FRIENDLY, Circuit Judge:

Piccioli was charged in a two-count indictment with violating 26 U.S.C. § 7302 by wilful failure to pay the special gambling tax, 26 U.S.C. § 4411, and to register, 26 U.S.C. § 4412, and was convicted on both counts before Chief Judge Timbers and a jury. He was sentenced on the first count to imprisonment for one year and a fine of $5,000; on the second, imposition of sentence was suspended and probation fixed at two years.

Piccioli was one of the proprietors of the Pin-Up Bar in Bridgeport. Special Agent Ripa of the I.R.S. testified (on cross-examination) that "Artie" Gjanci, a defendant in United States v. Costello, 352 F.2d 848 (2 Cir. 1965), instructed that, through arrangement between himself and Piccioli, Ripa could place bets with Piccioli and that, when doing this by phone, he should say "This is Bill for Artie." Thereafter Ripa placed numerous horse race bets with Piccioli. There was evidence of furtiveness on Piccioli's part in accepting Ripa's wagers and paying his winnings. During the October 8 raid described in the Costello opinion, Special Agent Macolini obtained nearly $500 in cash and checks from Piccioli's pockets, along with three issues of a horse racing publication used by bookmakers. On that occasion in one hour a Connecticut State Trooper, engaged in the search of the Pin-Up Bar, received 23 calls from persons who were seeking to ascertain odds or, as the jury could properly infer, were about to place bets. Since this and other evidence warranted conviction, we turn to Piccioli's claims of error:

(1) Our Costello opinion details the publicity on October 8 and 9. When Piccioli was put to plea in New Haven on October 21, he requested that trial be had in Bridgeport, where the publicity had been most intense. On November 30 and December 1, four juries to try Piccioli's and other gambling cases were selected from the same venire, apparently with the understanding that the cases would be tried seriatim; the record shows no objection to that procedure and, when Piccioli's jury was being selected, the only venireman who recalled reading or hearing of his case was not chosen. His trial was adjourned until after that of Costello, Marchetti and Gjanci, which was widely publicized in the Bridgeport press. Piccioli's name figured in this, he being the "Carl" referred to in our opinion in that case; the papers reported he had been subpoenaed by the Government and had been excused at his lawyer's request. When Piccioli's case was called for trial on December 15, his counsel sought a new jury or a continuance because of the publicity given the Costello trial and Piccioli's involvement in it. The judge denied this but said he would inquire of the jurors, which he did without objection from counsel. When asked whether they had read or heard anything about the case or about Piccioli, there was no response.

In this aspect Piccioli's case is not significantly different from that of Costello, Marchetti and Gjanci. No objection on the score of the publicity on October 8 and 9 was made before the adverse verdict. The only issue relating to publicity which was brought to the judge's attention prior to trial was the newspaper accounts of the trial of Costello, Marchetti and Gjanci. A correct report of the trial and conviction of other persons for the same type of offense would not in and of itself be prejudicial, even when, as here, one of them figured in the evidence at the later trial; and there is no reason to suppose the jurors would read into the request that Piccioli be excused a claim of the privilege against self-incrimination. Moreover, we see no reason why the judge had to disbelieve the jurors' responses that the reports had not come to their attention.

(2) Another point has more merit but, in our view, not enough to demand reversal. Special Agent Macolini testified that after completing his search at the Pin-Up Bar, he told Piccioli and the latter's attorney, Mr. Hanken, who had entered the kitchen area in pursuit of a cup of coffee shortly after the raid, that he would like to ask "a few personal history questions"; that the attorney said he had instructed Piccioli not to answer questions; that Macolini then submitted his question sheet to Mr. Hanken; and that the attorney allowed Piccioli "to answer those personal history questions that were on the sheet." No objection was made to this, and the subject was not revived by counsel in cross, redirect, or recross examination. At the conclusion of Macolini's testimony, the judge reverted to this episode and, over objection by defense counsel, elicited an affirmative answer from Macolini to a question, "But the defendant was instructed in your presence by Mr. Hanken not to answer any questions with respect to whether or not he was accepting horse wagers on the premises." After listening to argument, the judge said, "I simply wanted to get it clear in my mind, and I assume the jury did also, as to precisely what happened," and then instructed "that, once the defendant was placed under arrest, it was his privilege under the Constitution not to answer any questions that might tend to incriminate him under Federal law * * * What brought the question on my part was, I was not quite sure what was meant by personal history questions, as distinguished from whatever questions he declined to answer." In submitting the case to the jury, the judge recounted Macolini's testimony and added that Mr. Hanken had a right to advise Piccioli not to answer questions and that Piccioli had a constitutional right not to do so.

Inquiry designed to establish that a defendant claimed the privilege against self-incrimination before a grand jury or a legislative committee or failed to testify at a former trial has been held in several cases to constitute reversible error. See Grunewald v. United States, 353 U.S. 391, 415-424, 77 S.Ct. 963, 1 L.Ed.2d 931 (1957); Stewart v. United States, 366 U.S. 1, 81 S.Ct. 941, 6 L.Ed. 2d 84 (1961); United States v. Gross, 276 F.2d 816 (2 Cir. 1960). If the privilege attaches at the moment of arrest, as the judge assumed, inquiry to show its assertion at that time would seem equally banned.¹ And we would reach the same conclusion although that assumption is wrong and the right of an arrested person not to respond rests simply on the lack of any power in the police to compel testimony — a hotly controverted issue² which we need not here decide. Silence under such circumstances, at least when, as in this case, it results from the advice of an attorney, affords no fair ground for relevant...