United States v. Bartholomew Rivieccio, 919 F.2d 812, 2d Cir. (1990)

919 F.
2d 812
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,

v.
Bartholomew RIVIECCIO, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 1639, Docket 89-1581.
United States Court of Appeals,

Second Circuit.
Argued Aug. 17, 1990.
Decided Nov. 2, 1990.
John N. Cuomo, New Hyde Park, N.Y., for defendant-appellant.

Nicholas M. Defeis, Asst. U.S. Atty., Brooklyn, N.Y. (Andrew J.
Maloney, U.S. Atty. E.D. New York, Matthew E. Fishbein, Peter A.
Norling, Asst. U.S. Attys., of counsel), for appellee.
Before MINER and ALTIMARI, Circuit Judges, and KELLEHER,
District Judge.*
KELLEHER, District Judge:
This is an appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for
the Eastern District of New York. A jury convicted Defendant-Appellant
Bartholomew Rivieccio ("Appellant") of one count of conspiracy to
commit mail fraud (18 U.S.C. Sec. 371), ten counts of mail fraud (18
U.S.C. Sec. 1341), nine counts of bribery of bank officials (18 U.S.C. Sec.
215), one count of misapplication of credit union funds (18 U.S.C. Sec.
657), and one count of bank fraud (18 U.S.C. Sec. 1344). The district
court sentenced him to concurrent five-year terms on each count, payment
of restitution, and a special assessment.
On appeal, Appellant claims that the district court erred in failing to
dismiss the indictment, arguing that the Government improperly used his
immunized testimony, both directly and indirectly, before the Grand Jury
that indicted him and at trial. We affirm.
* Appellant's conviction stems from his role in a scheme to defraud the
HYFIN (Help Your Friend in Need) Credit Union ("Credit Union") and
Chemical Bank, taking place from 1981 to April 1986. In summary,

Appellant fraudulently induced the Credit Union and Chemical Bank into
financing the purchase and rehabilitation of buildings located primarily in
Brooklyn.
In April 1986, Arnold Kramer, an employee of the Credit Union, began
cooperating with Government attorneys in exchange for a no-prosecution
agreement. Kramer revealed a scheme in which Appellant's real estate
corporations obtained loans from the Credit Union with the assistance of
some Credit Union officers. The loans were improper for a variety of
reasons. They were unsecured and obtained for the benefit of Appellant's
real estate corporations. Under New York banking law, corporations are
not entitled to receive loans from credit unions. In addition, the loans
exceeded the Credit Union's lending limits and were completed without
the necessary paperwork. To obtain the loans, Appellant bribed some
Credit Union officers by giving them shares in the corporations holding
properties he had purchased.
After Appellant became so deeply in debt that the Credit Union would no
longer lend him money, he applied for and received loans from Chemical
Bank without disclosing that he owed several million dollars to the Credit
Union.
Pursuant to the information furnished by Kramer, agents of the New York
State Banking Department and the United States Attorney's office
obtained and executed search warrants for the Credit Union's and
Appellant's offices in April 1986. The searches resulted in the seizure of
numerous documents and records.
Within weeks, Appellant's accomplices in the scheme agreed to plead
guilty to assorted charges arising out of the scheme and to cooperate in the
investigation. As part of those plea agreements, the accomplices agreed to
be debriefed and to testify at subsequent proceedings.
In June 1987, Appellant's attorneys produced materials subpoenaed by a
Grand Jury investigating the financial affairs of the Credit Union.
Thereafter, Appellant testified before the Grand Jury on July 2, July 9,
and September 10, 1987 after being granted use immunity under 18 U.S.C.
Sec. 6002.1
The ostensible purpose of Appellant's Grand Jury appearance was to
authenticate the documents produced by his attorneys in response to the
Grand Jury subpoenas. However, the scope of the questioning extended
beyond the mere authentication of records. Specifically, Appellant
answered questions pertaining to, inter alia, the preparation of the

