Free Motion to Dismiss Indictment due to improper Grand Jury Instructions - District Court of California - California

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1 JENNIFER L. COON California State Bar No. 203913 2 FEDERAL DEFENDERS OF SAN DIEGO, INC. 225 Broadway, Suite 900 3 San Diego, CA 92101-5008 (619) 234-8467/Fax: (619) 687-2666 4 E-Mail: [email protected] 5 Attorneys for Mr. Elfego Arce-Martinez 6 7 8 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (HONORABLE DANA M. SABRAW) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) I. BACKGROUND Mr. Arce-Martinez was arrested on November 2, 2007. The government alleges that, on that date, CASE NO. 07CR3207-DMS DATE: TIME: January 11, 2008 11:00 a.m.

11 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 12 13 v. 14 ELFEGO ARCE-MARTINEZ, 15 16 17 18 19 Defendant. Plaintiff,

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION

20 Mr. Arce-Martinez was found hiding in the brush in an area located north of the border and seven miles east 21 of the Tecate, California port of entry. 22 On November 28, 2007, the government filed an indictment charging Mr. Arce-Martinez with one

23 count of violating 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b) (illegal alien found in the United States after deportation). The 24 indictment was returned by the January 2007 grand jury. 25 26 // 27 // 28 // This motion follows.

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II. THE INDICTMENT SHOULD BE DISMISSED BECAUSE JUDGE BURNS'S INSTRUCTIONS AS A WHOLE PROVIDED TO THE JANUARY 2007 GRAND JURY RUN AFOUL OF BOTH NAVARRO-VARGAS AND WILLIAMS AND VIOLATE THE FIFTH AMENDMENT BY DEPRIVING MR. ARCE-MARTINEZ OF THE TRADITIONAL FUNCTIONING OF THE GRAND JURY Introduction The indictment in the instant case was returned by the January 2007 grand jury. That grand jury was

7 instructed by the Honorable Larry A. Burns, United States District Court Judge on January 11, 2007. See 8 Reporter's Partial Transcript of the Proceedings, dated January 11, 2007, a copy of which is attached hereto 9 as Exhibit A. Judge Burns's instructions to the impaneled grand jury deviate from the instructions at issue 10 in the major Ninth Circuit cases challenging a form grand jury instruction previously given in this district in 11 several ways.1 These instructions compounded Judge Burns's erroneous instructions and comments to 12 prospective grand jurors during voir dire of the grand jury panel, which immediately preceded the instructions 13 at Ex. A. See Reporter's Transcript of Proceedings, dated January 11, 2007, a copy of which is attached 14 hereto as Exhibit B.2 15 16 17 18 After repeatedly emphasizing to the grand jurors that probable cause determination was their sole 1. Judge Burns Instructed Grand Jurors That Their Singular Duty Is to Determine Whether or Not Probable Cause Exists and That They Have No Right to Decline to Indict When the Probable Cause Standard Is Satisfied.

19 responsibility, see Ex. A at 3, 3-4, 5,3 Judge Burns instructed the grand jurors that they were forbidden "from 20 judg[ing] the wisdom of the criminal laws enacted by Congress; that is, whether or not there should be a 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 See, e.g., United States v. Cortez-Rivera, 454 F.3d 1038 (9th Cir. 2006); United States v. Navarro-Vargas, 408 F.3d 1184 (9th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 126 S. Ct. 736 (2005) (NavarroVargas II); United States v. Navarro-Vargas, 367 F.3d 896 (9th Cir. 2004)(Navarro-Vargas I); United States v. Marcucci, 299 F.3d 1156 (9th Cir. 2002) (per curiam). The transcript of the voir dire indicates that grand jurors were shown a video presentation on the role of the grand jury. Mr. Arce-Martinez requests that the video presentation be produced. See United States v. Alter, 482 F.2d 1016, 1029 n.21 (9th Cir. 1973) ("[t]he proceedings before the grand jury are secret, but the ground rules by which the grand jury conducts those proceedings are not.").
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See also id. at 20 ("You're all about probable cause."). 2 07CR3207-DMS

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1 federal law or should not be a federal law designating certain activity [as] criminal is not up to you." See id. 2 at 8. The instructions go beyond that, however, and tell the grand jurors that, should "you disagree with that 3 judgment made by Congress, then your option is not to say `well, I'm going to vote against indicting even 4 though I think that the evidence is sufficient' or `I'm going to vote in favor of even though the evidence may 5 be insufficient.'" See id. at 8-9. Thus, the instruction flatly bars the grand jury from declining to indict 6 because the grand jurors disagree with a proposed prosecution. 7 Immediately before limiting the grand jurors' powers in the way just described, Judge Burns referred

8 to an instance in the grand juror selection process in which he excused three potential jurors. See id. at 8. 9 10 I've gone over this with a couple of people. You understood from the questions and answers that a couple of people were excused, I think three in this case, because they could not adhere to the principle that I'm about to tell you.

