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People v. Hernandez, Docket No. 3,627 (Mich. Ct. App. Dec. 23, 1968)

Factual and Procedural Background

Frank Hernandez was convicted of selling a narcotic drug without a license (CLS 1961, § 335.152). At trial the primary factual narrative was that an undercover federal narcotics agent, posing as a user, arranged to meet narcotics peddler Alma Silva in Saginaw. The agent and Silva went to the Avenue Bar where Silva spoke with Hernandez, returned to the agent with approximately $250 in marked bills, and then gave the marked money to Hernandez in exchange for a crumpled cigarette package that later yielded a small packet of heroin. The alleged sale occurred on September 21, 1964.

A warrant charging the sale was not issued until October 30, 1964 (39 days later), and on November 2, 1964 Hernandez was arrested at his home after a forced entry and search (42 days after the alleged sale). No marked money or narcotics were found on Hernandez at arrest. Alma Silva was arrested and charged the same day; she invoked the Fifth Amendment at the preliminary examination but testified at defendant's trial. Hernandez, who did not read or write English, denied knowledge of the transaction.

Hernandez appealed his conviction. The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction and ordered defendant discharged from custody.

Legal Issues Presented

  1. Whether the information charging Hernandez was sufficiently specific to apprise him of the particular transaction complained of and to fix the scope of the prosecution (as articulated in People v. Brown).
  2. Whether the 42-day delay between the alleged sale and issuance of the warrant/arrest deprived Hernandez of due process because it caused prejudicial impairment of his ability to defend.

Arguments of the Parties

Defendant's Arguments

  • The magistrate failed to "afford him an examination into the whole matter" as required by CL 1948, § 766.13; defendant contended Alma Silva's testimony was necessary at the preliminary examination for the magistrate to view "the whole matter."
  • Defendant claimed denial of due process caused by the 42-day delay between the alleged sale and arrest, arguing that the delay prejudiced his ability to recall events and prepare a defense, particularly given his inability to read or write English and the lack of corroborating physical evidence.

People/Prosecution (as reflected in the record)

  • The prosecution presented an undercover agent's testimony describing the sale, used marked bills at the transaction, obtained chemical tests establishing presence of heroin, and conducted surveillance of the defendant before and after the incident. The case was carefully prepared by the agent and prosecutors.

Table of Precedents Cited

Precedent Rule or Principle Cited For Application by the Court
People v. Brown (1941), 299 Mich. 1 Due process requires a charge to fairly apprise the defendant of the particular transaction complained of and to fix the scope of prosecution; sufficiency criteria: (1) permit preparation for trial, and (2) prevent double jeopardy. The court observed the information charged a sale to the agent but the facts did not indicate defendant was aware of the agent; therefore the charge did not satisfy Brown's criteria and would at least require a remand for a new complaint and information (though this was not the primary basis for decision).
People v. Likely (1966), 2 Mich. App. 458, 460 At a preliminary examination all testimony or evidence need not be supplied; purpose is to determine probable cause. The court used Likely to support that the entire transaction need not be explored at the preliminary hearing and thus Silva's absence at that stage did not by itself mean the magistrate failed to examine the whole matter.
Ross v. United States (1965), 349 F.2d 210 The pertinent inquiry for delay claims is evidence of prejudice to the defendant, not the delay itself. The court relied on Ross to frame its analysis: the defendant must first demonstrate meritorious prejudice from the delay; where some prejudice exists, delay may still be permissible only if clearly shown to be explainable, not deliberate, and not causing undue prejudice.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The court analyzed two preliminary matters: (1) sufficiency of the information and (2) whether the 42-day delay denied due process. Regarding the information, the court cited People v. Brown and concluded that because the information alleged a sale to the agent while facts did not indicate the defendant ever knew the agent, the information failed Brown's criteria; although significant, the court treated this as not the primary ground for disposition.

On the primary issue, the court framed the question as whether the delay between the act and issuance of the warrant/arrest deprived defendant of due process. The court acknowledged the prosecution's careful preparation (undercover agent present at sale, marked money used, chemical tests confirming heroin, surveillance). Nevertheless, the court emphasized that due process analysis focuses on whether the defendant suffered prejudice from the delay — following Ross, "not the delay itself" but "evidence of prejudice" is the guiding principle.

