I was more than a little confused by the news this morning that federal authorities have joined the Michael Vick dogfighting investigation in Surry County, Virginia. The only federal law against dogfighting is found in 7 U.S.C. 2156, which generally prohibits dogfighting where the dogs have been transported across state lines (a jurisdictional "hook" to get the crime under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution). Paragraph (f) of that code section allows the Secretary of Agriculture (former Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns) to enlist the FBI in investigating possible dogfighting infractions. The crime was recently made a felony by a bill signed May 7, 2007. It would appear to me that Vick would only be facing the previous misdemeanor penalties.
Naturally, I expect someone in the federal government to be standing behind a podium within the next couple days to announce the government's crackdown on dogfighting. Why not? It's a welcome diversion from other problems that are actually within the federal government's scope of expertise (foreign affairs, immigration, social security, etc.). Surry County Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald Poindexter has seemingly nailed the Secretary's motivation, noting that they only care about dogfighting in his rural county because Michael Vick is reportedly involved. Poindexter, who has done everything in his power to deflect attention away from the story (and perhaps preserve the last few impartial jurors left) while he conducts his investigation, will now have to integrate the federal findings and his own investigation.
blahblabblahblahlahhblahblah Feds to the rescue!Why would he have to integrate the federal findings? Because they are not going to prosecute the case. The federal statute is generally the state crime, with the added element of interstate commerce, and thus is that much harder to prove. The Feds will come in and putz around for a few weeks before turning boxes of dirt over to Poindexter. I'm sure they'll wish him luck as the black Suburbans head back up I-64 and I-95.
Then again, perhaps I should have more confidence in the investigatory abilities possessed by the Federal Government. They did compentently handle the Atlanta Olympic Park Bombing, Eric Rudolph, the Unabomber, the JFK assassination, the MLK assassination, the first World Trade Center bombing, D.B. Cooper, Jimmy Hoffa, the anthrax mailings, Waco, Ruby Ridge, Elian Gonzalez, etc. etc. etc.
I also can't help but question the timing of the FBI's involvement. The news media has vaguely reported that Mr. Poindexter declined to execute a search warrant that he felt was deficient. That warrant, which purported to authorize a search of Vick's premises for the corpses of dogs, expired yesterday. In my opinion, the news media would love to see a bunch of investigators digging holes all over the property, perhaps even unearthing some carcasses. From the prosecutor's point of view, the dog corpses are not even close to conclusive evidence of dogfighting. This isn't CSI-Surry; the bones or carcasses will likely not provide definitive proof of any of the elements needed to prove the state crimes. The corpses certainly would not link any particular person to the crime, unless Michael Vick's driver's license fell in one of the holes. Plus, the normal rule of executing a warrant as quickly as possible to prevent the spoliation of evidence does not apply when you are looking for buried dog corpses. Anyone entering the property with the intention of removing or moving the bodies would be a prohibitive favorite for America's dumbest criminal.
blahblablahhblahblah What a jury expects to see at trialThe investigation, at least as it was directed by Mr. Poindexter, was being conducted methodically. The first six letters of methodically are method. If Mr. Poindexter goes to trial with 40 hours of evidence that dogfighting occurred on the property, but no evidence that links any single person to the actual enterprise, no one will be convicted. Unlike the Feds, Mr. Poindexter's duty is to the people of Surry County and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Exposing dogfighting in his county without punishing any of the people responsible for it would not serve that duty. It appears the Feds may swoop in and lay waste to Mr. Poindexter's plan.
9 Responses:
Great read.
I loved the blog. How does the justice system work in matters where the crime (if any) was commited before it became a federal felony but at the time was a misdemeanor? Can the case be "sent down" to the state level? I watch Law and Order---but they have not covered dog fighting that I was aware of.
How long does a federal invetigation take? I know the congressman in La it took 2 years before charges were brought. I hate to sound like too much of a blind faith fan----but if it takes two years then by that time---letting Vick go will not cost the ungodly amount it would cost the team today.