documents, the ownership and operation of the real estate corporations,
and the identity of his associates in the project, including that of his
accountant, Ralph Strafaci.
On February 1, 1988, a new Grand Jury was impanelled. On May 5, 1988,
the new Grand Jury returned an indictment against Appellant. Superseding
indictments followed on July 21 and November 3, 1988, the latter being
the charge upon which Appellant stood trial. The Government did not
present the Grand Jury that indicted Appellant with any of the transcripts
of Appellant's immunized testimony before the 1987 Grand Jury.
Before his trial commenced, Appellant moved to dismiss the superseding
indictment on the ground that the Government used his immunized
testimony against him. The district court deferred the hearing on the
motion until after trial.
The testimony of Appellant's former accomplices and numerous
documents established the Government's case against Appellant.
Appellant rested without putting on a defense.
Following the trial, the district court conducted a hearing pursuant to
Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441, 92 S.Ct. 1653, 32 L.Ed.2d 212
(1972), to determine whether the Government used Appellant's
immunized testimony, either directly or indirectly, to procure the
indictment and subsequent conviction. The district court concluded that
the Government had met its burden of demonstrating that the information
used to indict Appellant and the evidence admitted at trial were obtained
through legitimate independent sources. Accordingly, the district court
denied Appellant's motion. United States v. Rivieccio, 723 F.Supp. 867
(E.D.N.Y.1989). The denial of this motion is the subject of this appeal.
II
The question presented in this appeal is whether the district court erred in
denying Appellant's motion to dismiss the indictment. We think not, and
for the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the district
court.
III
Appellant raised two issues in his motion to dismiss the indictment, both
of which are presented in this appeal. Under Kastigar, a defendant "need
only show that he or she testified under a grant of immunity in order to
shift to the government the heavy burden of proving that all of the
evidence was derived from legitimate independent sources." 406 U.S. at
461-62, 92 S.Ct. at 1665-66.
Appellant claims that the Government made use of his immunized
testimony both at trial and before the Grand Jury that returned his
indictment. We address each of these claims in turn.
* The district court found that the Government had demonstrated an
independent source for all the evidence introduced at trial. Whether the
Government made use of immunized grand jury testimony is an issue of
fact, and the district court's findings will not be reversed unless clearly
erroneous. United States v. Gallo, 863 F.2d 185, 190 (2d Cir.1988), cert.
denied, 489 U.S. 1083, 109 S.Ct. 1539, 103 L.Ed.2d 843 (1989).
At the Kastigar hearing, the Appellant conceded that all of the evidence
presented at trial was derived from independent legitimate sources except
for the testimony of Ralph Strafaci, Appellant's accountant. With respect
to Strafaci's testimony, Appellant contends that the Government learned or
confirmed the identity of Strafaci as a result of Appellant's immunized
testimony. Appellant concedes that the Government was aware of
Strafaci's name and profession prior to his immunized testimony but
argues instead that the immunized testimony caused the Government to
focus on Strafaci. We disagree.
It is uncontroverted that the Government learned about Strafaci long
before Appellant's Grand Jury testimony. Strafaci was present at
Appellant's office when the Government executed the April 1986 search
warrant. At that time, Anthony Valenti, a criminal investigator for the
United States Attorney's office, was told by Strafaci that he was the
accountant for Appellant's corporations. Valenti gave Strafaci a card and
told him that he should have a lawyer call him. Shortly thereafter,
Strafaci's lawyer contacted Valenti.
In addition, during a January 1987 court appearance (six months prior to
Appellant's first Grand Jury appearance), the Government referred to
Strafaci as Appellant's accountant and indicated that Strafaci had turned
documents over to Appellant's attorneys at Appellant's direction. Finally,
Strafaci's name appears on various documents produced by Appellant
prior to his immunized testimony in response to the Grand Jury
subpoenas.
Hence, the Government was clearly aware of Strafaci and his possible
involvement in or knowledge of the fraudulent scheme before he was
identified during Appellant's Grand Jury testimony. The record thus

supports the district court's finding that Strafaci's testimony at trial was
derived from independent legitimate sources. This finding was not clearly
erroneous; therefore, we cannot disturb the finding of the district court.
Appellant also contends that the Government made indirect use of his
immunized testimony at trial. The gist of this argument is that the
Government used Appellant's immunized testimony to (i) shape and focus
the questioning of witnesses and (ii) ascertain Appellant's demeanor.2
Our analysis of Appellant's "indirect use" argument ends where it begins-with our holding in United States v. Mariani, 851 F.2d 595 (2d Cir.1988),
cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1011, 109 S.Ct. 1654, 104 L.Ed.2d 168 (1989). In
Mariani, we declined to follow the reasoning utilized in other circuits that
would "foreclose the prosecution of an immunized witness where his
immunized testimony might have tangentially influenced the prosecutor's
thought processes in preparing the indictment and preparing for trial." Id.
at 600. 3
As the district court recognized, our holding in Mariani controls and is
dispositive here. To the extent the Government's thought process or
questioning of witnesses may have been influenced by Appellant's
immunized testimony, we hold that any such use was merely tangential
and was therefore not a prohibited use.
As for Appellant's claim that his immunized testimony served to expose
his "wiseguy" demeanor under questioning, Appellant did not testify at
trial; thus, his demeanor was never put in issue. Even if the Government
assumed that Appellant would not testify at trial (based on Appellant's
"wiseguy" demeanor before the Grand Jury), such judgments cannot be
considered a "use" of Appellant's immunized Grand Jury testimony.
Mariani, 851 F.2d at 601.
We conclude that the district court properly rejected Appellant's claim that
the Government made use of his immunized testimony at trial. The record
supports the district court's finding that the Government demonstrated an
independent source for all the evidence introduced at trial, and our
decision in Mariani forecloses Appellant's claim that the Government
made indirect use of his immunized testimony.
B
We now turn to Appellant's claim that the indictment was tainted by the
Government's use of his immunized testimony. We need not examine the
specifics of Appellant's allegations of misuse. Even if we assume, for the