The court identified specific factors that, taken together, demonstrated prejudice here: the questionable character and credibility of witness Alma Silva; indications of a "deal" between Silva and the prosecution; lack of corroborating material evidence (no recovered marked money or narcotics found on defendant); the defendant's inability to read or write English and consequent difficulties in recalling or preparing a defense regarding events 42 days earlier; and the "indignity and unnecessary severity" of the way defendant was arrested. The court stated that where some prejudice is shown, the delay can be permitted only if three elements are clearly and convincingly shown to the trier of fact: (1) the delay is explainable, (2) it is not deliberate, and (3) no undue prejudice attaches to the defendant.

Applying these principles to the record, the court found procedural due process lacking because the demonstrated prejudice (as outlined above) was not overcome by an adequate explanation for the delay or proof that the delay was non-deliberate and non-prejudicial.

A concurring opinion agreed with reversal but explained that the decision was compelled not solely by unexplained delay but by the cumulative effect of multiple adverse factors (Silva's credibility, indications of a deal, lack of corroboration, defendant's incapacity, and the manner of arrest) that together deprived defendant of due process.

Holding and Implications

HOLDING: The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction and ordered that the defendant be discharged from custody. (Conviction reversed without a new trial; defendant discharged.)

Implications:

  • The court concluded that, on these facts, procedural due process was violated because the defendant demonstrated prejudice from the delay that was not adequately justified.
  • The opinion cautions that delays in narcotics investigations are not per se unlawful; delay is evaluated in light of prejudice and whether the delay is explainable and non-deliberate. The court articulated the three-element consideration for permitting delay despite some prejudice.
  • The court noted that nothing in the opinion should deter an examining court from binding a defendant over when probable cause exists, and that the question of violation of due process remains for determination by the circuit or recorder's court in appropriate cases.

Disposition

Conviction reversed; defendant discharged from custody.

PEOPLE v. HERNANDEZ

OPINION OF THE COURT

C. KAUFMAN, J.

This is an appeal by Frank Hernandez from his conviction of having sold a narcotic drug, not being a licensee.

CLS 1961, § 335.152 (Stat Ann 1957 Rev § 18.1122).

The facts adduced at the trial in circuit court indicated that the complainant in this case was an undercover federal narcotics agent posing as one Steve Lorenz, a narcotic user. This agent arranged by telephone from Detroit to meet one Alma Silva, a known narcotics peddler, at her apartment in Saginaw. The two of them, after Alma Silva made arrangements by telephone, set out to meet the defendant at the Avenue Bar in the city of Saginaw. After entering the bar where other customers were present they sat at a table and ordered beer. Alma Silva left the agent to talk to defendant who was also in the bar. After some conversation with Frank Hernandez, she returned to the agent, obtained approximately $250 in marked bills, and thereupon went to a table where the defendant was seated and gave the defendant the marked money in exchange for a crumpled cigarette package in which a small packet of heroin was later found. These events transpired at approximately 3:15 p.m. on September 21, 1964. Nothing of any significance occurred until October 30, 1964, some 39 days later, when a warrant was issued charging defendant with the said illegal sale on September 21, 1964. On November 2, 1964, at 5 a.m., some 42 days after the alleged affair, defendant's home was broken into, searched, and defendant was arrested at gunpoint, although no effort to resist was made. The defendant, who neither reads nor writes the English language, has denied all knowledge of this transaction.

Also on November 2, Alma Silva was arrested and charged with the same violation. She was called as a witness at defendant's preliminary examination where she refused to testify, invoking her rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. She did, however, testify at defendant's trial to the general factual situation as aforementioned.

The information alleged that the defendant sold the heroin to the agent. It does not set forth the facts of the sale to Alma Silva either as the purchaser or as acting for the purchaser. The case of People v. Brown (1941), 299 Mich. 1, holds that due process of law requires the charge must fairly apprise the defendant of the particular transaction complained of and to fix the scope of the prosecution. The two criteria for sufficiency of the charge in Brown are: specification to permit preparation for trial, and sufficient specification to prevent double jeopardy. The complaint and information charge a sale to the agent. The facts do not indicate in any respect that this defendant ever was cognizant of the agent. It therefore cannot be said that the charge satisfied the aforementioned criteria. This issue is not of prime importance in this case, although it would require at least a remand for a new complaint and information.