11 Id. That "principle" was Judge Burns's discussion of the grand jurors' inability to give effect to their 12 disagreement with Congress. See id. at 8-9. Thus, Judge Burns not only instructed the grand jurors on his 13 view of their discretion; he enforced that view on pain of being excused from service as a grand juror. 14 Examination of the recently disclosed voir dire transcript, which contains additional instructions and

15 commentary in the form of the give and take between Judge Burns and various prospective grand jurors, 16 reveals how Judge Burns's emphasis of the singular duty to determine whether or not probable cause exists, 17 and his statement that grand jurors cannot judge the wisdom of the criminal laws enacted by Congress, merely 18 compounded an erroneous series of instructions already given to the grand jury venire. In one of his earliest 19 substantive remarks, Judge Burns makes clear that the grand jury's sole function is probable cause 20 determination. 21 22 23 24 25 See Ex. B at 8. In this passage, Judge Burns twice uses the term "should" in a context that makes clear that 26 the term is employed to convey instruction: "should" cannot reasonably be read to mean optional when it 27 addresses the obligation not to indict when the grand jury has no "reasonable belief that a crime was 28 [T]he grand jury is determining really two factors: "do we have a reasonable belief that a crime was committed? And second, do we have a reasonable belief that the person that they propose that we indict committed the crime?" If the answer is "yes" to both of those, then the case should move forward. If the answer to either of the questions is "no," then the grand jury should not hesitate and not indict.

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1 committed" or if it has no "reasonable belief that the person that they propose that we indict committed the 2 crime." 3 Equally revealing are Judge Burns's interactions with two potential grand jurors who indicated that,

4 in some unknown set of circumstances, they might decline to indict even where there was probable cause. 5 Because of the redactions of the grand jurors' names, Mr. Arce-Martinez will refer to them by occupation. 6 One is a retired clinical social worker (hereinafter CSW), and the other is a real estate agent (hereinafter 7 REA). The CSW indicated a view that no drugs should be considered illegal and that some drug prosecutions 8 were not an effective use of resources. See id. at 16. The CSW was also troubled by certain unspecified 9 immigration cases. See id. 10 Judge Burns made no effort to determine what sorts of drug and immigration cases troubled the CSW.

11 He never inquired as to whether the CSW was at all troubled by the sorts of cases actually filed in this district, 12 such as drug smuggling cases and cases involving reentry after deportation and alien smuggling. Rather, he 13 provided instructions suggesting that, in any event, any scruples CSW may have possessed were simply not 14 capable of expression in the context of grand jury service. 15 16 17 18 Now, the question is can you fairly evaluate [drug cases and immigration cases]? Just as the defendant is ultimately entitled to a fair trial and the person that's accused is entitled to a fair appraisal of the evidence of the case that's in front of you, so, too, is the United States entitled to a fair judgment. If there's probable cause, then the case should go forward. I wouldn't want you to say, "well, yeah, there's probable cause, but I still don't like what our government is doing. I disagree with these laws, so I'm not going to vote for it to go forward." If that is your frame of mind, the probably you shouldn't serve. Only you can tell me that.

19 See id. at 16-17 (emphasis added). Thus, without any sort of context whatsoever, Judge Burns let the grand 20 juror know that he would not want him or her to decline to indict in an individual case where the grand juror 21 "[didn't] like what our government is doing," see id. at 17, but in which there was probable cause. See id. 22 Such a case "should go forward." See id. Given that blanket proscription on grand juror discretion, made 23 manifest by Judge Burns's use of the pronoun "I," the CSW indicated that it "would be difficult to support 24 a charge even if [the CSW] thought the evidence warranted it." See id. Again, Judge Burns's question 25 provided no context; he inquired regarding "a case," a term presumably just as applicable to possession of 26 a small amount of medical marijuana as kilogram quantities of methamphetamine for distribution. Any grand 27 juror listening to this exchange could only conclude that there was no case in which Judge Burns would 28 permit them to vote "no bill" in the face of a showing probable cause.

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Just in case there may have been a grand juror that did not understand his or her inability to exercise

2 anything like prosecutorial discretion, Judge Burns drove the point home in his exchange with REA. REA 3 first advised Judge Burns of a concern regarding the "disparity between state and federal law" regarding 4 "medical marijuana." See id. at 24. Judge Burns first sought to address REA's concerns about medical 5 marijuana by stating that grand jurors, like trial jurors, are simply forbidden from taking penalty 6 considerations into account. 7 8 9 Well, those things -- the consequences of your determination shouldn't concern you in the sense that penalties or punishment, things like that -- we tell trial jurors, of course, that they cannot consider the punishment or the consequence that Congress has set for these things. We'd ask you to also abide by that. We want you to make a business-like decision of whether there was a probable cause. . . .

10 Id. at 24-25. Having stated that REA was to "abide" by the instruction given to trial jurors, Judge Burns went 11 on to suggest that REA recuse him or herself from medical marijuana cases. See id. at 25. 12 In response to further questioning, REA disclosed REA's belief "that drugs should be legal." See id.

