Opposition Brief — Myers v. United States
Supreme Court brief1993
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Jn the Supreme Court of the United States
OCTOBER TERM. 1992
CARL HAROLD MYERS, PETITIONER
ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIOR AR)
10 /
THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPE
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
1S
BRIEF FOR THE UNITED STATES IN OPPOSITION
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QUESTIONS PRESENTED
1. Whether the district court committed plain error
by instructing the jury that petitioner’s use of a stun
gun on persons held in custody at a police station should
be evaluated under the reasonableness standard of the
Fourth Amendment.
2. Whether 18 U.S.C. 242 is void for vagueness be-
cause it does not define the term “bodily injury.”
3. Whether the district court, which explained that
“[bJodily injury * * * includes physical pain as well as
any burn or abrasion,” Pet. App. 17a, properly instructed
the jury as to the meaning of that term.
4. Whether the district court abused its discretion by
allowing petitioner’s stun gun to be activated before the
jury and by refusing to permit a 35-minute tape record-
ing to be played in its entirety during the trial.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cle EE CIE
I sera ga as bonis ocisccaagsuxis
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Cases:
Austin v. Hamilton, 945 F.2d 1155 (10th Cir. 1991) ......
Bennett vy. Parker, 898 F.2d 1530 (11th Cir. Ln
Boyce Motor Lines, Inc. vy. United States, 342 U.S. 337
I ea ba teeth gc obac eas fee vaexsciuissadavwanaesnceness.......
California v. Brown, 479 U.S. 538 (1987)
California v. Ramos, 463 U.S. 992 (1983)
Colautti v. Franklin, 439 U.S. 379 (1979) ..............
Culver v. Town of Torrington, 930 F.2d 1456 (10th
gt SONAR EIS Aa Ea rrr
Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200 (1979) .................
Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986)
Foster vy. Metropolitan Airports Comm'n, 914 F.2d
WE MEPEOE GBS ROOD cccsvcvecevcecevecunvececacecoccee painlcltekahencrvedes
Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989) ..................
Hammer yv. Gross, 884 F.2d 1200 (9th Cir. 1989),
vacated en banc, 932 F.2d 842 (9th Cir.). cert. denied,
i ie I ON ic cavevensckevesgavesndvevusececeesssne...
Hudson v. McMillian, 112 S. Ct. 995 | ESN
Ilinois v. Lafayette, 462 U.S. 640 (1983) .....000.ccccccc
(ITT)
6
IV
Cases— Continued: Page
Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242 (1976) oo...cccccceececeees i)
Raley v. Fraser, 747 F.2d 287 (5th Cir. 1984) ............... 10
Rose v. Locke, 423 U.S. 48 (1975) ............cccccccsscccsescooeee K
Screws v. United States, 325 U.S. 9! (1945) ................. 8-9
Steward v. Dameron, 460 F.2d 278 (5th Cir. 1972) ....... 12
Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985) oooccccccccccccccccccece. 6
Titran v. Ackman, 893 F.2d 145 (7th Cir. 1990) ........... 7
United States v. Batchelder, 442 U.S. 114 (1979) ......... ~
United States v. Cobb, 905 F.2d 784 (4th Cir. 1990),
cert. denied, 111 S. Ct. 758 (1991) ...............c0c.00.c00c00e 6
United States v. Ebens, 800 F.2d 1422 (6th Cir. 1986) .. 12
United States v. Harriss, 347 U.S. 612 (1954) .............. _ 8
United States v. Powell, 423 U.S. 87 (1975) voccccccccccccece. x
United States v. Williams, 112 S. Ct. 1735 (1992) ......... 7
Village of Hoffman Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman
Estates, Inc., 455 U.S. 489 (1982) ..........c.cc0ccc0e satapsaueis 8
Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639 (1990) ..........cccccccccc cee i)
Whitley v. Albers, 475 U.S. 312 (1986) .......................... 10
Wilkins .v. May, 872 F.2d 190 (7th Cir. 1989), cert.