Defendant claims that he has been denied due process by the failure of the magistrate to afford him an examination into the whole matter. The relevant portion of the statute provides that:

CL 1948, § 766.13 (Stat Ann 1954 Rev § 28.931).

"If it shall appear to the magistrate upon examination of the whole matter, that an offense * * *"

In the light of this provision defendant contends that the testimony of Alma Silva was necessary at the preliminary examination so that the magistrate could view "the whole matter." Historically, the purpose of a preliminary examination was to determine probable cause only, and just enough evidence as would prove probable cause was required. This Court, in People v. Likely (1966), 2 Mich. App. 458, 460 said that:

"All of the testimony or evidence need not be supplied at the preliminary examination * * *"

It would therefore appear that the transaction in its entirety need not be gone into at the preliminary examination.

The important issue presented to this Court, and one which must determine this appeal, may be stated as follows: Was the defendant, under the facts present in this case, denied due process by the 42-day delay between the act complained of and the issuance of a warrant and arrest?

It appears from the evidence that the complainant made a careful and skillful preparation of the people's case. He took care that he be present when the sale was consummated, marked money was used, adequate chemical tests were made to establish the presence of heroin and the defendant was under surveillance both before and after the episode which led up to the complaint.

After all of this, the defendant was arrested some 42 days after the event complained of. No narcotics or marked money were found on the defendant. At this point he is required to defend the charge. Frank Hernandez and all defendants are entitled to any available defense and logic dictates that timely notice of the charge may be, under some circumstances, "of the essence" in the preparation of a defense. Was it reasonable for this uneducated illiterate man to recall where he was, with whom he was, or what transpired 42 days previously? If, in fact, he were innocent, the more difficult it would be to recall the incidents of 42 days prior, under the facts herein. Should there have been a reasonable prompt notice of a complaint? Marked money was used, and never recovered. The only proof that defendant ever possessed such money was the bald testimony of a witness worthy of very little credence, at a time when it was within the grasp of the authorities to arrest this defendant and find the money in his possession, if indeed he ever possessed it. The facts in each case are to be fully considered and the balancing of interests must be weighed to determine whether there is a denial of due process. To do this in this case, we must consider the character and credibility of the witness, Alma Silva; the indication of a "deal" between that witness and the prosecution; the lack of corroborating material evidence; the incapabilities inherent in defendant's character; the indignity and unnecessary severity of the manner in which defendant was arrested; the alleged fact that there was marked money used which was not recovered and the delay of 42 days before arrest of the defendant, an uneducated illiterate man.

It is this evidence of prejudice that results in the violation of due process which the court refers to in Ross v. United States (1965), 349 F.2d 210, not the delay itself, which is the guideline. No burden is imposed on the people until the defendant in the first instance makes out a meritorious showing of prejudice under the facts in the case, taking into consideration the alleged unwarranted delay. We recognize that a delay may not be unusual in narcotics and counterfeiting cases, in order to allow proper inquiry into the whereabouts and sources of the contraband; however, where some prejudice is shown, as it is shown in this case, it can be permitted and not be the basis for a finding of lack of due process only where the following elements are present and shown clearly and convincingly to the trier of fact: (1) when the delay is explainable, (2) when it is not deliberate, (3) where no undue prejudice attaches to the defendant.

Under the facts in this case, we find procedural due process to be lacking. Nothing in this opinion should deter an examining court from binding a defendant over to the circuit or recorder's court for trial where probable cause is shown. The question of violation of due process is to be determined by the circuit or recorder's court.

Conviction of defendant is reversed without a new trial; defendant is to be discharged from custody.

HOLBROOK, J., concurred with C. KAUFMAN, J.

McGREGOR, P.J. (concurring).

I agree that the conviction of defendant should be reversed, but not on the ground that an unexplained delay in arrest, allegedly causing undue prejudice to defendant, was a denial of due process. The delayed arrest is only one of a combination of factors which compel my decision. For example, the character and credibility of the witness, Alma Silva, the indications of a "deal" between that witness and the prosecution, the lack of corroborating material evidence, the incapabilities inherent in defendant's character, and the indignant and unnecessarily severe manner in which defendant was arrested, all coalesce with the delayed arrest to produce the mephitic aroma enveloping this case. The various factors and circumstances together effectively deprived defendant of due process of law.

I vote to reverse.

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PEOPLE v. HERNANDEZ
(Dec 23, 1968)