13 That disclosure prompted Judge Burns to begin a discussion that ultimately led to an instruction that a grand 14 juror is obligated to vote to indict if there is probable cause. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Id. at 26-27 (emphasis added). Thus, the grand juror's duty is to conduct a simple two part test, which, if both 24 questions are answered in the affirmative, lead to an "obligation" to indict. 25 Having set forth the duty to indict, and being advised that REA was "uncomfortable" with that 26 paradigm, Judge Burns then set about to ensure that there was no chance of a deviation from the obligation 27 to indict in every case in which there was probable cause. 28 // 5 07CR3207-DMS You'd have a similar obligation as a grand juror even though you might have to grit your teeth on some cases. Philosophically, if you were a member of congress, you'd vote against, for example, criminalizing marijuana. I don't know if that's it, but you'd vote against criminalizing some drugs. That's not what your prerogative is here. You're prerogative instead is to act like a judge and say, "all right. This is what I've to deal with objectively. Does it seem to me that a crime was committed? Yes. Does it seem to me that this person's involved? It does." And then your obligation, if you find those to be true, would be to vote in favor of the case going forward. I can tell you sometimes I don't agree with some of the legal decisions that are indicated that I have to make. But my alternative is to vote for someone different, vote for someone that supports the policies I support and get the law changed. It's not for me to say, "well, I don't like it. So I'm not going to follow it here."

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The Court: REA:

Do you think you'd be inclined to let people go in drug cases even though you were convinced there was probable cause they committed a drug offense? It would depend on the case. Is there a chance that you would do that? Yes. I appreciate your answers. I'll excuse you at this time.

3 The Court: 4 REA: 5 The Court: 6 7 Id. at 27. Two aspects of this exchange are crucial. First, REA plainly does not intend to act solely on his 8 political belief in decriminalization -- whether he or she would indict "depend[s] on the case," see id., as it 9 should. Because REA's vote "depend[s] on the case," see id., it is necessarily true that REA would vote to 10 indict in some (perhaps many or even nearly all) cases in which there was probable cause. Again, Judge 11 Burns made no effort to explore REA's views; he did not ascertain what sorts of cases would prompt REA 12 to hesitate. The message is clear: it does not matter what type of case might prompt REA's reluctance to 13 indict because, once the two part test is satisfied, the "obligation" is "to vote in favor of the case going 14 forward."4 See id. at 27. That is why even the "chance," see id., that a grand juror might not vote to indict 15 was too great a risk to run. 16 17 18 In addition to his instructions on the authority to choose not to indict, Judge Burns also assured the 2. The Instructions Posit a Non-Existent Prosecutorial Duty to Offer Exculpatory Evidence.

19 grand jurors that prosecutors would present to them evidence that tended to undercut probable cause. See 20 Ex. A at 20.5 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 This point is underscored by Judge Burns's explanation to the Grand Jury that a magistrate judge will have determined the existence of probable cause "in most circumstances" before it has been presented with any evidence. See Ex. A at 6. This instruction created an imprimatur of finding probable cause in each case because had a magistrate judge not so found, the case likely would not have been presented to the Grand Jury for indictment at all. The Grand Jury was informed that it merely was redundant to the magistrate court "in most circumstances." See id. This instruction made the grand jury more inclined to indict irrespective of the evidence presented. These instructions were provided in the midst of several comments that praised the United States Attorney's Office and prosecutors in general. Judge Burns advised the grand jurors that they "can expect that the U.S. Attorneys that will appear in from of [them] will be candid, they'll be honest, and . . . they'll act in good faith in all matters presented to you." See Ex. A at 27. The instructions delivered during voir dire go even further. In addressing a prospective grand juror who 6 07CR3207-DMS
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Now, again, this emphasizes the difference between the function of the grand jury and the trial jury. You're all about probable cause. If you think that there's evidence out there that might cause you to say "well, I don't think probable cause exists," then it's incumbent upon you to hear that evidence as well. As I told you, in most instances, the U.S. Attorneys are duty-bound to present evidence that cuts against what they may be asking you to do if they're aware of that evidence.

5 Id. (emphasis added). 6 The antecedent to this instruction is also found in the voir dire. After advising the grand jurors that

7 "the presentation of evidence to the grand jury is necessarily one-sided," see Ex. B at 14, Judge Burns 8 gratuitously added that "[his] experience is that the prosecutors don't play hide-the-ball. If there's something 9 adverse or that cuts against the charge, you'll be informed of that. They have a duty to do that." See id. 10 Thus, Judge Burns unequivocally advised the grand jurors that the government would present any evidence 11 that was "adverse" or "that cuts against the charge." See id. 12 // 13 // 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 In addition, while Judge Burns instructed the Grand Jury that it had the power to question witnesses, Judge Burns's instructions also told the Grand Jury that it should "be deferential to the U.S. Attorney if there is an instance where the U.S. Attorney thinks a question ought not to be asked." See Ex. B at 12. As the dissent in Navarro-Vargas pointed out, "the grand jury's independence is diluted by [such an] instruction, which encourages deference to prosecutors." Navarro-Vargas, 408 F.3d at 1215. The judge's admonition that his statement was only "advice," see Ex. A at 12, does not cure the error as courts regularly presume grand jurors follow instructions provided to them by the court. See id. at 1202, n.23 ("We must presume that grand jurors will follow instructions because, in fact, we are prohibited from examining jurors to verify whether they understood the instruction as given and then followed it."). 7 07CR3207-DMS revealed "a strong bias for the U.S. Attorney, whatever cases they might bring," see Ex. B at 38, Judge Burns affirmatively endorsed the prospective juror's view of the U.S. Attorney's office, even while purporting to discourage it: "frankly, I agree with the things you are saying. They make sense to me." See id. at 43. See also id. at 40 ("You were saying that you give a presumption of good faith to the U.S. Attorney and assume, quite logically, that they're not about the business of trying to indict innocent people or people that they believe to be innocent or the evidence doesn't substantiate the charges against."). Judge Burns's discussion of his once having been a prosecutor before the Grand Jury compounded the error inherent in his praising of the government attorneys. See Ex. A at 9-10. Judge Burns's instructions implied that as a prior prosecutor and current "jury liaison judge," see id. at 8, he would not allow the government attorneys to act inappropriately or to present cases for indictment where no probable cause existed.