Genied, 408 U.S. 1006 (1990) ...........ccccccccccccccsseocccecccocece ~ 7
Williams v. Boles, 841 F.2d 181 (7th Cir. 1988) ............ 10-11
Constitution and statutes:
U.S. Const. :
AGRO De RT els vee ee Lene ae ae 3, 5, 6, 7
(Te | t Ran ES Sa ee at ie ot RN RS ee 3, 6,9
Amend. XIV (Due Process Clause) ......................... 3, 5, 6, 8
8 A TER Oo Da aE TD ART 2, 7, 9, 10
eT cole | eRe, AP Aldine Se AI eet 4, 7-8
Ay a ARE ene OE SOP Ae Tee? 4,8
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RR 8 oR”, Se epee corp Ee PE ee EEE See pd 4,§
ee Be Me SINE cancun Aico eduientetentanandadtecun mastic uk cess 10
§In the Supreme Court of the Cinited States
OCTOBER TERM, 1992
No. 92-1177
CARL HAROLD MYERS, PETITIONER
e.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
BRIEF FOR THE UNITED STATES IN OPPOSITION
OPINION BELOW
The opinion of the court of appeals (Pet. App. 9a-36a) is
reported at 972 F.2d 1566.
JURISDICTION
The judgment of the court of appeals was entered on
September 25, 1992. A petition for rehearing was denied
on November 30, 1992. The petition for a writ of certio-
rari was filed on January 11, 1993. The jurisdiction of
this Court is invoked under 28 U.S.C. 1254(1).
(1)
STATEMENT
Following a jury trial in the United States District
Court for the Northern District of Georgia, petitioner
was convicted on two counts of depriving persons of their
civil rights by shocking them with a stun gun, in viola-
tion of 18 U.S.C. 242. Pet. App. 9a-10a.' One of the
counts of conviction was charged as a felony, because pe-
titioner’s actions resulted in bodily injury.” Petitioner
was sentenced to concurrent terms of 12 and 18 months’
imprisonment on the two counts. Jd. at 14a.
1. Petitioner was a Captain with the Doraville, Geor-
gia, Police Department. A stun gun is not an authorized
weapon of the Doraville Police Department, and peti-
tioner had been so advised by both the Chief and the As-
sistant Chief of Police. Pet. App. 10a, lla, 22a n.6.
On August 25, 1988, at about 1:30 a.m., Frederick
Cowan was arrested for driving under the influence of
alcohol and resisting arrest. Cowan was transported to
the Doraville police station and placed in a holding cell.
Throughout the night, Cowan yelled, kicked the bars of
his cell, and asked to see a doctor. At approximately 5:15
a.m., petitioner entered Cowan’s cell along with two po-
lice dispatchers. Petitioner told Cowan to lie down and
stretch his hands above his head so that they could be
handcuffed to the bunk. Cowan, who was sitting on the
bunk, was slow to respond. Petitioner then activated a
stun gun on Cowan’s chest. Cowan screamed loudly,
flinched, and appeared to be in pain. After Cowan’s hands
were cuffed to the bunk, petitioner shocked Cowan in the
' The jury did not reach a verdict on a third count charging a
similar violation of 18 U.S.C. 242.
* Prior to November 1988, all violations of 18 U.S.C. 242, except
those resulting in death, were misdemeanors. In November 1988,
Congress amended the statute to provide that “if bodily injury re-
sults,” the defendant is subject to ten years’ imprisonment.
a
3
groin area. Cowan again screamed loudly and flinched.
At the time Cowan was shocked, he had not yet been
booked, fingerprinted, or formally charged with a crime
by the police or any judicial officer. Pet. App. 10a-12a.
On September 21, 1989, Cesar Yanez was arrested in a
parking lot for having an open can of beer in public.
Yanez yelled obscenities as he was being transported to
the police station. At the station, he continued to yell
obscenities and challenged various officers to a fight.
Yanez was then placed in a holding cell. A few minutes
later, petitioner and a radio dispatcher escorted Yanez to
the back of the station to be booked and processed. As
Yanez walked down the hall petitioner shocked him in
the back several times with a stun gun. Yanez was then
told to place both hands against a wall and spread his legs
so that he could be searched. While Yanez had his hands
on the wall, petitioner shocked him several more times in
the lower neck and back area. A few days later, a police
officer observed six pairs of scabbed reddish burn marks,
consistent with those left by a stun gun, on Yanez’s back.