sake of argument, that the Government did misuse Appellant's immunized
testimony, he would not be entitled to a dismissal of the indictment.
It is fundamental in our system of criminal justice that "an indictment
returned by a properly constituted grand jury is not subject to challenge on
the ground that it was based on unconstitutionally obtained evidence."
United States v. Washington, 431 U.S. 181, 185 n. 3, 97 S.Ct. 1814, 1818
n. 3, 52 L.Ed.2d 238 (1977) "(citations omitted)". The Supreme Court has
consistently recognized this rule as applying to claims that an indictment
was based on evidence obtained in violation of the privilege against selfincrimination. See Midland Asphalt Corp. v. United States, 489 U.S. 794,
109 S.Ct. 1494, 1499, 103 L.Ed.2d 879 (1989); United States v. Calandra,
414 U.S. 338, 345, 94 S.Ct. 613, 618, 38 L.Ed.2d 561 (1974); Gelbard v.
United States, 408 U.S. 41, 60, 92 S.Ct. 2357, 2367, 33 L.Ed.2d 179
(1972); United States v. Blue, 384 U.S. 251, 255 n. 3, 86 S.Ct. 1416, 1419
n. 3, 16 L.Ed.2d 510 (1966); Lawn v. United States, 355 U.S. 339, 350, 78
S.Ct. 311, 318, 2 L.Ed.2d 321 (1958). The rule has also been applied by
the Second Circuit. See United States v. James, 493 F.2d 323, 326 (2d
Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 849, 95 S.Ct. 87, 42 L.Ed.2d 79 (1974).
Neither the enactment of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 6001 et seq. nor Kastigar have
altered the effect of this rule. We agree with Judge Van Graafeiland's
conclusion that the legislative history of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 6002 and 6003
shows that "Congress did not intend that a violation of those sections
would result in a per se constitutional injury requiring dismissal of the
indictment." United States v. Gallo, 859 F.2d 1078, 1090 (2d Cir.1988)
(Van Graafeiland, J. concurring), cert. denied sub nom. Miron v. United
States, 490 U.S. 1089, 109 S.Ct. 2428, 104 L.Ed.2d 986 (1989).
Because "[t]he real evil aimed at by the Fifth Amendment's flat prohibition
against the compulsion of self-incriminatory testimony was that thought to
inhere in using a man's compelled testimony to punish him," Feldman v. United
States, 322 U.S. 487, 500, 64 S.Ct. 1082, 1088, 88 L.Ed. 1408 (1943) (Black,
J., dissenting), we believe that a violation of either the privilege against selfincrimination or 18 U.S.C. Sec. 6002 requires only the suppression at trial of a
defendant's compelled testimony. Accordingly, when the Government violates
18 U.S.C. Sec. 6002 by using immunized testimony before a grand jury,
generally the remedy for the violation is the suppression of the tainted evidence
at trial, not a dismissal of the indictment. 4
Since, in this case, the appropriate remedy for the use of immunized testimony
Since, in this case, the appropriate remedy for the use of immunized testimony
before a grand jury is the suppression of the tainted evidence at trial, the
district court properly denied Appellant's motion to dismiss the indictment. As
discussed more fully above, the Government did not use, either directly or
indirectly, any of Appellant's immunized testimony at trial. Consequently,
because there was no use of any immunized testimony at trial (and therefore no
tainted evidence that was subject to suppression), any misuse of the immunized
testimony which may have occurred before the indicting Grand Jury was
rendered harmless. As Judge Winter observed for the majority in United States
v. Gallo, 859 F.2d at 1084, "[w]hile it is of utmost importance that the
government respect and scrupulously observe restrictions on the use of
immunized testimony, I see no reason to set aside an otherwise valid conviction
because of an error that had no effect on the course of events." In other words,
no harm, no foul.5
IV
3
The district court did not err in denying Appellant's motion to dismiss the
indictment. The Government did not use, directly or indirectly, Appellant's
immunized testimony at trial. Even assuming that the Government did misuse
the immunized testimony before the Grand Jury, Appellant was not entitled to
have the indictment dismissed.
Judgment affirmed.
Honorable Robert J. Kelleher, of the United States District Court for the
Central District of California, sitting by designation
Section 6002 provides in relevant part that "no testimony or other information
compelled under the order (or any information directly or indirectly derived
from such testimony or other information) may be used against the witness in
any criminal case...." 18 U.S.C. Sec. 6002 (1988)
Appellant claims that Government investigator Valenti asked the Assistant

United States Attorney ("AUSA") who examined Appellant before the Grand
Jury how he reacted to questioning, how many times he left the room to speak
with his attorney, and the like. Evidently, the AUSA told Valenti that Appellant
came across as a "wiseguy."
The reasoning we rejected in Mariani had its genesis in United States v.

