586 F.

2d 942

James MIZELL, Petitioner-Appellee,

v.
The ATTORNEY GENERAL OF the STATE OF NEW YORK
and ano.,
Respondents-Appellants.
No. 227, Docket 78-2059.

United States Court of Appeals,

Second Circuit.
Argued Sept. 27, 1978.
Decided Oct. 30, 1978.

Steven Lloyd Barrett, New York City (The Legal Aid Society, Federal
Defender Services Unit, New York City), for petitioner-appellee.
John M. Farrar, Asst. Atty. Gen. (Louis J. Lefkowitz, Atty. Gen. of N. Y.,
Samuel A. Hirshowitz, First Asst. Atty. Gen., Robert L. Schonfeld, Asst.
Atty. Gen., New York City, of counsel), for respondents-appellants.
Before FRIENDLY and MULLIGAN, Circuit Judges, and WYATT,
District Judge.*
MULLIGAN, Circuit Judge:

James Mizell was convicted on September 10, 1971 in New York Supreme
Court, Kings County, of robbery, petty larceny, assault and possession of a
dangerous weapon. The record in the state court indicated that a jury of twelve
plus two alternates was duly impaneled and sworn late in the afternoon of
Wednesday, March 24, 1971. The state court judge gave the jury preliminary
instructions and adjourned the case to the following morning. Mizell's counsel
requested a Wade hearing to determine the admissibility of certain
identification testimony. A hearing was held and the court found that the
testimony was admissible. At this point (2:45 p. m. on Thursday, March 25) the
Assistant District Attorney advised the court that two state witnesses who had
been subpoenaed had failed to appear. One had gone to North Carolina because
of a death in the family and the other had simply failed to make an appearance.

The Assistant District Attorney requested a continuance until the following

Monday.
2

At that point the following colloquy took place:

3The Court: What am I going to do with that jury, Mr. Turner?

4 Turner (Assistant District Attorney): Your Honor, since the jurors are serving
Mr.
their first week this week, they would be serving next week as well. I don't think it
would be a hardship on those jurors because we wouldn't be holding them past their
service. However, if the Court feels that it would be a hardship on the jury, then the
people would have to move at this time for a discharge of the jury.
5The Court: Are you so moving?
6 Turner: Well, I would first ask that the Court rule on my application to keep the
Mr.
jury.
7The Court: Denied.
8 Turner: Then in that case, your Honor, the people would have to move for a
Mr.
discharge of the jury.
9 Court: All right, that motion is granted. The Court is basing its ruling (on) the
The
case of the matter of Roy Bland (phonetic) and also the matter of William Maury
(Murray) (phonetic), which is decided in 20 New York 2nd, Page 552 (285 N.Y.S.2d
597, 232 N.E.2d 633). All right, bring in the jury. Discharge them.
10 Albert (Petitioner's Counsel): If your Honor please, I'd like to note my
Mr.
exception.
The Court: You have an exception.
11
12

The case was called for trial again before a new jury on Tuesday, March 30,
1971 but a mistrial was subsequently declared when the jury failed to agree on
a verdict. Mizell was eventually found guilty by another jury. At sentencing on
September 10, 1971, Mizell's counsel moved to dismiss the indictment on the
ground of double jeopardy. The motion was denied. On appeal to the Appellate
Division of the Supreme Court, the State of New York, Second Department, the
judgment of conviction was affirmed without opinion on February 26, 1973.
Leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals was denied on April 6, 1973. The State
concedes that Mizell has fully exhausted his state remedies.

13

On November 29, 1976 Mizell filed a pro se application for a writ of habeas

13

On November 29, 1976 Mizell filed a pro se application for a writ of habeas
corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
raising the issue that jeopardy had attached when the first jury was sworn in on
March 24, 1971. The State contended that under the "New York rule" at the
time of Mizell's three trials a defendant was not placed in jeopardy until a
witness was sworn.1

14

In a memorandum and order filed on December 30, 19772 Hon. Eugene H.