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1 B. 2 3

Navarro-Vargas Establishes Limits on the Ability of Judges to Constrain the Powers of the Grand Jury, Which Judge Burns Far Exceeded in His Instructions as a Whole During Impanelment. The Ninth Circuit has, over vigorous dissents, rejected challenges to various instructions given to

4 grand jurors in the Southern District of California. See Navarro-Vargas II, 408 F.3d 1184. While the Ninth 5 Circuit has thus far (narrowly) rejected such challenges, it has, in the course of adopting a highly formalistic 6 approach6 to the problems posed by the instructions, endorsed many of the substantive arguments raised by 7 the defendants in those cases. The district court's instructions cannot be reconciled with the role of the grand 8 jury as set forth in Navarro-Vargas II. Taken together, the voir dire of and instructions given to the January 9 2007 Grand Jury, go far beyond those at issue in Navarro-Vargas, taking a giant leap in the direction of a 10 bureaucratic, deferential grand jury, focused solely upon probable cause determinations and utterly unable 11 to exercise any quasi-prosecutorial discretion. That is not the institution the Framers envisioned. See United 12 States v. Williams, 504 U.S. 36, 49 (1992). 13 For instance, with respect to the grand jury's relationship with the prosecution, the Navarro-Vargas

14 II majority acknowledges that the two institutions perform similar functions: "`the public prosecutor, in 15 deciding whether a particular prosecution shall be instituted or followed up, performs much the same function 16 as a grand jury.'" Navarro-Vargas II, 408 F.3d at 1200 (quoting Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 510 17 (1978)). Accord United States v. Navarro-Vargas, 367 F.3d 896, 900 (9th Cir. 2004) (Navarro-Vargas 18 I)(Kozinski, J., dissenting) (The grand jury's discretion in this regard "is most accurately described as 19 prosecutorial." ). See also Navarro-Vargas II, 408 F.3d at 1213 (Hawkins, J., dissenting). It recognizes that 20 the prosecutor is not obligated to proceed on any indictment or presentment returned by a grand jury, id., but 21 also that "the grand jury has no obligation to prepare a presentment or to return an indictment drafted by the 22 prosecutor." Id. See Niki Kuckes, The Democratic Prosecutor: Explaining the Constitutional Function of 23 the Federal Grand Jury, 94 Geo. L.J. 1265, 1302 (2006) (the grand jury's discretion not to indict was 24 "`arguably . . . the most important attribute of grand jury review from the perspective of those who insisted 25 26 27 28 See Navarro-Vargas II, 408 F.3d at 1210-11 (Hawkins, J., dissenting) (criticizing the majority because "[t]he instruction's use of the word `should' is most likely to be understood as imposing an inflexible `duty or obligation' on grand jurors, and thus to circumscribe the grand jury's constitutional independence."). 8 07CR3207-DMS
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1 that a grand jury clause be included in the Bill of Rights'") (quoting Wayne LaFave et al., Criminal Procedure 2 § 15.2(g) (2d ed. 1999)). 3 Indeed, the Navarro-Vargas II majority agrees that the grand jury possesses all the attributes set forth

4 in Vasquez v. Hillery, 474 U.S. 254 (1986): 5 6 7 The grand jury thus determines not only whether probable cause exists, but also whether to "charge a greater offense or a lesser offense; numerous counts or a single count; and perhaps most significant of all, a capital offense or a non-capital offense -- all on the basis of the same facts." And, significantly, the grand jury may refuse to return an indictment even "where a conviction can be obtained."

8 408 F.3d at 1200 (quoting Vasquez, 474 U.S. at 263). The Supreme Court has itself reaffirmed Vasquez's 9 description of the grand jury's attributes in Campbell v. Louisiana, 523 U.S. 392 (1998), noting that the grand 10 jury "controls not only the initial decision to indict, but also significant questions such as how many counts 11 to charge and whether to charge a greater or lesser offense, including the important decision whether to 12 charge a capital crime." Id. at 399 (citing Vasquez, 474 U.S. at 263). Judge Hawkins notes that the Navarro13 Vargas II majority accepts the major premise of Vasquez: "the majority agrees that a grand jury has the power 14 to refuse to indict someone even when the prosecutor has established probable cause that this individual has 15 committed a crime." See id. at 1214 (Hawkins, J. dissenting). Accord Navarro-Vargas I, 367 F.3d at 899 16 (Kozinski, J., dissenting); United States v. Marcucci, 299 F.3d 1156, 1166-73 (9th Cir. 2002) (per curiam) 17 (Hawkins, J., dissenting). In short, the grand jurors' prerogative not to indict enjoys strong support in the 18 Ninth Circuit. But not in Judge Burns's instructions. 19 C. 20 21 The Navarro-Vargas II majority found that the instruction in that case "leave[s] room for the grand Judge Burns's Instructions Forbid the Exercise of Grand Jury Discretion Established in Both Vasquez and Navarro-Vargas II.