McDaniel, 482 F.2d 305 (8th Cir.1973). In McDaniel, the Eighth Circuit
suggested that it would be impermissible for an AUSA to use immunized
testimony "in some significant way short of introducing tainted evidence. Such
use could conceivably include assistance in focusing the investigation, deciding
to initiate prosecution, refusing to plea bargain, interpreting evidence, planning
cross-examination, and otherwise generally planning trial strategy." Id. at 311
(citations omitted). At least one other circuit has adopted this reasoning. See
United States v. Semkiw, 712 F.2d 891, 895 (3d Cir.1983)
We recognize that Mariani is in conflict with some of our sister circuits.
Nevertheless, Mariani is the law of this circuit, and we decline to accept
Appellant's invitation that we reconsider the position we took in Mariani.
4
Our holding on this score is not intended to alter in any fashion the two narrow
exceptions to the general rule that facially valid indictments may not be
challenged by allegations that the grand jury heard immunized testimony or
otherwise tainted evidence. One exception we have applied is when the
defendant testifies under immunity before the same grand jury returning the
indictment or when the immunized testimony is placed before the indicting
grand jury. In such cases, we have held that the indictment must be dismissed.
See, e.g., United States v. Tantalo, 680 F.2d 903, 909 (2d Cir.1982); United
States v. Hinton, 543 F.2d 1002, 1010 (2d Cir.1976). The other exception we
have recognized is when the government concedes that the indictment rests
almost exclusively on tainted evidence. In that situation, we have held that a
dismissal of the indictment is not an abuse of discretion. See United States v.
Tane, 329 F.2d 848, 854 (2d Cir.1964)
Neither of these exceptions apply to the instant appeal. The Grand Jury that
heard Appellant's immunized testimony was not the same Grand Jury that
indicted Appellant, and there is nothing in the record which suggests that his
testimony was placed before the indicting Grand Jury. Moreover, the
Government has not conceded (nor has Appellant alleged) that the indictment
rested almost exclusively on tainted evidence. This is not surprising, as the
record would not support such a concession or allegation.
As an alternative basis for its denial of Appellant's motion to dismiss the

indictment, the district court concluded that in light of the petit jury's guilty
verdicts, any error in the grand jury proceeding connected with the charging
decision was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. This conclusion was based
on the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Mechanik, 475 U.S. 66, 106
S.Ct. 938, 89 L.Ed.2d 50 (1986). In Mechanik, the Court addressed the issue of
whether a judgment of conviction should be reversed because two witnesses
testified in tandem before the grand jury in violation of Federal Rule of
Criminal Procedure 6(d). The Court recognized that Rule 6(d) "protects against
the danger that a defendant will be required to defend against a charge for
which there is no probable cause to believe him guilty," and that violations of
Rule 6(d) "had the theoretical potential to affect the grand jury's determination
whether to indict these particular defendants for the offenses with which they
were charged." Id. at 70. However, the Court concluded:
But the petit jury's subsequent guilty verdict means not only that there was
probable cause to believe that the defendants were guilty as charged, but also
that they are in fact guilty as charged beyond a reasonable doubt. Measured by
the petit jury's verdict, then, any error in the grand jury proceeding connected
with the charging decision was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
Id. "(footnotes omitted)."
The district court concluded that this reasoning was equally applicable to the
instant case. Appellant takes issue with this conclusion and argues that the
Supreme Court did not intend that its Mechanik decision be given such a broad
scope. The Government contends that the Mechanik harmless error logic ought
to be extended to cases such as the one at bar.
Since we conclude for other reasons that the district court did not err in denying
Appellant's motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds of alleged misuse
of Appellant's immunized testimony before the Grand Jury, we need not and do
not express any opinion as to how far the Mechanik rule extends. We leave that
issue for another day.

United States v. Bartholomew Rivieccio, 919 F.2d 812, 2d Cir. (1990)

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919 F.

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,

United States Court of Appeals,

John N. Cuomo, New Hyde Park, N.Y., for defendant-appellant.

Chemical Bank, taking place from 1981 to April 1986. In summary,

answered questions pertaining to, inter alia, the preparation of the

identified during Appellant's Grand Jury testimony. The record thus

specifics of Appellant's allegations of misuse. Even if we assume, for the

Appellant claims that Government investigator Valenti asked the Assistant

The reasoning we rejected in Mariani had its genesis in United States v.

As an alternative basis for its denial of Appellant's motion to dismiss the

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