Nickerson, United States District Judge, Eastern District of New York, issued a
writ of habeas corpus finding that under Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 89
S.Ct. 2056, 23 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969), the states were bound to follow the rule of
Downum v. United States, 372 U.S. 734, 83 S.Ct. 1033, 10 L.Ed.2d 100 (1963)
that jeopardy attaches as soon as a jury is sworn. He further found that the
discharge of the jury was not required by "manifest necessity" or the "ends of
public justice." Illinois v. Somerville,410 U.S. 458, 468, 93 S.Ct. 1066, 1072,
35 L.Ed.2d 425 (1973). We agree with the District Judge but, since Mizell has
been released from custody, we vacate the judgment appealed from and remand
to the District Court for consideration of a new judgment containing an
appropriate remedy.

15

In Downum v. United States, supra, it became established law that if a

defendant were tried in a federal court, jeopardy would attach as soon as the
jury was sworn. See Illinois v. Somerville, supra; United States ex rel. Bland v.
Nenna, 282 F.Supp. 754 (S.D.N.Y.), aff'd, 393 F.2d 416 (2d Cir.), cert. denied,
392 U.S. 941, 88 S.Ct. 2323, 20 L.Ed.2d 1403 (1968). Under Palko v.
Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319, 328, 58 S.Ct. 149, 153, 82 L.Ed.2d 288 (1937) it
was reasonably clear that federal double jeopardy standards did not apply to the
states and that the Fourteenth Amendment did not protect the defendant against
a double jeopardy claim unless he was subjected to a "hardship so acute and
shocking that our policy (would) not endure it." However, in Benton v.
Maryland, supra, Palko was overruled and the double jeopardy clause was held
to be so fundamental to our scheme of justice that "the same constitutional
standards apply against both the State and Federal Governments." 395 U.S. at
795, 89 S.Ct. at 2063. In his opinion below Judge Nickerson rejected the State's
contention that the difference between the federal and New York rules
concerning when jeopardy attaches was merely technical or mechanical.
Rather, Judge Nickerson found that "(t)he composition of a particular jury is
crucial" to the defendant's interest, and that the double jeopardy clause protects
the defendant's "valued right to have his trial completed by a particular
tribunal." Mizell v. Attorney General of the State of New York, 442 F.Supp.
868, 871-72 (E.D.N.Y.1977). We fully subscribe to the reasoning articulated in
the district court and see no reason to repeat it here. In fact, after the filing of
the opinion below, the Supreme Court in Crist v. Bretz, 437 U.S. 28, 98 S.Ct.

2156, 57 L.Ed.2d 24 (1978), rejected as unconstitutional the Montana rule

which, like the former New York law, provided that jeopardy attaches only
after a witness is sworn. The Court stated:
16
Although
it has thus long been established that jeopardy may attach in a criminal
trial that ends inconclusively, the precise point at which jeopardy does attach in a
jury trial might have been open to argument before this Court's decision in Downum
v. United States, 372 U.S. 734, 83 S.Ct. 1033, 10 L.Ed.2d 100. There the Court held
that the Double Jeopardy Clause prevented a second prosecution of a defendant
whose first trial had ended just after the jury had been sworn and before any
testimony had been taken. The Court thus necessarily pinpointed the stage in a jury
trial that jeopardy attaches, and the Downum case has since been understood as
explicit authority for the proposition that jeopardy attaches when the jury is
empaneled and sworn (citations and footnote omitted). 98 S.Ct. at 2160.
17

It is evident that the Supreme Court in Crist considered that the rule which was
formulated by Downum in 1963 was made applicable to the states by Benton in
1969 and was not simply a mechanical or arbitrary rule of convenience.3 Even
if we were to accept the position of the State, that Crist has established new and
overruling principles of law an argument which we reject it is our view that
Crist should be fully applied retroactively.

