United States v. Rodella

• Citation: 59 F.Supp.3d 1331
• Decision Date: 12 November 2014
• Docket Number: No. CR 14–2783 JB.,CR 14–2783 JB.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Thomas R. RODELLA and Thomas R. Rodella, Jr., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico

59 F.Supp.3d 1331

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff

v.Thomas R. RODELLA and Thomas R. Rodella, Jr., Defendants.

No. CR 14–2783 JB.

United States District Court, D. New Mexico.

Filed Nov. 12, 2014.

Damon P. Martinez, United States Attorney, Tara C. Neda, Jeremy Peña, Assistant United States Attorneys, United States Attorney's Office, Albuquerque, NM, for Plaintiff.

Robert J. Gorence, Louren M. Oliveros, Gorence & Oliveros PC, Albuquerque, NM, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JAMES O. BROWNING, District Judge.

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on: (i) Defendant Thomas R. Rodella's Motion to Disqualify the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico, the Prosecutor in This Case, by Virtue of the U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez Being a Witness, filed September 4, 2014 (Doc. 37)(“Motion”); and (ii) Defendant R. Rodella's Amended Motion to Disqualify the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico, the Prosecutor in this Case, by Virtue of U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez Being a Witness, filed September 5, 2014 (Doc. 38)(“Amended Motion”). The Court held evidentiary hearings on September 15, 2014, and September 16, 2014. The primary issues are: (i) whether the United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, Damon Martinez, may be compelled to testify when his testimony does not concern the facts underlying the case and when his testimony can be sought from other witnesses; (ii) whether the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico should be disqualified from the case when Mr. Martinez may be biased against Defendant Thomas Rodella; and (iii) whether the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico should be disqualified from the case when Mr. Martinez may be called as a factual witness in the case. Because Mr. Martinez' testimony is irrelevant to the case, and because Rodella may obtain evidence that is the subject of Mr. Martinez' testimony from other sources, Mr. Martinez cannot be compelled to testify. Additionally, because a court should rarely—if ever—disqualify an entire United States Attorney's Office, and because one attorney's bias is not imputed to an entire government agency, the Court will not disqualify the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico. Accordingly, the Court will deny the Motion and the Amended Motion.¹

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The Superseding Indictment, filed September 9, 2014 (Doc. 55)(“Indictment”), alleges that on March 11, 2014, in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, Rodella, while acting under color of state law, subjected a person—Michael Tafoya—to “unreasonable seizure by a law enforcement officer.” Indictment at 1. Specifically, Rodella allegedly used unreasonable force and caused an “unlawful arrest by deputies of the Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Office.” Indictment at 1. “This offense resulted in bodily injur[ies]” to a person, and included the “use and threatened use of a dangerous weapon.” Indictment at 1. The Indictment further alleges that Rodella carried and brandished a firearm “during and in relation to a crime of violence for which the defendant may be prosecuted in a court of the United States,” and that, “in furtherance of such crime, possessed and brandished said firearm.” Indictment at 1–2.

Before the Grand Jury indicted Rodella, Mr. Martinez invited Rodella to a meeting on May 7, 2014, to discuss the relationship between the United States Forest Service (“Forest Service”) and the Rio Arriba Sheriff's Office. See Amended Motion at 2; Affidavit of Jean–Claude dei Fiori Arnold at 1–2, filed September 5, 2014 (Doc. 38–1)(“Arnold Aff.”). The discussions were to concern Forest Service special agents' assertions that they had authority to stop motorists outside of national forest lands and Rodella's refusal to deputize them as Rio Arriba County deputy sheriffs. See Amended Motion at 2. At the meeting, Rodella and five other individuals represented the Rio Arriba Sherriff Office; Mr. Martinez, along with several Assistant United States Attorneys (“AUSAs”), Forest Service attorneys, and Forest Service law enforcement officers, represented the Forest Service. Arnold Aff. at 3. Mr. Martinez requested that the meeting remain confidential and that no recordings be made. See Arnold Aff. at 3. During the meeting, Mr. Martinez threatened “Sheriff Rodella with arrest/prosecution if the sheriff or any of his deputies in any way interfered with any [Forest Service] law enforcement officer carry[ing] out his/her supposed legitimate mission anywhere in Rio Arriba County.” Arnold Aff. at 4. In making this threat, Mr. Martinez “chastised the sheriff for challenging the authority and practices of [Forest Service] law enforcement personnel and, by doing so, fomenting unrest among the citizenry of the sheriff's jurisdiction.” Arnold Aff. at 4.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On September 4, 2014, Rodella filed the Motion to disqualify the United District Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico, and on September 5, 2014, he filed the Amended Motion. See Motion at 1; Amended Motion at 1. A week later, on September 12, 2014, the United States filed the Response to Motion to Disqualify the U.S. Attorney's Office, filed September 12, 2014 (Doc. 76)(“Response”). The Court held evidentiary hearings on September 15, 2014, and September 16, 2014.

