Defendant-appellant Phillip Murph appeals from the District Court's judgment of conviction and sentence. We assume the parties' familiarity with the underlying facts and the procedural history of this case.
This appeal arises out of Murph's conviction at trial
On appeal, Murph argues that the judgment of conviction should be overturned for seven reasons: (1) he was denied a fair trial due to prosecutorial misconduct, vindictive prosecution, and selective prosecution; (2) the verdict in his case was based on legally insufficient evidence and the government constructively amended the indictment in its trial summation; (3) the District Court erred by holding portions of Murph's proffer statements admissible at trial, in reliance upon United States v. Barrow, 400 F.3d 109 (2d Cir. 2005); (4) he received ineffective assistance from his first trial attorney; (5) the District Court abused its discretion at sentencing by misstating the statutory maximum punishment as to one count of conviction, failing to specify the names of the alleged co-conspirators upon whose participation in the alleged scheme a sentencing enhancement was based, and including clerical errors in the written judgment; (6) the government violated its duty under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), to disclose potentially exculpatory evidence when it failed to turn over to the defense proffer statements allegedly made by Murph's brother-in-law; and (7) Murph's rights to speedy presentment of his case before a grand jury and to a speedy trial were violated when the government did not seek indictment until 88 days after his arrest.
In a supplemental pro se submission, Murph raises five additional points: (1) the imposition of separate $100 special assessments on each of the two counts of conviction violated his right to be free from double jeopardy and that his conviction on Count Three should be vacated as a result; (2) the government failed to timely disclose the names of Murph's alleged co-conspirators; (3) Count Four of the indictment should have specified the exact quantity of cocaine with which Murph was charged; (4) the government violated its Brady obligations by failing to disclose an allegedly exculpatory statement made by Murph's brother-in-law during a proffer session (essentially a restatement of the Brady claim in his counseled brief); and (5) the written judgment contained an error in the drug quantity charged in Count Three—namely, that the judgment incorrectly stated that the quantity of cocaine charged was 500 grams, rather than 200 grams—thereby rendering his conviction on Count Three illegal.
Murph alleges that the prosecutor in charge of his case engaged in misconduct throughout the proceedings in the District Court, which caused him to be subjected to either (or both) vindictive or selective prosecution.
To succeed on an allegation of selective prosecution, Murph must show both that the decision to prosecute him was based on his race, religion, or the desire to prevent him from exercising his constitutional rights, and that other similarly situated individuals suspected of conduct of a similar type have not been prosecuted. See United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456, 464-65 (1996). In order to establish a vindictive prosecution claim, Murph must show that "(1) the prosecutor harbored genuine animus toward [him] . . . and (2) [he] would not have been prosecuted except for the animus." United States v. Sanders, 211 F.3d 711, 717 (2d Cir. 2000) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
Murph's claims with regard to both allegations fail at their second stages. With regard to his selective prosecution claim, he cannot show that other similarly situated individuals were not prosecuted—indeed, the prosecution of his co-conspirators proves otherwise. With regard to his vindictive prosecution claim, he cannot show that the prosecutor's alleged animus was the only motivating factor behind the government's decision to bring a prosecution based on an investigation that was at least several months in the making (and that began several months before any specific animus-driven action is alleged).
Although we do not condone the inadequate investigative work of the prosecutor, her actions simply do not rise to the level of either vindictive or selective prosecution. This ground for appeal is meritless.
Murph argues that the evidence presented to the jury did not support a verdict of guilty, especially given his claim that some of the most damaging evidence was wrongly admitted. In reviewing a claim of insufficient evidence to sustain a jury verdict, we view the evidence "in the light most favorable to the prosecution," asking whether "any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt." Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979). We consider all evidence admitted at trial, whether properly admitted or not. See McDaniel v. Brown, 130 S.Ct. 665, 672 (2010); United States v. Hardwick, 523 F.3d 94, 101 (2d Cir. 2008).
At trial, the government presented numerous phone conversations between Murph and his co-conspirators in which they discussed their activities in the drug trade. Murph argues that, because some of the conversations were in code, the jury could not rationally have believed that they referred to drug trafficking. However, both Agent Fitzpatrick and Omar Mims, one of Murph's alleged co-conspirators, testified to the true meaning of the coded conversations.