22 jury to dismiss even if it finds probable cause," 408 F.3d at 1205, adopting the analysis in its previous 23 decision in Marcucci. Marcucci reasoned that the instructions do not mandate that grand jurors indict upon 24 every finding of probable cause because the term "should" may mean "what is probable or expected." 299 25 F.3d at 1164 (citation omitted). That reading of the term "should" makes no sense in context, as Judge 26 Hawkins ably pointed out. See Navarro-Vargas II, 408 F.3d at 1210-11 (Hawkins, J., dissenting) ("The 27 instruction's use of the word `should' is most likely to be understood as imposing an inflexible `duty or 28 obligation' on grand jurors, and thus to circumscribe the grand jury's constitutional independence."). See

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1 also id. at 1211 ("The word `should' is used `to express a duty [or] obligation.'") (quoting The Oxford 2 American Diction and Language Guide 931 (1999) (brackets in original)). 3 The debate about what the word "should" means is irrelevant here; the instructions here make no such

4 fine distinction. The grand jury instructions make it painfully clear that grand jurors simply may not choose 5 not to indict in the event of what appears to them to be an unfair application of the law: should "you disagree 6 with that judgment made by Congress, then your option is not to say `well, I'm going to vote against indicting 7 even though I think that the evidence is sufficient'...." See Ex. B at 8-9. Thus, the instruction flatly bars the 8 grand jury from declining to indict because they disagree with a proposed prosecution. No grand juror would 9 read this language as instructing, or even allowing, him or her to assess "the need to indict." Vasquez, 474 10 U.S. at 264. 11 While Judge Burns used the word "should" instead of "shall" during voir dire with respect to whether

12 an indictment was required if probable cause existed, see Ex. B at 4, 8, in context, it is clear that he could only 13 mean "should" in the obligatory sense. For example, when addressing a prospective juror, Judge Burns not 14 only told the jurors that they "should" indict if there is probable cause, he told them that if there is not 15 probable cause, "then the grand jury should hesitate and not indict." See id. at 8. At least in context, it would 16 strain credulity to suggest that Judge Burns was using "should" for the purpose of "leaving room for the grand 17 jury to [indict] even if it finds [no] probable cause." See Navarro-Vargas, 408 F.3d at 1205. Clearly he was 18 not. 19 The full passage cited above effectively eliminates any possibility that Judge Burns intended the

20 Navarro-Vargas spin on the word "should." 21 22 23 24 25 See Ex. B at 8. Of the two sentences containing the word "should," the latter of the two essentially states that 26 if there is no probable cause, you should not indict. Judge Burns could not possibly have intended to "leav[e] 27 room for the grand jury to [indict] even if it finds [no] probable cause." See Navarro-Vargas, 408 F.3d at 28 1205 (citing Marcucci, 299 F.3d at 1159). That would contravene the grand jury's historic role of protecting [T]he grand jury is determining really two factors: "do we have a reasonable belief that a crime was committed? And second, do we have a reasonable belief that the person that they propose that we indict committed the crime?" If the answer is "yes" to both of those, then the case should move forward. If the answer to either of the questions is "no," then the grand jury should not hesitate and not indict.

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1 the innocent.

See, e.g., United States v. Calandra, 414 U.S. 338, 343 (1974) (The grand jury's

2 "responsibilities continue to include both the determination whether there is probable cause and the protection 3 of citizens against unfounded criminal prosecutions.") (citation omitted). 4 By the same token, if Judge Burns said that "the case should move forward" if there is probable cause,

5 but intended to "leav[e] room for the grand jury to dismiss even if it finds probable cause," see Navarro6 Vargas, 408 F.3d at 1205 (citing Marcucci, 299 F.3d at 1159), then he would have to have intended two 7 different meanings of the word "should" in the space of two consecutive sentences. That could not have been 8 his intent. But even if it were, no grand jury could ever have had that understanding.7 Jurors are not 9 presumed to be capable of sorting through internally contradictory instructions. See generally United States 10 v. Lewis, 67 F.3d 225, 234 (9th Cir. 1995) ("where two instructions conflict, a reviewing court cannot 11 presume that the jury followed the correct one") (citation, internal quotations and brackets omitted). 12 Lest there be any room for ambiguity, on no less than four occasions, Judge Burns made it explicitly

13 clear to the grand jurors that "should" was not merely suggestive, but obligatory: 14 (1) The first occasion occurred in the following exchange when Judge Burns conducted voir dire

15 and excused a potential juror (CSW): 16 17 18 19 Prospective Juror: 20 The Court: 21 Prospective Juror: 22 The Court: 23 24 25 26 27 28 This argument does not turn on Mr. Arce-Martinez's view that the NavarroVargas/Marcucci reading of the word "should" in the model instructions is wildly implausible. Rather, it turns on the context in which the word is employed by Judge Burns in his unique instructions, context which eliminates the Navarro-Vargas/Marcucci reading as a possibility. 11 07CR3207-DMS
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The Court:

. . . If there's probable cause, then the case should go forward. I wouldn't want you to say, "Well, yeah, there's probable cause. But I still don't like what the government is doing. I disagree with these laws, so I'm not going to vote for it to go forward." If that's your frame of mind, then probably you shouldn't serve. Only you can tell me that. Well, I think I may fall in that category. In the latter category? Yes. Where it would be difficult for you to support a charge even if you thought the evidence warranted it? Yes. I'm going to excuse you then.