1. The Briefs.

Rodella asserts that he will call Mr. Martinez “as a witness at trial to elicit his confession that he threatened Mr. Rodella with arrest and prosecution.” Amended Motion at 2. Rodella argues that this “testimony is relevant to demonstrate the improper motive and bias of U.S. Attorney Martinez because personal animosity between a prosecutor and a criminal defendant may be probative of an improper motive by the prosecutor.” Amended Motion at 2. Rodella contends that a “United States Attorney can be disqualified from prosecuting a case if he or she has a personal or political relationship to a case.” Amended Motion at 3 (citing 28 C.F.R. § 45.2 ). Rodella argues that the “disqualification of government counsel ... has been allowed in certain circumstances particularly where there is a conflict of interest,” and that “ ‘the district court must make attorney-specific findings and legal conclusions before disqualifying attorneys from the USA's office.’ ” Amended Motion at 3 (quoting United States v. Bolden, 353 F.3d 870, 879 (10th Cir.2003) ). Rodella contends that, because Mr. Martinez “has a personal and political relationship to this case,” and because he “personally threatened arrest and prosecution if Mr. Rodella did not comply with his demands to deputize federal law enforcement agents as Rio Arriba County deputy sheriffs,” Mr. Martinez has been placed “squarely in the middle of the underlying conduct in this case, and he has a specific interest in prosecuting Mr. Rodella in order to remove him as sheriff.” Amended Motion at 4.

Rodella argues that the Court has “absolute discretion to permit a defendant to call the prosecutor as a witness if the prosecutor ‘possesses information vital to the defense.’ ” Amended Motion at 4 (quoting United States v. Wooten, 377 F.3d 1134, 1143 (10th Cir.2004) ). Rodella notes that, to “call a prosecutor as a witness in his case, ‘a defendant has an obligation to exhaust other available sources of evidence before a court should sustain efforts to call a participating prosecutor as a witness.’ ” Amended Motion at 4 (quoting United States v. Prantil, 764 F.2d 548, 551 (9th Cir.1985) ( “Prantil ”)). Rodella directs the Court to United States v. Troutman, 814 F.2d 1428 (10th Cir.1987), where, Rodella argues, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld a district court's denial of a defendant's motion to disqualify the New Mexico Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, who were approved “to act as Special Assistant United State [s] Attorneys for the prosecution of criminal charges,” because there were a number of other potential witnesses who could provide testimony of the relevant meeting and correspondence. Amended Motion at 5 (citing United States v. Troutman, 814 F.2d at 1439–40 ). Rodella argues that this case is more similar to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's case, Prantil. See Amended Motion at 6. Rodella contends that, in Prantil, the defendant sought to call as a witness an AUSA, who had negotiated directly with the defendant for his surrender. See Amended Motion at 6. Rodella argues that the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's refusal to permit the AUSA to testify, because the “testimony was not duplicative” and “the defendant had shown a compelling need to call the participating prosecutor as a witness.” Amended Motion at 6. Rodella contends that Mr. Martinez was a direct participant in the meeting with Rodella and that Mr. Martinez “directly threatened Sheriff Rodella with arrest and prosecution, a threat which he later made good on.” Amended Motion at 6. Rodella argues that Mr. Martinez is “a vital witness as he is the one who made these direct threats” and that, “although there were other individuals present, the rules of evidence do not allow the other witnesses to testify to statements made by” Mr. Martinez. Amended Motion at 6–7. Rodella argues that Mr. Martinez “should be disqualified from the prosecution of this case so that he may be called as a witness at trial.” Amended Motion at 7.

Rodella contends that, because Mr. Martinez is a “vital witness to the defense's case,” the “disqualification of the entire United States Attorney's Office is warranted in this case.” Amended Motion at 9. Rodella refers the Court to 28 U.S.C. § 541 to argue that, because Mr. Martinez “is the U.S. Attorney, all Assistant United States Attorneys work under his authority and control.” Amended Motion at 9. Rodella argues that, because Mr. Martinez “will be called as a witness at trial,” he “cannot also prosecute this case.” Amended Motion at 9–10. Rodella contends that ...