Pet. App. 12a-14a.
2. The court of appeals affirmed petitioner’s convic-
tions. It first held that the district court did not commit
plain error when it instructed the jury to evaluate peti-
tioner’s use of force under the reasonableness standard
of the Fourth Amendment. The court explained that be-
cause petitioner had argued at trial that his conduct
should have been evaluated under the Eighth Amend-
ment, it would not resolve his belated claim on appeal
that his use of force should have been analyzed under the
Fourteenth Amendment’s due process standard. The
cour. added that “[a]lthough we uphold the instruction
given, we wish to make it explicit that we are not decid-
ing that the Fourteenth Amendment’s * * * standard
does not apply in evaluating the use of excessive force by
the police in post-arrest, pre-charge cases. That issue is
4
not before us. We hold only that it was not plain error
for the district court to give the instruction it did.” Pet.
App. 16a.
The court of appeals also rejected petitioner’s claim
that the district court improperly instructed the jury as
to the definition of “bodily injury,” which the court de-
fined to “include[] physical pain as well as any burn or
abrasion.” Pet. App. 17a. The court held that the dis-
trict court correctly defined “bodily injury” since its
definition was consistent with the definition Congress
had previously used in other criminal statutes. See 18
U.S.C. 831(f)(4) (prohibited transactions involving nu-
clear materials); 18 U.S.C. 1365(g)(4) (tampering with
consumer products); 18 U.S.C. 1515(a)(5) (obstruction of
justice); 18 U.S.C. 1864(d)(2) (hazardous or injurious de-
vices on federal lands). Pet. App. 17a-19a.
The court of appeals further held that the district
court did not abuse its discretion by allowing the stun
gun to be activated before the jury with a fully charged
battery. The court first noted that petitioner had waived
any claim of error regarding the stun gun demonstra-
tion, since he had failed to object when the gun was acti-
vated. The court further held that, in any event, the
demonstration was proper in light of the district court’s
cautionary instruction informing the jury that the bat-
tery had been recently recharged and that it “is your
duty to determine whether the demonstration accurately
reflects the condition of the stun gun on the occasion in
question.” Pet. App. 35a-36a. In addition, the court held
that even if the district court had erred in allowing the
demonstration petitioner was not prejudiced, as evi-
denced by the fact that during the trial he and his coun-
sel chose to activate the gun before the jury « on. numer-
ous occasions. /d. at 36a n.13. oy
The court of appeals also held that the district’ court
did not err by refusing to permit petitioner to play in its
5
entirety a 35-minute tape recording of Cowan yelling in
his ceil. The court noted that petitioner was allowed to
play “specific portions of the tape or a representative
portion,” which allowed him “the opportunity * * * to
rebut Cowan’s testimony that he was docile at the time
of the stun gun incident.” Pet. App. 36a.
ARGUMENT
1. Petitioner first contends (Pet. 13-14) that the claim
that he used excessive force should have been evaluated
under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment rather than the reasonableness standard of
the Fourth Amendment.
In Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 395 (1989), this
Court held that “all claims that law enforcement officers
have used excessive force * * * in the course of an ar-
rest, investigatory stop, or other ‘seizure’ * * * should
be analyzed under the-+ourth Amendment[’s] * * *
‘reasonableness’ standard.” The Court explained that
claims of excessive force should not be evaluated under
the “more generalized notion of ‘substantive due pro-
cess’” when a more specific constitutional provision gov-
erns. Id. at 393-394, 395. Nonetheless, the Court ex-
pressly left open “the question whether the Fourth
Amendment continues to provide individuals with protec-
tion against the deliberate use of excessive physical
force beyond the point at which arrest ends and pretrial
detention begins.” Jd. at 395 n.10.
“(T]he Fourth Amendment provides an-explicit textual
source of constitutional protection,” Graham, 490 U.S.
at 395, for individuals who have been seized pursuant to
police authority, are in police custody, and have yet to be
arraigned. It protects persons from unreasonable
searches and seizures, and this Court has held that “if an
arrestee is taken to the police station, that is * * * a
continuation of the custody inherent in the arrest
6
status.” Jllinois v. Lafayette, 462 U.S. 640, 645 (1983).