18

The State relies on the three-pronged test of Linkletter v. Walker, 381 U.S. 618,
85 S.Ct. 1731, 14 L.Ed.2d 601 (1965) as the appropriate test of retroactivity.4
However, that contention ignores Robinson v. Neil, 409 U.S. 505, 93 S.Ct. 876,
35 L.Ed.2d 29 (1973) in which the Court stated:

19 prohibition against being placed in double jeopardy is likewise not readily

The
susceptible of analysis under the Linkletter line of cases. . . .
20 guarantee against double jeopardy is significantly different from procedural
The
guarantees held in the Linkletter line of cases to have prospective effect only. While
this guarantee, like the others, is a constitutional right of the criminal defendant, its
practical result is to prevent a trial from taking place at all, rather than to prescribe
procedural rules that govern the conduct of a trial. A number of the constitutional
rules applied prospectively only under the Linkletter cases were found not to affect
the basic fairness of the earlier trial, but to have been directed instead to collateral
purposes such as the deterrence of unlawful police conduct. Mapp v. Ohio, supra
(367 U.S. 643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081 (1961)). In Waller (Waller v. Florida,
397 U.S. 387, 90 S.Ct. 1184, 25 L.Ed.2d 435 (1970)), however, the Court's ruling
was squarely directed to the prevention of the second trial's taking place at all, even
though it might have been conducted with a scrupulous regard for all of the
constitutional procedural rights of the defendant.

21

409 U.S. at 508-09, 93 S.Ct. at 878.

22

Crist makes clear that the rule that jeopardy attaches as soon as the jury is
sworn is not simply an arbitrary exercise in line drawing but rather "serves as
the lynchpin for all double jeopardy jurisprudence" and is "an integral part of
the constitutional guarantee against double jeopardy." 98 S.Ct. at 2162.

23

In sum, we conclude that Judge Nickerson properly decided that the federal
rule set forth in Downum had been made applicable to the states by Benton. In
any event, we believe Crist should be applied retroactively.

24

The only question remaining is whether the discharge of the first jury was
necessitated by manifest necessity. Illinois v. Somerville, supra, 410 U.S., at
467-68, 93 S.Ct. 1066. We again agree with the district court that no such
circumstance existed here. The prosecutor asked for a continuance until
Monday. There was no indication that either of the two witnesses would be
unavailable by Monday. In fact, the request would indicate that the State could
reasonably predict their attendance at that time. Moreover, the fact that on
Monday the prosecutor moved for trial indicates that the witnesses were not
irretrievably lost. The only reason given by the court for the failure to grant a
continuance was the convenience of the jury. The jury, however, had not been
sequestered and a continuance would not have required them to serve beyond
their appointed term. This fact is of special significance since "(t) he discretion
to discharge the jury before it has reached a verdict is to be exercised 'only in
very extraordinary and striking circumstances' . . . ." Downum v. United States,
supra, 372 U.S., at 736, 83 S.Ct. at 1034, quoting United States v. Coolidge, 25
Fed.Cas.No.14,858, pp. 622, 623 (Cir. Ct., D.Mass.1815). Under these
circumstances neither the "ends of public justice" nor "manifest necessity"
required a mistrial. A continuance should have been granted. See Downum v.
United States, supra; Cornero v. United States, 48 F.2d 69, 71 (9th Cir. 1931).

25

While we are in agreement with the reasoning and the conclusion of the district
court, the relief there granted was in the circumstances not appropriate. We are,
accordingly, unable to affirm. We must vacate the judgment below and remand
for consideration of a new judgment affording appropriate relief.

26

It developed at oral argument that Mizell had been released from custody at the
expiration of his sentence. After argument, we were advised that the date of
release was September 19, 1977, well before entry of the judgment below.
There is some indication that this was made known to Judge Nickerson, but he
was evidently not conscious of the fact when he made his decision. The award

of relief was as follows: "The petition for a writ of habeas corpus is granted."
27

The award of relief was somewhat inexact since the writ of habeas corpus,
historically and under the statute (28 U.S.C. 2243), is simply a means of
securing the petitioner's body for a hearing. After the hearing, if detention is
found to be unlawful, the relief awarded is an order that petitioner be released.
If detention is found to be lawful, the decision is to deny the relief requested in
the petition. In either case, the writ itself issues (if at all) Before the hearing; by
the time of the decision, the function of the writ has been exhausted. Sokol,
Federal Habeas Corpus 36-37 (2d ed. 1969).