man you have alot of blogs. this looks alot like nois.. could you be the same guy. I must of missed the websile DEVON BODIE K9 KENNELS. HUH? If you do a little research the rumor is informants told the feds exactly where to dig for dogs, that would be the same informants that said they can place vick at the dogfight.. if they find the dogs where informant said they were that proves credibility.. just the fact that the house was broken into twice during piondexter's investigation proves gross incompetence.. I don't disagree with feds grandstanding (we all know they do that) Don't worry mike will not do any jail time especially if piondexter is in charge.. but as a pet=bull owner i feel an example has to be made I don't care if it mike vick or peyton manning it does not matter to me. what does matter to me is peaple hate my GOOD dog because peaple raise fighting dogs. this is not a racial issue for me if you look at the history of dogfighting it was started by white TRASH but unfortunatly it is glorified in rap music ( read jay-z lyrics) Most of the GAMEDOG breeders are WHITE and they are scum that should be shot in the back of the head. spend a few hours on pbreporter.com and decide for yourself if you think dogfighting was going. there is a chance mike is innocent but if you do the research there is no way you cannot say those were not GAMEDOGS (that is term for fighting dogs.. thanks for chance to give my 2 cents worth.
also it took a year of public outrage for la to even press charges on the godfather of dogfighting (floyd boudreaux)
Wow you must be getting some really good crack, you should really cut out smoking the stuff.
To everyone who isn't a Vick apologist Poindexter was clearly dragging his feet and obstructing the investigation at every step of the way.
The Feds moved in because Poindexter is a local yokel joke with nowhere near the resources to handle the big $$ dream team of lawyers Vick will handle.
The conspiracy theory stuff did make me laugh though, quite a joke.
Second anonymous (5:34p) - You can't convict someone "ex post facto", meaning, you can't give someone a penalty that wasn't a penalty at the time the crime was committed. The law, generously, assumes we all read the United States Code. As for time frame, they'll investigate until the media dies down. Your "expense of prosecuting" charge is not among their concerns. If it were, Jamal Lewis would not have gone to jail for something he did before he contributed millions to the tax base.
pet=bull owner: Informants are what they are. Typically, they are on police payroll to contribute "evidence" to a number of investigations. The rule is that the prosecutor must have a good faith reason to believe the informant. If Mr. Poindexter knows that this particular informant performs certain "acts" for drug money, that would erode his good faith belief in his truthfulness. The fact is that we don't know shit.
From personal knowledge, let me say that the name Michael Vick doesn't mean anything to Poindexter. He's not a football fan and Vick is just one of the suspects in this investigation. People forget that Poindexter doesn't just need to prove that dogfighting happened, he has to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that any people indicted were actually involved in it.
Martin: You are more than right that Mr. Poindexter never invited this investigation. I think you're confusing "dragging feet" with the proper strategy for handling this thing. By stalling he gives the media an incentive to pull up their tents and go home. He has 6800 potential jurors in his county, and each day ESPN.com is reporting from Surry County the number of those jurors he can actually use decreases. Once again, there is a monstrous difference between proving dogfighting and actually convicting individuals. Think for yourself. You can arrive at a scene and know for sure that someone was murdered. That doesn't help you figure out WHO did the murdering. He's faced with that, and the bigger the case gets the less likely reliable witnesses will come forward.
As an endnote, if Vick knowingly operated a dogfighting ring, I'd like to personally cut his balls off. Unfortunately, that isn't how the process works. A case is built from the second the suspect is tipped off that someone is looking. Running in with your head down is a good way to get searches thrown out and to make witnesses suddenly forgetful.
Anonymous #2 again...
When I talked about the ungodly cost---I meant to the teams salary cap----I know the govt dosent care how much they spend on a case.
Any idea what the max penatly is for the old misdemeanor?
What if the feds cant bring a case against a person---can they hand it back down to the state?
Thanks for your educated insight---it has very helpful.
I don't know the old penalty, but the new penalty isn't that steep for a penalty. I think it's $15,000 and a year in prison, which is close to the minimum for a felony.
The states and federal government have dual sovereignty over crimes committed within a state. For example, if you kidnap someone in Maryland and then take the kid into another state, you can be tried in both federal and state court, and you can receive sentences from both. That's not double jeopardy because they are two separate crimes against two separate governments.
To answer your question then, the federal and state investigations will proceed concurrently, albeit with some cooperation between the two. It's possible both will indict and try people, or just one, or neither. It's also possible the state court proceedings could be done before the federal proceedings even get started, if there are any in either court.
Typically, only one indictment is brought, by whichever jurisdiction has the stronger case. In this situation, that would almost certainly be the state case. However, when they want an insurance policy to make sure someone is convicted, they will proceed with both. That's what happened with the D.C. area sniper. He was tried in Virginia and Maryland, and I believe also in federal court.
The penalty isn't that steep for a felony I mean.
Unless they have video, photos, or financial records implicating Vick...
forget about it.
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