See also Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200, 208 (1979).
This Court has also held that “the manner in which a
search or seizure is conducted” is subject to Fourth
Amendment analysis. Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1,8
(1985).
Since this Court’s decision in Graham v. Connor, the
courts of appeals that have squarely addressed the issue
have recognized that the Fourth Amendment applies to a
claim that an officer used excessive force against a per-
son in police custody. See, e.g., Powell v. Gardner, 891
F.2d 1039, 1044 (2d Cir. 1989); Foster v. Metropolitan
Airports Comm’n, 914 F.2d 1076, 1082 (8th Cir. 1990);
Hammer v. Gross, 884 F.2d 1200, 1204 (9th Cir. 1989), va-
cated en banc on other grounds, 932 F.2d 842, 845 n.1, 850-
851 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 112 S. Ct. 582 (1991); Austin v.
Hamilton, 945 F.2d 1155, 1158-1160 (10th Cir. 1991). Cf.
United States v. Cobb, 905 F.2d 784 (4th Cir. 1980)
(pretrial detainee’s claim that police officer used exces-
sive force while he was detained at the station evaluated
under the due process standard), cert. denied, 111 S. Ct.
758 (1991). .
Regardless of whether those courts are correct, fur-
ther review is not warranted in this case, because the
court of appeals did not hold that the Fourth Amendment
standard applied to petitioner’s conduct. At trial, peti-
tioner argued only that an Eighth Amendment standard
should be used, an argument petitioner subsequently
abandoned. Because petitioner had relied on the FKighth
Amendment and not the Fourteenth, the court of appeals
refused to decide whether the Fourteenth Amendment’s
due process standard, rather than the Fourth Amend-
ment’s reasonableness standard, applies to a claim that a
police officer used excessive force in a post-arrest, pre-
charge case. Pet. App. 16a. Instead, the court merely
held that the district court’s instruction that the jury
7
should evaluate petitioner’s use of force under the
Fourth Amendment’s reasonableness standard was not
plain error in this case. /bid. Therefore, contrary to pe-
titioner’s claim (Pet. 14), the court of appeals’ decision
does not conflict with Wilkins v. May, 872 F.2d 190 (7th
Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1026 (1990), where the
Seventh Circuit held that a claim that a police officer
acted unlawfully when he interrogated a person at gun-
point should be evaluated under the due process
standard.*
2. Petitioner also contends (Pet. 15-17) that 18 U.S.C.
242 is unconstitutionally vague because the term “bodily
injury” is not defined in the statute. While petitioner
contended at trial that the statute was uncenstitution-
ally vague as applied, he did not challenge the constitu-
tionality of the statute on appeal. Pet. App. 17a. Thus,
the court of appeals did not rule on that issue. Ordinar-
ily, this Court does not grant certiorari to review an is-
sue that was neither pressed nor passed on in the court
below. United States v. Williams, 112 S. Ct. 1735 (1992).
In any event, “bodily injury” has a settled meaning.
As the court of appeals recognized, the district court’s
instruction defining the phrase is consistent with the
definition of “bodily injury” contained in four other pro-
visions of Title 18 of the United States Code. See 18
* Any conflict between the Seventh Circuit’s decision in May
and the decisions of other circuits is of questionable importance in
light of the Seventh Circuit’s subsequent decision in Titran v.
Ackman, 893 F.2d 145 (1990). In Titran, the Seventh Circuit said
that “[mJost of the time the propriety of using force on a person in
custody pending trial will track the Fourth Amendment.” Jd. at
147. The court went on to conclude that “lilf the officers inten-
tionally restrained, jolted, and roughed up Titran without physical
provocation from her, their behavior was unreasonable.” Jd. at
148. Thus, it appears that the Seventh Circuit would have reached
the same result as the Eleventh Circuit in this case.