Prospective Juror: The Court:

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1 See Ex. B at 17. There was nothing ambiguous about the word "should" in this exchange with a prospective 2 juror. Even if the prospective juror did not like what the government was doing in a particular case, that case 3 "should go forward" and Judge Burns expressly disapproved of any vote that might prevent that. See id. ("I 4 wouldn't want you [to vote against such a case]"). The sanction for the possibility of independent judgment 5 was dismissal, a result that provided full deterrence of that juror's discretion and secondary deterrence as to 6 the exercise of discretion by any other prospective grand juror. 7 (2) In an even more explicit example of what "should" meant, Judge Burns makes clear that there

8 is an unbending obligation to indict if there is probable cause. Grand jurors have no other prerogative. 9 Court: . . . It's not for me to say, "Well, I don't like it. So I'm not going to follow it here." 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Id. at 26-27 (emphasis added). After telling this potential juror (REA) what his obligations and prerogatives 17 were, the Court inquired as to whether "you'd be inclined to let people go on drug cases even though you 18 were convinced there was probable cause they committed a drug offense?" Id. at 27. The potential juror 19 responded: "It would depend on the case." Id. Nevertheless, that juror was excused. Id. at 28. Again, in this 20 context, and contrary to the situation in Navarro-Vargas, "should" means "shall"; it is obligatory, and the 21 juror has no prerogative to do anything other than indict if there is probable cause. 22 Moreover, as this example demonstrates, the issue is not limited to whether the grand jury believes That's not what your prerogative is here. Your prerogative instead is act like a judge and to say, "All right. This is what I've got to deal with objectively. Does it seem to me that a crime was committed? Yes. Does it seem to me that this person's involved? It does." And then your obligation, if you find those things to be true, would be to vote in favor of the case going forward. You'd have a similar obligation as a grand juror even though you might have to grit your teeth on some cases. Philosophically, if you were a member of Congress, you'd vote against, for example, criminalizing marijuana. I don't know if that's it, but you'd vote against criminalizing some drugs.

23 a particular law to be "unwise." This juror said that any decision to indict would not depend on the law, but 24 rather it would "depend on the case." Thus, it is clear that Judge Burns's point was that if a juror could not 25 indict on probable cause for every case, then that juror was not fit for service. It is equally clear that the 26 prospective juror did not dispute the "wisdom of the law;" he was prepared to indict under some factual 27 scenarios, perhaps many. But Judge Burns did not pursue the question of what factual scenarios troubled the 28 prospective jurors, because his message is that there is no discretion not to indict.

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1

(3)

As if the preceding examples were not enough, Judge Burns continued to pound the point

2 home that "should" meant "shall" when he told another grand juror during voir dire: "[W]hat I have to insist 3 on is that you follow the law that's given to us by the United States Congress. We enforce the federal laws 4 here." See id. at 61. 5 (4) And then again, after swearing in all the grand jurors who had already agreed to indict in every

6 case where there was probable cause, Judge Burns reiterated that "should" means "shall" when he reminded 7 them that "your option is not to say `well, I'm going to vote against indicting even though I think that the 8 evidence is sufficient . . . . Instead your obligation is . . . not to bring your personal definition of what the law 9 ought to be and try to impose that through applying it in a grand jury setting." See Ex. A at 9. 10 Moreover, Judge Burns advised the grand jurors that the were forbidden from considering the

11 penalties to which indicted persons may be subject. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 The Court: Prospective Juror: The Court: Prospective Juror (REA): ... And as far as being fair, it kind of depends on what the case is about because there is a disparity between state and federal law. In what regard? Specifically, medical marijuana. Well, those things -- the consequences of your determination shouldn't concern you in the sense that penalties or punishment, things like that -- we tell trial jurors, of course, that they cannot consider the punishment or the consequence that Congress has set for these things. We'd ask you to also abide by that. We want you to make a business-like decision of whether there was a probable cause. ...

20 See Ex. A at 24-25 (emphasis added). A "business-like decision of whether there was a probable cause" 21 would obviously leave no role for the consideration of penalty information. 22 The Ninth Circuit previously rejected a claim based upon the proscription against consideration of

23 penalty information based upon the same unlikely reading of the word "should" employed in Marcucci. See 24 United States v. Cortez-Rivera, 454 F.3d 1038, 1040-41 (9th Cir. 2006). Cortez-Rivera is inapposite for two 25 reasons. First, Judge Burns did not use the term "should" in the passage quoted above. Second, that context, 26 as well as his consistent use of a mandatory meaning in employing the term, eliminate the ambiguity (if there 27 ever was any) relied upon by Cortez-Rivera. The instructions again violate Vasquez, which plainly 28 authorized consideration of penalty information. See 474 U.S. at 263.

