United States v. NoriegaUnited States v. Noriega
This matter is before us on the “emergency motion” of appellants Cable News Network, Inc. and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (collectively “CNN”) to vacate three orders issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (the “District Court”). This case presents a difficult question regarding the District Court’s responsibility to balance the Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial of the defendant, General Manuel Antonio Noriega (“Noriega”), with CNN’s First Amendment right to be free from prior restraints against the broadcasting of newsworthy information.
I. BACKGROUND
General Noriega is presently incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (“MCC”) in Dade County, Florida. CNN wishes to broadcast recordings of telephone conversations between Noriega and his defense counsel, which were allegedly taped by the government while Noriega was in prison and obtained by CNN from an undisclosed source. Case No. 90-5926 is CNN’s appeal of an oral order that prohibits it from broadcasting certain tape recordings in its possession until 6:00 p.m. on November 8, 1990. Case No. 90-5927 is CNN’s appeal from two written orders of the District Court.
At the outset, we note that this Court lacks jurisdiction to hear Case No. 90-5926 because the appeal is from an oral order that has not been entered on the docket of the District Court. See Fed.R. App.P. 4(a). Accordingly, that appeal did not divest the District Court of jurisdiction to enter the two written orders that are the subject of Case No. 90-5927. Noriega originally petitioned the District Court for injunctive relief, and CNN has framed its appeal as an “Emergency Motion To Vacate An Unconstitutional Prior Restraint,” but the case is not appealable in its present posture.
In his “Memorandum Of Law In Support Of Motion For Injunctive Relief” (“Noriega’s Motion”), Noriega sought to prevent CNN from broadcasting the recorded conversations between Noriega and his attorneys. He did not seek to enjoin CNN from reporting on the government’s taping of the conversations, and argued that “an order directing CNN not to broadcast the tapes is sufficiently narrow [to] protect the interests of the press as well as the defendant.”
The District Court in entering the TRO, in an effort to maintain the status quo pending a determination on the merits, commented:
... Assuming, however, that there are at least some circumstances in which the First Amendment prohibits the prior restraint of even privileged attorney-clientcommunication, the Supreme Court’s pronouncements on the doctrine of prior restraint suggest that a factual inquiry is required____ As was stated in the court’s Order, the contents of the tape recordings were not before the court. Thus, the court was in effect being asked to make a factual determination without being allowed to review the facts. On this point, it is important to note that CNN is in possession of the tapes, and has resisted turning them over to the court for review. It seems fundamentally unfair to allow CNN to benefit from its refusal to disclose the contents of the tapes to the court — that is, to allow CNN to argue that no prior restraint should issue because no clear and immediate harm is apparent when the only reason that no clear and immediate harm yet appears is because CNN has so far prevented this court from reviewing the content of the tapes in its possession. In response to the portion of the court’s Order requiring production of the tapes to this court for the Magistrate’s review, CNN argues that the court should compel production of the tapes from the Government before looking to CNN.1
The court herein wishes to emphasize that its Order was not a decision on the merits of the request for injunction, but rather a temporary restraint until such time as the Magistrate could review the tapes and permit this court to make a determination based on the merits.... But the unique nature of the problem facing this court, unlike other courts which have faced this issue, is that no such determination was nor is possible without knowing the precise contents of the speech sought to be restrained, here the privileged attorney-client communications in CNN’s possession.
1 The court notes that a review of the tapes in the Government’s possession would not necessarily allow the court to determine whether or not disclosure of CNN’s tapes would impair Noriega’s right to a fair trial. It is entirely possible that CNN is in possession of communications between Noriega and his lawyers and staff which the Government did not record, since it appears that the Government did not tape all of Noriega’s attorney-client conversations. The communications in CNN’s possession might have been recorded from a location outside of the prison where Noriega is incarcerated.
