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United States v. Gary Halbert
Citations: 712 F.2d 388; 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 26870; 13 Fed. R. Serv. 1034Docket: 81-1581
Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; June 10, 1983; Federal Appellate Court
Gary Halbert was convicted of twenty-one counts of mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1341. On appeal, he raised four main issues, all of which were affirmed by the Ninth Circuit. One key issue was juror misconduct involving a juror's consideration of a newspaper article related to Halbert's beach house. The court reviewed this allegation independently, emphasizing the importance of the district court's assessment of the misconduct's impact on the verdict. Given the substantial evidence presented at trial regarding Halbert's lifestyle, the court found no reasonable possibility that the article influenced the jury's decision. Moreover, the court upheld the district court's decision not to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the matter, applying an abuse of discretion standard. Another significant issue was related to psychiatric testimony from Dr. Faerstein, who conducted a court-ordered psychiatric examination of Halbert. Halbert argued that the inclusion of his statements made during this examination violated his Fifth Amendment rights and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12.2(c), which prohibits the admission of such statements against the accused on the issue of guilt. However, the court noted that Halbert did not object to this testimony during the trial, raising a question of whether the error was sufficiently clear to warrant review. The court explained that while Halbert's statements could be used in the context of an insanity defense, he claimed they were inadmissible since he argued diminished capacity instead. The court ultimately concluded that the statements were relevant to the insanity issue and thus did not violate his rights against self-incrimination. Halbert's argument prioritizes form over substance, asserting that diminished capacity is not an insanity defense; however, there is no evidence that Rule 12.2's language excludes mental capacity statements from the "issue of guilt." As these issues intersect, and given Congress's apparent intent to allow insanity-related statements, it logically follows that statements on mental capacity should also be permitted. Halbert cannot prevent his psychiatrist from testifying after raising the issue of insanity or diminished capacity, in line with precedent. Thus, the admission of Halbert's statements to Dr. Faerstein did not violate Rule 12.2 or his Fifth Amendment rights. Regarding jury instructions, the court defined materiality in a way consistent with prior rulings, emphasizing that misrepresentation is material if it can influence decisions, regardless of actual reliance. The jury received proper instruction. Halbert's challenge to Kay Petitte's rebuttal testimony, claiming it violated Federal Rule of Evidence 608(b) by addressing extrinsic matters and unfairly prejudicing his credibility, was unconvincing. The trial court's discretion in admitting this testimony was not abused, as it was relevant to Halbert's diminished capacity defense, leading to an affirmation of the lower court's decision.