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Nothing can mask the undeniable fact that Judge Burns explicitly instructed the jurors time and time

2 again that they had a duty, an obligation, and a singular prerogative to indict each and every case where there 3 was probable cause. These instructions go far beyond the holding of Navarro-Vargas and stand in direct 4 contradiction of the Supreme Court's decision in Vasquez. Indeed, it defies credulity to suggest that a grand 5 juror hearing these instructions, and that voir dire, could possibly believe what the Supreme Court held in 6 Vasquez: 7 8 9 10 11 474 U.S. at 263 (quoting United States v. Ciambrone, 601 F.2d 616, 629 (2d Cir. 1979) (Friendly, J., 12 dissenting)); accord Campbell v. Louisiana, 523 U.S. 392, 399 (1998) (The grand jury "controls not only the 13 initial decision to indict, but also significant decisions such as how many counts to charge and whether to 14 charge a greater or lesser offense, including the important decision whether to charge a capital crime."). Nor 15 would the January 2007 grand jury ever believe that it was empowered to assess the "the need to indict." See 16 id. at 264. Judge Burns's grand jury is not Vasquez's grand jury. The instructions therefore represent 17 structural constitutional error "that interferes with the grand jury's independence and the integrity of the grand 18 jury proceeding." See United States v. Isgro, 974 F.2d 1091, 1094 (9th Cir. 1992). The indictment must 19 therefore be dismissed. Id. 20 The Navarro-Vargas II majority's faith in the structure of the grand jury is not a cure for the The grand jury does not determine only that probable cause exists to believe that a defendant committed a crime, or that it does not. In the hands of the grand jury lies the power to charge a greater offense or a lesser offense; numerous counts or a single count; and perhaps most significant of all, a capital offense or a non-capital offense ­ all on the basis of the same facts. Moreover, "[t]he grand jury is not bound to indict in every case where a conviction can be obtained."

21 instructions excesses. The Navarro-Vargas II majority attributes "[t]he grand jury's discretion -- its 22 independence -- [to] the absolute secrecy of its deliberations and vote and the unreviewability of its 23 decisions." 408 F.3d at 1200. As a result, the majority discounts the effect that a judge's instructions may 24 have on a grand jury because "it is the structure of the grand jury process and its function that make it 25 independent." Id. at 1202 (emphases in the original). 26 Judge Hawkins sharply criticized this approach. The majority, he explains, "believes that the

27 `structure' and `function' of the grand jury -- particularly the secrecy of the proceedings and unreviewability 28 of many of its decisions -- sufficiently protects that power." See id. at 1214 (Hawkins, J., dissenting). The

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1 flaw in the majority's analysis is that "[i]nstructing a grand jury that it lacks power to do anything beyond 2 making a probable cause determination ... unconstitutionally undermines the very structural protections that 3 the majority believes save[] the instruction." Id. After all, it is an "`almost invariable assumption of the law 4 that jurors follow their instructions.'" Id. (quoting Richardson v. Marsh, 481 U.S. 200, 206 (1987)). If that 5 "invariable assumption" were to hold true, then the grand jurors could not possibly fulfill the role described 6 in Vasquez. Indeed, "there is something supremely cynical about saying that it is fine to give jurors erroneous 7 instructions because nothing will happen if they disobey them." Id. 8 In setting forth Judge Hawkins' views, Mr. Arce-Martinez understands that this Court may not adopt

9 them solely because the reasoning that supports them is so much more persuasive than the majority's 10 sophistry. Rather, he sets them forth to urge the Court not to extend what is already untenable reasoning. 11 Here, again, the question is not an obscure interpretation of the word "should," especially in light of

12 the instructions and commentary by Judge Burns during voir dire discussed above - unaccounted for by the 13 Court in Navarro-Vargas II because they had not yet been disclosed to the defense, but an absolute ban on 14 the right to refuse to indict that directly conflicts with the recognition of that right in Vasquez, Campbell, and 15 both Navarro-Vargas II opinions. Navarro-Vargas II is distinguishable on that basis, but not only that. 16 Judge Burns did not limit himself to denying the grand jurors the power that Vasquez plainly states

17 they enjoy. He also excused prospective grand jurors who might have exercised that Fifth Amendment 18 prerogative, excusing "three [jurors] in this case, because they could not adhere to [that] principle...." See 19 Ex. A at 8; Ex. B at 17, 28. The structure of the grand jury and the secrecy of its deliberations cannot 20 embolden grand jurors who are no longer there, likely because they expressed their willingness to act as the 21 conscience of the community. See Navarro-Vargas II, 408 F.3d at 1210-11 (Hawkins, J., dissenting) (a grand 22 jury exercising its powers under Vasquez "serves ... to protect the accused from the other branches of 23 government by acting as the `conscience of the community.'") (quoting Gaither v. United States, 413 F.2d 24 1061, 1066 & n.6 (D.C. Cir. 1969)). The federal courts possess only "very limited" power "to fashion, on 25 their own initiative, rules of grand jury procedure," United States v. Williams, 504 U.S. 36, 50 (1992), and, 26 here, Judge Burns has both fashioned his own rules and enforced them. 27 // 28 //

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1 D. 2 3

The Instructions Conflict with Williams' Holding That There Is No Duty to Present Exculpatory Evidence to the Grand Jury. In Williams, the defendant, although conceding that it was not required by the Fifth Amendment,