II. DISCUSSION
A. The District Court’s Obligation When Confronted With Allegations Of Prejudicial Publicity
“[F]ree speech and fair trials are two of the most cherished policies of our civilization, and it would be a trying task to choose between them.” Bridges v. California,
The right of access to criminal proceedings becomes a highly controversial issue when First Amendment questions must be analyzed in conjunction with competing Sixth Amendment considerations. “A heavy obligation rests on trial judges to effectuate the fair-trial guarantee of the Sixth Amendment.” United States v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 497 F.2d 102 , 104 (5th Cir.1974). “Given the pervasiveness of modern communications and the difficulty of effacing prejudicial publicity from the minds of the jurors, trial courts must take strong measures to ensure that the balance is never weighed against the accused.” Sheppard v. Maxwell,384 U.S. 333 , 362,86 S.Ct. 1507 , 1522,16 L.Ed.2d 600 (1966). In a widely publicized case, “the right of the accused to trial by an impartial jury can be seriously threatened by the conduct of the news media prior to and during trial.” Report of the Committee on the Operation of the Jury System on the “Free Press-Fair Trial” Issue,45 F.R.D. 391 , 394 (1968).
Thus, it is the trial judge’s primary responsibility to govern judicial proceedings so as to ensure that the accused receives a fair, orderly trial comporting with fundamental due process. The trial judge is therefore granted broad discretion in ordering the daily activities of his court. Id. at 401. “[A] trial judge should have the authority to adopt reasonable measures to avoid injury to the parties by reason of prejudicial or inflammatory publicity.” Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Young, supra, 522 F.2d [234] at 241 [6th Cir.1975 (Per Curiam)]. See also, United States v. Schiavo, supra, 504 F.2d [1] at 6 [3d Cir.1974]; United States v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., supra, 497 F.2d [102] at 106-07 [5th Cir.1974], Within this discretion, therefore, the district judge can place restrictions on parties, jurors, lawyers, and others involved with the proceedings despite the fact that such restrictions might affect First Amendment considerations. Sixth Amendment rights of the accused must be protected always. United States v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., supra; United States v. Schiavo, supra.
United States v. Gurney,
Furthermore, the Supreme Court has held that “[t]he First Amendment generally grants the press no right to information about a trial superior to that of the general public.” Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc.,
Notwithstanding the District Court’s broad discretion to balance First Amendment interests with a criminal defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial, a conclusory representation that publicity might hamper a defendant’s right to a fair trial is insufficient to overcome the protections of the First Amendment. See Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court,
In the context of a trial court’s decision to close a preliminary hearing to protect a defendant’s right to a fair trial, the Supreme Court required specific factual findings that: 1) there is a substantial probability that the defendant’s right to a fair trial will be prejudiced by the publicity; 2) there is a substantial probability that closure would prevent that prejudice; and 3) reasonable alternatives to closure cannot adequately protect the defendant’s fair trial rights. Press-Enterprise II,
The Supreme Court has recognized that prejudicial pretrial publicity can defeat a defendant’s right to a fair trial by an impartial jury. Irvin v. Dowd,
To safeguard the due process rights of the accused, a trial judge has an affirmative constitutional duty to minimize the effects of prejudicial pretrial publicity. And because of the Constitution’s pervasive concern for these due process rights, a trial judge may surely take protective measures even when they are not strictly and inescapably necessary.
Gannett Co. v. DePasquale,
Under Supreme Court and Eleventh Circuit precedent, the District Court’s determination of privilege cannot be conclusory, but must be stated definitively and explicitly based on the particular facts and circumstances of this case. See Gurney,
The District Court must possess the subject tapes in order to make its in camera determination of whether the attorney-client communications are privileged or, while not privileged, are of such a nature that disclosure would impair Noriega’s Sixth Amendment rights. We are troubled by CNN’s refusal to obey the District Court’s order to release the tapes in question to the court for review.
With national and international significance and implications, Noriega’s trial has received unprecedented media coverage. In light of this status, “[t]he Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of an impartial jury ... is an obligation of the nation, not the accused. It is not his duty to provide an impartial jury.” Levine v. United States District Court,
B. The Existence Of The Attorney-Client Privilege As It Relates To The District Court’s Review And Analysis Of Potential Harm To Noriega
The purpose of the attorney-client privilege is to encourage open and complete communication between a client and his attorney by eliminating the possibility of subsequent compelled disclosure of their confidential communications. United States v. Suarez,
(1) the asserted holder of the privilege is or sought to become a client; (2) the person to whom the communication was made (a) is [the] member of a bar of a court, or his subordinate and (b) in connection with this communication is acting as a lawyer; (3) the communication relates to a fact of which the attorney was informed (a) by his client (b) without the presence of strangers (c) for the purpose of securing primarily either (i) an opinion on law or (ii) legal services or (iii) assistance in some legal proceeding, and not (d) for the purpose of committing a crime or tort; and (4) the privilege has been (a) claimed and (b) not waived by the client.