28

The granting of the writ by the district court in the case at bar can only be
interpreted as an order that Mizell be released. "As a sort of shorthand, lawyers
and judges frequently use the expression 'granting the writ' as if it were
equivalent to granting the relief requested." Sokol, Supra, at 37. Mizell in his
petition had asked for release from custody, and nothing more.

29

But at the time of the district court's order, Mizell was no longer in custody and
his prayer for the relief of release was therefore moot. Were Parker v. Ellis, 362
U.S. 574, 80 S.Ct. 909, 4 L.Ed.2d 963 (1960), still good law, we would be
required to dismiss this appeal as moot. Parker v. Ellis, however, is not good
law, having been overruled by Carafas v. LaVallee, 391 U.S. 234, 88 S.Ct.
1556, 20 L.Ed.2d 554 (1968). Since Mizell was in state custody at the time he
filed his application in the district court (November 29, 1976), federal
jurisdiction "is not defeated by the release of the petitioner prior to completion
of proceedings . . . ." Carafas v. LaVallee, 391 U.S. at 238, 88 S.Ct. at 1560.
The basis for the Carafas holding is that:

30 statute does not limit the relief that may be granted to discharge of the applicant
the
from physical custody. Its mandate is broad with respect to the relief that may be
granted. It provides that "(t)he court shall . . . dispose of the matter as law and justice
require." 28 U.S.C. 2243.
31

391 U.S. at 239, 88 S.Ct. at 1560. The Supreme Court then notes that
amendments in 1966 to the habeas corpus statutes (for example, 28 U.S.C.
2244(b)) "seem specifically to contemplate the possibility of relief other than
immediate release from physical custody." 391 U.S. at 239, 88 S.Ct. at 1560.

32

Mizell may wish to ask for such other relief. The conviction of September 10,
1971, may subject him to "disabilities or burdens" (Fiswick v. United States,
329 U.S. 211, 222, 67 S.Ct. 224, 91 L.Ed. 196 (1946)) and to "collateral

consequences" (Ginsberg v. New York, 390 U.S. 629, 633-34 n. 2, 88 S.Ct.

1274, 20 L.Ed.2d 195 (1968)). The judgment below must be vacated so that
Mizell may apply for such other relief. We leave it to the district court to
determine what relief should be granted. We note the possibility of a
declaration that the September 10, 1971 conviction is void and of an order to
the respondent Attorney General to apply in the New York courts for a vacatur
of the conviction and for an order expunging it and all references to it from the
records. There are few precedents. The problem seems to have arisen in the
following cases: North Carolina v. Rice, 404 U.S. 244, 92 S.Ct. 402, 30
L.Ed.2d 413 (1971), vacating and remanding Wood v. Ross, 434 F.2d 297 (4th
Cir. 1970); Pinnell v. Cauthron, 540 F.2d 938 (8th Cir. 1976); Grandison v.
Warden, 423 F.Supp. 112 (D.Md.1976); Bentley v. Florida, 285 F.Supp. 494
(S.D.Fla.1968). See also Sokol, supra, at 78-80.
33

Judgment appealed from vacated. The cause is remanded to the district court
for consideration of a new judgment affording appropriate relief.
FRIENDLY, Circuit Judge, concurring dubitante:

34

I concur on the basis that our holding is only that since the indications were that
the two prosecution witnesses who were absent on Thursday would be
available on Monday, the judge should have granted the continuance which the
prosecutor requested and should not have discharged the jury. Even as so
limited this seems to me an exceedingly close case. It differs from Downum v.
United States, 372 U.S. 734, 83 S.Ct. 1033, 10 L.Ed.2d 100 (1963), and
Cornero v. United States, 48 F.2d 69 (9 Cir. 1931), which was cited with
approval in Downum, in that in those cases the prosecutor had been negligent
(see Downum, 372 U.S. at 737, 83 S.Ct. at 1035, and Mr. Justice Clark's
discussion of Cornero, 372 U.S. at 739 n.*, 83 S.Ct. at 1036 n.*), whereas here
he did everything humanly possible to assure the presence of the witnesses
short of actually having them in the courthouse before impaneling a jury, often
a time consuming process in the New York courts, and holding the witnesses in
custody a course which no one could reasonably advocate. The prosecutor
initially sought a continuance; he asked for a discharge of the jury only when
the court's refusal of this left him no alternative. Moreover, the court's refusal to
grant a continuance was not solely or, as I read the record, even preponderantly
for "the convenience of the jury"; after discharging the jurors, the court directed
them to report back to the central jury room, where they would be available for
other important duties. Furthermore, while in the luminous hindsight of Crist v.
Bretz, 437 U.S. 28, 98 S.Ct. 2156, 57 L.Ed.2d 24 (1978), and Robinson v. Neil,
409 U.S. 505, 93 S.Ct. 876, 35 L.Ed.2d 29 (1973), we now know that the New
York rule with respect to the attachment of jeopardy had been displaced by the