8
U.S.C. 831(f)(4) (prohibited transactions involving nu-
clear materials); 18 U.S.C. 13865(g)(4) (tampering with
consumer products); 18 U.S.C. 1515(a)(5) (obstruction of
justice); 18 U.S.C. 1864(d)(2) (hazardous or injurious de-
vices on federal lands). Pet. App. 18a-19a. In each of
those provisions, “bodily injury” is defined as: “(A) a cut,
abrasion, bruise, burn, or disfigurement; (B) physical
pain; (C) illness; (D) impairment of * * * function of
bodily member, organ, or mental faculty; or (E) any other
injury to the body, no matter how temporary.” In accor-
dance with that definition, the district court in this case
instructed that “bodily injury means any injury to the
body, no matter how temporary,” and “includes physical
pain as well as any burn or abrasion.” Pet. App. 17a.
It is well settled that the test for determining whether
a criminal statute is sufficiently definite so as not to vio-
late the Due Process Clause is whether it “give[s] a per-
son of ordinary intelligence fair notice that his contem-
plated conduct is forbidden.” United States v.
Batchelder, 442 U.S. 114, 123 (1979), quoting United
States v. Harriss, 347 U.S. 612, 617 (1954). See United
States v. Powell, 423 U.S. 87, 94 (1975); Rose v. Locke, 423
U.S. 48, 49 (1975) (per curiam). The type of injury in-
flicted by a stun gun—pain and often an associated
burn—is the type of injury that a person of ordinary in-
telligence, familiar with the operation and effect of the
weapon, would understand to constitute “bodily injury.”
Moreover, “the constitutionality of a vague statutory
standard is closely related to whether that standard in-
corporates a requirement of mens rea.” Colautti v.
Franklin, 439 "J.S. 379, 395 (1979). See Village of Hoff-
man Estates v. The Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455
U.S. 489, 499 (1982); Boyce Motor Lines, Inc. v. United
States, 342 U.S. 337, 342 (1952). The statute at issue in
this case requires the government to prove that the de-
fendant used excessive force willfully. Indeed, in Screws
9
v. United States, 325 U.S. 91, 101-102 (1945), this Court
rejected a claim that the predecessor statute to 18
U.S.C. 242 was void for vagueness, because the statute
required a defendant to act with specific intent. The
Court explained, “(t]he requirement that the act must be
willful or purposeful * * * relieves] the statute of the
objection that it punishes without warning an offense of
which the accused was unaware.” /d. at 102.
There is no merit to petitioner’s claim (Pet. 16) that
this Court’s decision in Maynard v. Cartwright, 486
U.S. 356 (1988), suggests that 18 U.S.C. 242 is void for
vagueness. In Maynard, this Court held that an Okla-
homa statute allowing a jury to consider whether a mur-
der was “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel” in de-
ciding whether to impose the death penalty was uncon-
stitutionally vague under the Kighth Amendment. Jd. at
399, 363-364. Maynard is inapplicable because petitioner
was not convicted of a capital offense. Indeed, because of
the qualitative difference between death and other sen-
tences, this Court has repeatedly recognized that it has
applied heightened scrutiny to statutes providing for
capital sentences. See, e.g., California v. Brown, 479
U.S. 538, 541 (1987); Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399,
411 (1986) (opinion of Marshall, J.); California v. Ramos,
463 U.S. 992, 998-999 (1983). Moreover, even in capital
cases, this Court has held that a defect arising from a
vague statutory sentencing term can be rectified by a
limiting instruction that defines the term for the jury.
Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639, 653-655 (1990); May-
nard v. Cartwright, 486 U.S. at 364-365. See also Prof-
fitt v. Florida, 428 U.S, 242, 255-256 (1976) (plurality
opinion). The district court in this case gave a detailed
limiting instruction defining the term “bodily injury.”
See Pet. App. 17a.
3. Nor is there merit to petitioner’s argument (Pet.
15-17) that the district court improperly applied a “civil
10
definition” when it instructed the jury as to the meaning
of “bodily injury.” As we have noted, the district court
in its instructions used the definition provided in other
federal criminal statutes. The definition of injury used
by the court was therefore not a “civil” definition.
The decision of the court of appeals is not inconsistent
with Bennett v. Parker, 898 F.2d 1530 (11th Cir. 1990),
Mark v. Caldwell, 754 F.2d 1260 (5th Cir. 1985), or Raley
v. Fraser, 747 F.2d 287 (5th Cir. 1984), as petitioner con-
tends. In those cases (all of which arose under 42 U.S.C.