4 argued that the federal courts should exercise their supervisory power to order prosecutors to disclose 5 exculpatory evidence to grand jurors, or, perhaps, to find such disclosure required by Fifth Amendment 6 common law. See 504 U.S. at 45, 51. Williams held that "as a general matter at least, no such `supervisory' 7 judicial authority exists." See id. at 47. Indeed, although the supervisory power may provide the authority 8 "to dismiss an indictment because of misconduct before the grand jury, at least where that misconduct 9 amounts to a violation of one of those `few, clear rules which were carefully drafted and approved by this 10 Court and by Congress to ensure the integrity of the grand jury's functions,'" id. at 46 (citation omitted), it 11 does not serve as "a means of prescribing such standards of prosecutorial conduct in the first instance." Id. 12 at 47 (emphasis added). The federal courts possess only "very limited" power "to fashion, on their own 13 initiative, rules of grand jury procedure." Id. at 50. As a consequence, Williams rejected the defendant's 14 claim, both as an exercise of supervisory power and as Fifth Amendment common law. See id. at 51-55. 15 Despite the holding in Williams, the instructions here assure the grand jurors that prosecutors would

16 present to them evidence that tended to undercut probable cause. See Ex. A at 20. 17 18 19 20 21 Id. (emphasis added). Moreover, the district court later returned to the notion of the prosecutors and their 22 duties, advising the grand jurors that they "can expect that the U.S. Attorneys that will appear in from of 23 [them] will be candid, they'll be honest, and ... they'll act in good faith in all matters presented to you." See 24 id. at 27. The Ninth Circuit has already concluded it is likely this final comment is "unnecessary." See 25 Navarro-Vargas, 408 F.3d at 1207. 26 This particular instruction has a devastating effect on the grand jury's protective powers, particularly Now, again, this emphasizes the difference between the function of the grand jury and the trial jury. You're all about probable cause. If you think that there's evidence out there that might cause you say "well, I don't think probable cause exists," then it's incumbent upon you to hear that evidence as well. As I told you, in most instances, the U.S. Attorneys are duty-bound to present evidence that cuts against what they may be asking you to do if they're aware of that evidence.

27 if it is not true. It begins by emphasizing the message that Navarro-Vargas II somehow concluded was not 28 conveyed by the previous instruction: "You're all about probable cause." See Ex. A at 20. Thus, once again,

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1 the grand jury is reminded that they are limited to probable cause determinations (a reminder that was 2 probably unnecessary in light of the fact that Judge Burns had already told the grand jurors that they likely 3 would be excused if they rejected this limitation). The instruction goes on to tell the grand jurors that they 4 should consider evidence that undercuts probable cause, but also advises the grand jurors that the prosecutor 5 will present it. The end result, then, is that grand jurors should consider evidence that goes against probable 6 cause, but, if none is presented by the government, they can presume that there is none. After all, "in most 7 instances, the U.S. Attorneys are duty-bound to present evidence that cuts against what they may be asking 8 you to do if they're aware of that evidence." See id. Moreover, during voir dire, Judge Burns informed the 9 jurors that "my experience is that the prosecutors don't play hide-the-ball. If there's something adverse or 10 that cuts against the charge, you'll be informed of that. They have a duty to do that." See Ex. B at 14-15 11 (emphasis added). Thus, if the exculpatory evidence existed, it necessarily would have been presented by 12 the "duty-bound" prosecutor, because the grand jurors "can expect that the U.S. Attorneys that will appear 13 in from of [them] will be candid, they'll be honest, and ... they'll act in good faith in all matters presented to 14 you." See Ex. A at 27. 15 These instructions create a presumption that, in cases where the prosecutor does not present

16 exculpatory evidence, no exculpatory evidence exists. A grand juror's reasoning, in a case in which no 17 exculpatory evidence was presented, would proceed along these lines: 18 19 20 21 (3) (1) (2) I have to consider evidence that undercuts probable cause. The candid, honest, duty-bound prosecutor would, in good faith, have presented any such evidence to me, if it existed. Because no such evidence was presented to me, I may conclude that there is none.

22 Even if some exculpatory evidence were presented, a grand juror would necessarily presume that the evidence 23 presented represents the universe of all available exculpatory evidence; if there was more, the duty-bound 24 prosecutor would have presented it. 25 // 26 // 27 // 28 //

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The instructions, therefore, discourage investigation -- if exculpatory evidence were out there, the

2 prosecutor would present it, so investigation is a waste of time -- and provide additional support to every 3 probable cause determination: i.e., this case may be weak, but I know that there is nothing on the other side 4 of the equation because it was not presented. A grand jury so badly misguided is no grand jury at all under 5 the Fifth Amendment. 6 7 8 III. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, Mr. Arce-Martinez respectfully requests that the Court grant the above

9 motion. 10 11 12 DATED: 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 December 28, 2007 /s/ Jennifer L. Coon JENNIFER L. COON Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. Attorneys for Mr. Arce-Martinez [email protected] Respectfully submitted,

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE Counsel for Defendant certifies that the foregoing pleading is true and accurate to the best of

3 information and belief, and that a copy of the foregoing document has been caused to be delivered this day 4 upon: 5 6 7 8 Dated: December 28, 2007 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 /s/ Jennifer L. Coon JENNIFER L. COON Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. 225 Broadway, Suite 900 San Diego, CA 92101-5030 (619) 234-8467 (tel) (619) 687-2666 (fax) e-mail: [email protected] Courtesy Copy Court Nicole A Jones, [email protected]

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