combined working of Downum and Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 89 S.Ct.
2056, 23 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969), the busy state trial judge can hardly be faulted
for lacking such prescience, especially when defense counsel contributed
nothing to enlighten him save for noting an unelaborated exception. If a double
jeopardy claim had been clearly articulated, the judge might well have acted
otherwise. The same Court that decided the cases cited by my brother Mulligan
has warned federal courts against being too quick to interfere with a state trial
judge's "rational determination designed to implement a legitimate state policy"
when there is "no suggestion that the implementation of that policy" by
declaration of a mistrial "could be manipulated so as to prejudice the
defendant," Illinois v. Somerville, 410 U.S. 458, 469, 93 S.Ct. 1066, 1073, 35
L.Ed.2d 425, 434 (1973), and has instructed that the words "manifest necessity"
"do not describe a standard that can be applied mechanically or without
attention to the particular problem confronting the trial judge", Arizona v.
Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 506, 98 S.Ct. 824, 830, 54 L.Ed.2d 717, 728 (1978),
see also Id. at 516 fn. 35, 98 S.Ct. at 835 n.35. The especially drastic
characteristic of a double jeopardy determination in a case like this, namely,
that the defendant is entitled not simply to a new trial but to be relieved of any,
requires an appellate court to proceed with caution, particularly when, as here,
there is no suggestion of prosecutorial or judicial abuse. I suspect my brothers
might feel differently about this case if Mizell were serving the first year of a
life sentence for murder rather than being at liberty after having completed his
sentence; yet in strict theory the test should be the same. In short I believe we
have here gone to the very verge and perhaps beyond it.

United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, sitting by
designation

In 1970, this rule was incorporated by the New York State Legislature into
N.Y.Crim.Proc.L. 40.20(1), 40.30(1) (McKinney 1971); L.1970, c. 996, 1,
and became effective on September 1, 1971. The statute was subsequently
amended in 1974 to provide that in a jury trial jeopardy attaches when a jury
has been empaneled and sworn. N.Y.Crim.Proc.L. 40.30(1) (McKinney
Supp.1977)

The judgment granting the writ was entered on January 3, 1978 but respondents
failed to file timely notice of appeal since despite the terms of the order filed on
December 30, 1977 requiring the clerk to make copies of the order and to serve
the parties, such service was not made. Under F.R.A.P. 4(a) the State's time to
appeal expired on February 2, 1978, thirty days after the judgment was entered.
F.R.A.P. 4(a) further provides that the State could have applied for an