United States v. Kelly,
In applying the law surrounding the attorney-client privilege to the facts of this case we will first assume, for the purpose of discussion, that Noriega did sign a valid release evidencing his understanding that all of his telephone conversations, including those with members of his defense team, would be recorded.
It is a “bedrock principle that the attorney-client privilege is the client’s and his alone. If the client wishes to waive it, the attorney may not assert it, either for the client’s or his own benefit.” United States v. Juarez,
The determination of whether the telephonic communications between Noriega and his defense counsel are privileged, while not necessarily dispositive of whether such communications should be publicly broadcast, would be relevant to the District Court’s assessment of potential harm to Noriega’s right to a fair trial.
III. CONCLUSION
It is manifest that the District Court has been presented a delicate, difficult and important task requiring it to balance the press and public’s First Amendment rights, the Sixth Amendment rights of the accused, and the public’s expectation that the trial will be fair and held before an impartial jury. However, CNN has shackled the District Court by refusing that court’s reasonable request to review the audio tapes it has in its possession and which CNN desires to broadcast. While appealing to our nation’s judicial system for relief, CNN is at the same time defiant of that system’s reasonable directions.
No litigant should continue to violate a district court’s order and attempt to have that district court’s order reviewed at the same time.
Accordingly, for the reasons stated above, we DENY the initial petition for mandamus relief, CNN’s request for entry of a stay of the District Court’s TRO and its request for oral argument (Case No. 90-5927) and DENY CNN’s subsequent petition (Case No. 90-5932).
Notes
. The first written order, dated November 8, 1990, continued the temporary restraint ("TRO") in the oral order until CNN produced the tape recordings in its possession so the District Court could review the contents of those recordings to reach a decision on the merits. The second written order, dated November 9, 1990, clarified the first written order and specified that the restraint would remain in effect for up to ten days, or until such lesser time as the District Court needed to decide the issue on the merits after review of the tape recordings.
. McDougald v. Jenson,
. The Supreme Court has stated that "the writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy, to be reserved for extraordinary situations.” Gulf-stream Aerospace Corp. v. Mayacamas Corp.,
. This court has reviewed the videotape of the proposed news story (which was broadcast once on November 7, 1990 prior to entry of the TRO) and notes, as represented in CNN’s brief, that "[t]he aural content of the tape [of attorney-client communications] is not audible in the telecast.” We also observe that Noriega’s defense counsel, Mr. Frank A. Rubino ("Rubino”) cooperated with CNN by reviewing an audio tape of a conversation purportedly between Noriega and Ms. Cristina Machin (“Machin”) (Rubino’s secretary and Spanish-Ianguage interpreter). Rubino verified the authenticity of the tape recording. A portion of the interview between a CNN reporter, Rubino and Machin in Rubino’s office appears in the telecast. With respect to such conduct, we are mindful of the Supreme Court’s admonition that ”[c]ollaboration between counsel and the press as to information affecting the fairness of a criminal trial is not only subject to regulation, but is highly censurable and worthy of disciplinary measures." Sheppard v. Maxwell,
. We have been advised that CNN, in disregard and defiance of the District Court’s explicit restraining order, broadcast portions of some of the purported attorney-client communications.
. The Supreme Court has recognized a First Amendment right of access to criminal trials. See Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court,
. In pertinent part, the district court’s opinion states:
Widespread publication of these tapes prior to trial will severely prejudice Mr. Moore’s sixth amendment right to a fair trial, as well as potentially deny him rights guaranteed by the fourth and fifth amendments. Moreover, if the tapes are prematurely heard by the public, this court would be severely hampered in selecting a fair and impartial jury in the forthcoming trial.
Belo Broadcasting Corp.,
. In United. States v. Columbia Broadcasting Sys., Inc.,
. Because "a communication between an attorney and his client that is protected by the common law attorney-client privilege is also protected from government intrusion by the sixth amendment," United States v. Blasco,
. It is not unusual or unreasonable to condition the use of telephones by penal inmates on monitoring of the telephone calls by the authorities charged with maintaining the security of the penal facility. See, e.g., Feeley v. Sampson,