1983, not 18 U.S.C. 242), the courts considered the extent
of injury required to establish a violation of constitu-
tional rights, and held that a claim alleging excessive
force was properly denied because the plaintiff suffered
only minor injuries.‘ In this case, however, the evidence
showed that Yanez was stunned badly enough that he had
“six pairs of scabbed reddish burn marks” on his back.
Pet. App. 13a-14a. Furthermore, subsequent to the deci-
sions cited by petitioner, this Court explained that the
extent of lasting physical injury alone is not determina-
tive of whether the use of force by a law enforcement of-
ficial constitutes a constitutional violation. Hudson v.
McMillian, 112 S. Ct. 995 (1992). See also Whitley v. Al-
bers, 475 U.S. 312, 321 (1986). The duration of the signs
of injury should not be the benchmark for determining
whether there has been a violation, because “(many
things—beating with a rubber truncheon, water torture,
[and] electric shock * * * may cause agony as they oc-
cur yet leave no enduring injury.” Williams v. Boles,
* Contrary to petitioner’s claim (Pet. 16), in Culver v. Town of
Torrington, 930 F.2d 1456 (10th Cir. 1991), the plaintiffs Section
1983 claim was not disallowed because of the insignificance of the
injury. Rather, as the court of appeals explained, “[t]here was no
evidence as to where or how the bruises occurred or more specifi-
cally, that the bruises were a result” of the police officer’s con-
duct. Jd. at 1461.
ey
1]
841 F.2d 181, 183 (7th Cir. 1988). Just because the State
“is careful to leave no marks” does not mean that the
conduct is not serious. bid.
4. Petitioner also contends (Pet. 17-19) that the court
of appeals erred by concluding that the district court did
not abuse its discretion with regard to two evidentiary
rulings. Petitioner’s claims of error are meritless and,
in any event, the court of appeals’ fact-bound determina-
tions are not worthy of further review.
Petitioner first argues (Pet. 17-18) that the district
court abused its discretion by allowing the stun gun to
be activated before the jury, and that the court of appeals
“did not address why the [district] court decided to favor
the government’s contention that the stun gun was fully
charged at the time of the events as opposed to the De-
fendant’s opposite contentions.” The district court,
however, made no judgment as to the condition of the
stun gun at the time of the various incidents, as evi-
denced by its instruction that the jury should determine
whether the stun gun “presently operates in the same
manner as it did on the date in question.” Pet. App. 35a.
In any event, petitioner has no basis to complain about
the demonstration, since he and his counsel chose to ac-
tivate the stun gun before the jury on several occasions.
Id. at 36a n.13.
Petitioner also asserts (Pet. 18-19) that the district
court abused its discretion by refusing to permit the 35-
minute tape recording of Cowan yelling in his cell to be
played in its entirety. As the court of appeals explained,
the district court did not err because petitioner was al-
lowed to play a representative sample of the tape. Pet.
App. 36a. In any event, the tape recording was merely
cumulative of other evidence establishing that Cowan
spent the night yelling and rattling the bars of his cell
and calling for a doctor before petitioner arrived at the
station. Tr. 236-237, 307, 385, 828-829. In addition, all the
12
exhibits were sent back to the jury room at the begin-
ning of the deliberations, Tr. 991-992, so the jury had the
opportunity to listen to the tape in its entirety if it so
desired.
Accordingly, there is no merit to petitioner’s claim
(Pet. 19) that the court of appeals’ decision is inconsis-
tent with United States v. Ebens, 800 F.2d 1422 (6th Cir.
1986), and Steward v. Dameron, 460 F.2d 278 (5th Cir.
1972) (per curiam). In those two cases, the courts held
that the district courts committed reversible error by
failing to play tape recordings that provided key evidence
on the critical disputed issue at trial. Unlike those
cases, the unplayed portion of the tape at issue in this
case was cumulative, and it provided evidence pertaining
to facts that were not in dispute—i.e., what occurred
prior to the time that petitioner entered Cowan’s cell.
CONCLUSION
The petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied.
Respectfully submitted.
WILLIAM C. BRYSON
Acting Solicitor General
JAMES P. TURNER
Acting Assistant Attorney General
DENNIS J. DIMSEY
LISA J. STARK
Attorneys
MARCH 1993
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