extension not to exceed thirty days from the expiration of the first thirty day
period, to wit, until March 4, 1978. Respondents did not learn of the decision
until it appeared in the advance sheets of the Federal Supplement dated March
6, 1978. A motion was made by the respondents pursuant to Rule 60(b)(6) of
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for an order vacating the judgment and
directing entry of a new judgment granting the same relief. Judge Nickerson,
finding that no service had apparently been made and that the respondents had
acted diligently and expeditiously, granted the motion, vacated the prior
judgment and directed the entry of a new judgment granting the petition for the
writ
F.R.Civ.P. 77(d) states:
Lack of notice of the entry by the clerk does not affect the time to appeal or
relieve or authorize the court to relieve a party for failure to appeal within the
time allowed, except as permitted in Rule 4(a) of the Federal Rules of Appellate
Procedure.
The district court's grant of relief under Rule 60(b)(6) in effect extends the time
to appeal for more than the sixty days permitted by F.R.A.P. 4(a). Several
circuits have established an exception under special circumstances to F.R.Civ.P.
77(d) and have upheld the vacating and re-entry of judgment under Rule 60(b)
(6) where the sixty days to appeal under F.R.A.P. 4(a) has expired. These cases,
however, have required a showing of more than the mere failure to notify the
parties that judgment has been entered. Rather, the courts have insisted on a
showing that counsel has diligently attempted to discharge the duty implicit in
Fed.R.Civ.P. 77(d) by making inquiries to discover the status of the case.
Buckeye Cellulose Corp. v. Braggs Electric Construction Co., 569 F.2d 1036
(8th Cir. 1978); Fidelity and Deposit Co. of Maryland v. Usaform Hail Pool,
Inc., 523 F.2d 744 (5th Cir. 1975), Cert. denied, 425 U.S. 950, 96 S.Ct. 1725,
48 L.Ed.2d 194 (1976); In re Morrow, 502 F.2d 520, 523 (5th Cir. 1974) ("To
permit an appeal where there is failure to notify, without more, would be
opposed to the clear wording and intent of Rule 77(d).").
In granting the Rule 60(b)(6) motion in the instant case, the district court relied
on Expeditions Unlimited Aquatic Enterprises, Inc. v. Smithsonian Inst., 163
U.S.App.D.C. 140, 500 F.2d 808 (1974), which held that a trial court may
vacate and re-enter a judgment under Rule 60(b) to allow a timely appeal upon
a showing that neither party had actual notice of the entry of judgment, the
winning party is not prejudiced by the appeal, and the losing party moves to
vacate the judgment within a reasonable time after he learns of its entry. Id. at
810. We do not feel that this view would be accepted here. Although this circuit
has not squarely addressed the issue (compare International Controls Corp. v.

Vesco, 556 F.2d 665 (2d Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1014, 98 S.Ct. 730,
54 L.Ed.2d 758 (1978)), prior decisions indicate that a Rule 60(b) (6) motion
may not be granted absent some showing of diligent effort by counsel to
ascertain the status of the case. In Radack v. Norwegian America Line Agency,
Inc., 318 F.2d 538, 542 (2d Cir. 1963), we stated:
(L)ack of notice does not Ipso facto mean that a judgment must, can or should
be reopened . . . (Rule 60(b)(6)) cannot be used to circumvent the 1946
amendment to Rule 77(d) dealing with the effect of lack of notice on the
running of the time for appeal.
See also Wagner v. United States, 316 F.2d 871 (2d Cir. 1963).
If Mizell had appealed the district court's order vacating his earlier judgment,
we would be bound to reverse. However, since Mizell did not take such an
appeal, we do no more than note the error here.
3

Downum constitutionalized the rule that jeopardy attaches as soon as the jury is
sworn by recognizing its source to be the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth
Amendment. See, e. g., United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co., 430 U.S.
564, 569, 97 S.Ct. 1349, 51 L.Ed.2d 642 (1977); Serfass v. United States, 420
U.S. 377, 388, 95 S.Ct. 1055, 43 L.Ed.2d 265 (1975); Illinois v. Somerville,
410 U.S. 458, 467, 93 S.Ct. 1066, 35 L.Ed.2d 425 (1973); id. at 471, 93 S.Ct.
1066 (White, J., dissenting); United States ex rel. Bland v. Nenna, 282 F.Supp.
754 (S.D.N.Y.), aff'd, 393 F.2d 416 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 392 U.S. 941, 88
S.Ct. 2323, 20 L.Ed.2d 1403 (1968)

Since Linkletter, the Supreme Court has viewed the retroactivity of a new
constitutional rule affecting criminal trials as a function of three factors: "(a)
the purpose to be served by the new standards, (b) the extent of the reliance by
law enforcement authorities on the old standards, and (c) the effect on the
administration of justice of a retroactive application of the new standards."
Desist v. United States, 394 U.S. 244, 249, 89 S.Ct. 1030, 1033, 22 L.Ed.2d
248 (1969); Linkletter v. Walker, 381 U.S. 618, 629, 85 S.Ct. 1731, 14 L.Ed.2d
601 (1965)