Murph claims that the District Court erred by determining that certain statements made during a proffer session would be admissible if he sought to elicit contradictory facts from a proposed government witness. A defendant's statements made pursuant to a proffer agreement are generally not admissible in court. However, such statements become admissible when required to "fairly rebut" a "factual assertion" elicited by the defendant that would "cast[] doubt on the truthfulness of factual assertions advanced, whether directly or implicitly, by an adversary." United States v. Barrow, 400 F.3d 109, 119-121 (2d Cir. 2005). We review the District Court's admission of proffer statements for abuse of discretion. Id. at 117; see Sims v. Blot, 534 F.3d 117, 132 (2d Cir. 2008) (explaining the term of art "abuse of discretion" as including errors of law).
Murph argues that our holding in United States v. Oluwanisola, 605 F.3d 124 (2d Cir. 2010), modified our holding in Barrow. Murph claims that, "according to Oluwanisola, a defense attorney should be permitted to make factual assertions that contradict what the defendant said at his proffer session." This is not the law. Although a defendant is free to argue that the prosecution has not met its burden of proof as to specific elements of the charged crime, see id. at 131-32, or to challenge in general terms the credibility of a prosecution witness, id. at 133, he is not free to elicit facts that directly contradict statements that he made in his proffer session. See id. at 132-33. Any attempt to elicit such facts runs a strong risk of opening the door to the admission of the proffer statements. See Barrow, 400 F.3d at 118-19.
Murph did not seek to "simply challenge[] the sufficiency of government proof," Oluwanisola, 605 F.3d at 131 (internal quotation marks omitted), or to ask questions "that go[] to the credibility of the government's witness," id. at 133. Rather, the questions Murph would have sought to ask the prosecution witness would have been calculated to elicit facts directly contradicting the statements made by Murph during his proffer session. In these circumstances, the District Court did not abuse its discretion by warning Murph that, by putting forward his alternate factual theory in the course of examining the witness, he would open the door to the admission of his proffer statements. Id. at 132-33.
Murph argues that the written judgment contains several errors, which are primarily clerical matters. First, the judgment refers to a prior felony conviction that should not have appeared in the judgment. The government has agreed to a remand to the District Court for the entry of a corrected judgment striking the references to a prior felony conviction.
The government has also agreed that we should remand the case to the District Court in order to permit the court to make specific factual findings as to the identities of at least four of Murph's co-conspirators.
We have considered all of the arguments raised in Murph's supplemental pro se brief, as well as the remainder of the arguments made in his counseled submissions not explicitly addressed above. With the exception of his ineffective assistance of counsel claim,
We have examined the arguments made by Murph in both his pro se and his counseled submissions and find them to be without merit. We hereby AFFIRM the judgment of conviction, VACATE the sentencing portion of the April 5, 2010 judgment of the District Court, and REMAND the cause solely for a limited resentencing proceeding. Upon resentencing, the District Court shall make specific findings as to the identities of the four co-conspirators whose participation in the conspiracy the court considered in enhancing Murph's sentence under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(a). Once the District Court has made the required factual findings, it shall determine whether the four-level managerial role enhancement should be reimposed, and resentence the defendant accordingly.
On remand, the Clerk of the Eastern District of New York shall also amend the written judgment to (a) omit all references to Murph's prior felony conviction, (b) change the number "500 grams" to "200 grams" for Count Three only, and (c) reflect the District Court's imposition of concurrent terms of supervised release on Counts Three and Four, to be served consecutively to any term of imprisonment or supervised release imposed upon him for the violation of his supervised release in the prior felony.
We remand in accordance with the procedures set forth in United States v. Jacobson, 15 F.3d 19, 22 (2d Cir. 1994). Either party may restore jurisdiction to this Court to consider whatever arguments remain or arise relating to Murph's resentencing by sending a letter to the Clerk of this Court within 14 days of the District Court's decision. Any such proceedings will be assigned to this panel.